Vaelor, the Ember Drake
Even a young dragon carries the heat of a furnace.
Kin to the great dark wyrms of the high ridges, Vaelor hunts among the volcanic crags, his razor-honed crest absorbing the ambient heat of subterranean fires.
The Inspiration
I love dragons (see Keolsrir for more on that) and have a passion for scorching them onto wood.
Vaelor came about from me needing to see if I could render a dragon image within the constaints of A5 sizing. The result is a slightly chubby-faced wee drake who, I’m sure will grow into his scales and terrorise the skies.
The Craft
Vaelor was created with hard lines and minimal shading.
The piece of birch ply that was used was somewhat challenging as it contained some very hard grain, making it difficult to achieve a consistent and dark burn. A narrow wire nib was used to ensure the sharpness remained in the curled head crest details. Finished with a hard wax varnish, the piece has a warm orangey hue that highlights the wavy hard grain running across the picture.
