A recent commission from a friend…..it went something like this.

“My brother-in-law is having a birthday… it’s a special birthday…..i need a special present for him… and I need to take it with me to America – a week on Saturday…..Oh, and he’s Welsh…I’d like dragons and mountains please…”

And here are the results.

Good job I like working under pressure… and good job one of my son’s favourite childhood stories was ‘George and the Dragon’. So, I had my dragon image, now I just needed a setting. Isn’t google marvellous, a few clicks of the keyboard and I was immersed in Welsh myth and legend.

Basically in he beginning there were two serpents, a red (welsh)and a white (saxon), they fought and the red serpent triumphed. The white serpent slunk off into the pond defeated and the red serpent entered Merlin’s tent to the re-emerge as the might red scaly beast that we now know as the magnificent Welsh dragon. Obviously there was way more to it than that but my friend warned me not to get too caught up in the imagery….we were on a tight schedule after all.

Anyway, deadlines were met and I am really pleased with the results. The silver leaf on the dragon works well to pick out his features and the mountains conjure up dramatic welsh scenery. I even added a wee silvery pond in the valley bottom and Merlin’s cave in the mountains.

Great fun. Happy Birthday Wales.