Uktena

Native American folklore has no dragons, but there are a couple of close analogs. One is Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, of the Central American cultures which looks a bit like the oriental dragons. In North America, however, there is the Uktena, the horned serpent, found particularly in the Southeast.

Uktena was a giant snake covered in shining scales with horns on its head and a single giant crystal, called Ulun'suti, in it's forehead. They lived in the water and were often associated with the elements of storms: rain, thunder, lightning. Its breath was said to be lethal (though not specified as fiery, this is still another similarity with dragons).

One particular legend involving Uktena, is that of Aganunitsi. Aganunitsi was a powerful Shawnee medicine man who was captured in a battle with the Cherokee. Rather than being executed by his captors, he volunteered to hunt the Uktena and bring the Ulun'suti back to them. He searched for the beast through the southern Appalachians. As he got closer to the great snake, he started to encounter giant frogs, snakes and other monstrous reptiles made so by their proximity to the Uktena. Eventually, he finds the Uktena near Gahuti Mountain (in what is now Fort Mountain State Park in North Georgia). He kills the beast and returns to the Cherokee with the jewel and afterwards lives with them as an important member of their tribe.

I especially like the legend of the Uktena as, being Creek folklore as well as Cherokee, it was likely told of by some of my ancestors. Also, the story of Aganunitsi takes place from not far from where I live. I've actually hiked Fort Mountain State Park.

When it comes to stories like this, there is generally no canonical version and the details are often different from one telling to another. I decided to add my own detail in that the hero is carrying a musket and powder horn rather than the more traditional bow and arrow as such weapons were quite common among the southeastern tribes in the late 18th century.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

King of the Woods

A white tailed deer buck stands proudly among the dense greenery of a foggy forest. It's he height of summer and this stag can stand among the trees without fear of hunters as the hunting season is months away. At this time, he is the master of these woods.

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Daniel Eskridge

Lurcher

A golden and white coated dog with a long and lanky form splashes through the shallows waters of a grassy wetland. This dog is a lurcher, a type of dog that it a cross between a sighthound and some other non-sighthound breed of dogs. They can be found in Ireland and Great Britain and can look quite different from one to another depending on the breeds of their parents. Generally though they are fast dogs with long thin legs and a thin body.

Answering a request.

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Sea Turtles

I decided to make a series of sea turtle images after the success of my first image Turtle Alley. You can find them in my print gallery here and here.

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Daniel

Using Photomatix to Enhance Your Digital Art

I've had some artists ask me about how I use Photomatix, so I've put together a video demonstrating...

HMS Victory in a Storm

A massive 18th century warship crashes though the waves of a stormy sea as lightning flickers all around it.

The HMS Victory is an English ship of the line that was launched in 1765. It is still a commissioned vessel today and is the oldest navel vessel in the world still in service. The Victory was Lord Nelson's flag ship at the battle of Trafalgar.

Here, I have depicted this famous warship fighting not a human enemy, but a natural one: a massive tempest at sea. Really, I wanted to create an image with a rough stormy sea. The idea of adding the ship came later as I felt there need to be some substantial subject for the viewer to focus on.

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Daniel

Stormwatcher

An American Indian woman stands on a grassy hillside. In one hand she holds a rifle, while, with the other, clasps her fur shawl tight against a chilling wind. In the distance, lighting forks down from a dark menacing storm that rolls across the sky towards the setting sun.

This the latest in my Native American themed series of artworks.

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Daniel Eskridge

Where should artists look for inspiration?

This is a question I get a lot when being interviewed. It usually comes in one of several forms:

• What inspires you?
• Where do you get your inspiration?
• As an artist, what should I do to get inspired?
• What would you suggest to use as a source of inspiration

There are, of course, more ways to ask that question, but those are what I found from past interviews that I have done. In fact, it is usually the first question I get asked in an interview.

Inspiration is naturally quite important when it comes to art. It's the starting point of every artwork. Though it doesn't necessarily need to be something profound. Sure, you can be inspired by something like the universal struggle of good against evil, but you might also be inspired by something as simple as an unusually located tree you saw on the drive home. Sometimes it's the little things that inspire the best art.

Now, there are lots of sources for inspiration, but I find that one tops them all when you are an artist, particularly a representational artist, and that is reading. When you read, you visualize scenes in your mind. For an artist, this can be like doing push-ups for the brain. You're training yourself to construct images in your head. Naturally, fiction tends to work better for this as the author has to describe scenes relevant to the story using words. These words become the basis for you to create your mental visualization. However, certain types of non-fiction can work, too. For instance, I often rely on articles about paleontology to get ideas as they often not only describe creatures like dinosaurs, but also the environments that they lived in.

Of course, when it comes to inspiration, reading also introduces people to the ideas and concepts of the writer. Obviously, these too can serve as inspiration for the artist. After all, the most read book of all time, the bible, is the source of millions of pieces of art.

So, if you find yourself suffering from a lack of inspiration, if you just can't come up with any good ideas for a new painting, if your drawings seem a bit too repetitive or dull, then go grab a book.

Regards,
Daniel

P.S. Don't forget to visit my gallery: Daniel Eskridge.com!

Hippos Are Coming To Get You

A pair of hippos look right at you. They are almost completely submerged beneath dark waters, but their eyes and snouts have broken the surface, and now they are moving in your direction. Be careful, hippos are dangerous!

Even though they are herbivores, hippopotamuses (or should that be 'hippopotamii'?) are one of the most dangerous animals on earth. If you exclude disease-carrying bugs and parasites, then hippos are the fourth deadliest animal behind snakes, dogs, and crocodiles. The male hippopotamus is very territorial and will attack anyone wandering too close, while the female hippo will aggressively defend its young.

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Daniel Eskridge

Saber-Tooth at Rest

A saber-toothed cat relaxes on a large flat stone atop a grassy rise. It's late in the day and the evening sun has lit the clouds up into a fiery set of colors.

This is the latest in my paleoart series. It depicts my favorite of the pleistoscene mammals, the smilodon. For this one, I wanted to see what it would look like with a lion-like coat. I rather liked the way he turned out.

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Daniel Eskridge

Teepees

Three teepees (also called tipis or tepees) stand on a grassy hill in the plains of the American west.

This is the latest in my series of Native American themed art. For this one I was going for a more minimalist composition that what I normally do.

Thanks for looking
Daniel