2026 - arting - quick art share

I had shown my June calendar to a friend of mine, and she asked that I make one for her. So August is coming up (her July calendar was already done), and this is the best I came up with. I think the first I made was really something special, and I suppose this one is all right.

I have been inspired by dragons lately. I decided I want one of my own, but it can't be beyond my capacity to manage. I am thinking of  embroidery, but first I needed a pattern.

I drew the head by looking at a picture on the web. I drew the body by being inspired by a number of pictures on the web, but wanting my own interpretation.

I am quite pleased with the results:



Now I am contemplating how to get the pattern onto the piece of white cotton I have. I'm hoping a pointed tool on top of the paper, with sewing transfer paper under it, will do the job, but ideas are welcome.

I'm also working on collecting embroidery floss of suitable colours. I am debating whether I should be brave enough to experiment with sewing some beads on parts of it.

Sooooo...  I showed my pattern to a friend, and she complained that my dragon had no hind legs.

Sigh... The problem in my mind is that many of the back legs of dragons I've seen just don't appeal to me. To my mind, they look tacked on and ugly.

But I do see her point. My dragon could move mostly like a snake. But do people think it would look more "finished" if it had another pair of legs?

Jay Angler wrote:Sigh... The problem in my mind is that many of the back legs of dragons I've seen just don't appeal to me. To my mind, they look tacked on and ugly.

But I do see her point. My dragon could move mostly like a snake. But do people think it would look more "finished" if it had another pair of legs?

I think it looks quite like a "Chinese dragon" when it has arms and no hind legs. You might want to give the tail more of a fluke-like or flared-out end to it, lending it a sense of being able to swim or fly. If you have the sense that the dragon is a "flyer," note that wings aren't necessarily required to provide that impression to the viewer. But a tail fluke is useful in both cases, like a rudder or tail fin to help direct the animal in water or atmosphere.

I also find that when hind legs are added to a fantastical animal, then ensure that they're either:
- touching the ground and placed in a way that gives the impression of standing in a stable posture, or
- "tucked in" or "dragging behind" because the animal is in flight or swimming.

I think posture of the legs to lend the idea of their function can go a long way. Land animals usually have hind legs, while "swimmers" and "flyers" can get away with a more snake-like appearance.

Good luck! I think the head is pretty great.

A couple more pocket calendar covers. Here's my personal August calendar. It started off as a free-hand doodle. I'm working on more figure cartoon work, so included a human in this one.



Here's the July calendar I made for a friend of mine. I used the "Steamboat Willie" public domain version of Mickey Mouse. That opaque white pen also came in handy for achieving that old-skool cartoon look.



I also made a mini-zine for a niece of mine's 8th birthday. I take a typical letter-sized sheet of paper and fold it into an 8-page booklet. Here's an image from the inside (it's a double-page spread):



Currently working on a September calendar for that friend of mine. I want to have an armoured warrior woman facing off against some kind of monster. We'll see how that turns out.

Here's the calendar cover for a friend of mine, September 2026. I wanted to do an armoured "warrior woman" facing off against some kind of adversary.

It was all freehand, and it turned out okay. I ran out of room for the lady's "opponent," so just put some stippling texture in there instead of crowding it up with more details. I picked up a brown ink pen and used that for most of the line work, then looked at text in my word processor program as a guide for the red ink text at the top.

Gosh, that captures the personality of the month perfectly

Here's my personal calendar cover for September '26. Another completely-freehand drawing with the same brown pen I used for my friend's September calendar. The bulk of this was done when I was waiting for some water tanks to fill at Basecamp. Sitting on a trailer, in the afternoon sun, apple trees all over the place. I'm pleased with how this one turned out.

September looks delicious!