Chains

"He stood and held his arms out before him, pulling the chains taut. The muscles in his shoulders and his chest bunched, standing out in sharp relief, and a moment later, the chains snapped cleanly"

This month's assignment for James Gurney's Art by Committee is probably more definite and precise than usual, which, depending on your disposition, can make things easier or more difficult. Anyway, I've decided not to be completely literal.

The drawing was a bit unclear, so I decided to put some (digital) color on it:


With digital color it's quite easy to do some variations:


without the strong contrast between flowers and backgroud the image is somewhat less focused, but perhaps more subtle:

Knight and dragon/4

I've tried to develop a bit further the concept shown here, with one difference: the knight is coming out of the dragon's belly



I guess the same idea shouldn't be used too many times, it tends to get "rotten".

I usually draw bald people (maybe I'm lazy), but this time I decided to add this long hair, as the guy looked like Mr. Magoo. Also, I'm not sure I like the bat-birds, with their umbrella wings.

Dots...

“But when the dots did not vanish even after he scrubbed his fists across his eyes three times, he shouted hoarsely…”

This is the last assignment given by James Gurney for his "traditional" Art by Committee. I suspect that my proposal is a bit coarse, but anyway...


Of course, the drawing is reminiscent of both the scream by Munch and the cliché of the painter with Dalì-style moustache.

Knight and dragon/3

It is worth noting that in some versions of the story (for example the story of St. George), the dragon is just made harmless, not killed by the knight. To be precise: not killed immediately (St. George actually kills the dragon in the end of the story...). Anyway, I've tried to imagine what could happen if the dragon was not slain.
The title could be: knight, princess and dragon... 40 years later.

One-man-band/3

A watercolor version of the drawing shown here. It's clearly overworked, and lacks a strong focus. I should paint watercolors more often...



and two more drawings on this subject:

Knight and dragon/2

While playing a little on this theme, trying to get an almost "baroque" feeling, it came to my mind that the knight and the dragon could be two different sides of the same "entity" - sometimes our worst enemy is inside ourselves, isn't it?


I've tried to develop this idea in a new version:


which I (digitally) painted


as always with me, the drawing is by far more incisive and interesting, I think.
A couple of details:

One-man-band/2

I've played a little with the idea that these guys are completely "covered" by instruments:


I also like the idea that they share their lives with a (small?) dog:


here is a study made in watercolor. I've left my brushes in their box for too long, and it shows...