Black Swandrake

This is my first "freehand" Photoshop drawing, from scratch with no original sketch to trace from. It is also the first in an as-yet-unnamed series of full-size pictures based on creatures and places from my dreams.

In one such dream, I thought I saw an enormous black swan flash by, but as it turned and flew closer, it was revealed as a scraggly, feathered dragon with a sinuous neck, a somewhat saurian head with a bony rise in the center of its skull (which after it landed, it lowered for me to touch) and stiff, short crimson face-feathers. It was by no means the most elegant little (15 feet?) dragon, but friendly enough.

This is that black-feathered "swandrake", so named for the long, twisty neck.

Note: This picture has been shrunk somewhat for easier viewing.