No dungeons, just dragons

When I was a kid, I reveled in fantasy. Not princesses and all that feminine schlock; I was all about dragons. For me, they represented freedom, soaring the skies without restraint and burning anything in their way with fiery breath. Not surprisingly, I hated the story of St. George and the Dragon because the latter was slain (years later, as a college student studying art history, I learned that St. George had a rough time as well).

I expressed my love for dragons by drawing them constantly, usually with a ball point pen. Horns, wings, spikes, fire, you name it, I drew it. The myopic detail that appears in much of my work first emerged in these drawings, where I patiently drew every scale on my magical beasts.

As an adult, I don't fixate on dragons as I did as a kid, but I still find myself occasionally drawing them, usually when I'm taking a quick break from laying out exhibits. Most of them end up in the recyling bin, but I decided to keep this one.

And I need to go check out imls.gov

Over the last year I've gotten into the habit of keeping a supply on handmade cards on hand for various and sundry occasions. Thematically they've been all over the place, from flowers to astronomical scenes, but this time I around I decided to use the dragon. I scrounged up a small metal plate, and recreated my reptilian companion with my etching needle.

I thought that image looked a little blank, but rather than draw a background, I marbled some paper instead. Having Gustave around added an amusing new challenge, as he insisted on constantly playing with the water by tapping it with his paw, but despite his mischievous inclinations I managed to complete a few sheets.

Over the weekend I went down to the Museum to use its smaller etching press. Once I set up my materials, I inked up the plate and wiped it. 

Since the plate only measured about three inches square, it didn't take long for me to print the image. In less than two hours, I printed twelve sheets.

Here are a few of them at a closer range:

I later trimmed the sheets aside, and then used ModgePodge to glue them on to several blank greeting cards:

I don't know when I'll send these, nor to whom, but they'll be around whenever I need them.

Who knows, perhaps you'll find one in your mailbox some time.