The Windigo's Remains

A giant skull covered in moss lies on its side in a dense, misty forest. A path in the woods goes right through it's mouth. On this path, a woman in a short fur shawl rides a pale horse with a black mane and tail towards the skull. She appears to have stopped through, awed by the site of the massive skeletal remains of the giant that are before her.

Giants occur quite often in Native American folklore. One of the most well known is the Windigo, also call Wintiko, Kee-wakw, and Chenoo among others. From story to story they vary in sized and appearance, but can sometimes be very large. Generally they are said have once been human but transformed into monsters as they turned to cannablism. Sometimes they are incased in skin made from ice or stone. Another recurring legend about them is that their original human form in encased within the giant's heart.

I didn't really have a particular story or legend in mind when I planned out this image in my mind. I just had this concept of a giant skull resting in the woods. I added the girl on horseback more for a sense of scale, then made the scene vary foggy to give it a mystical quality.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Perched Dragon

A brightly colored dragon with with red, green, and yellow scales sits perched on a high rocky outcropping. Smoke drifts from its nostrils as it spreads its wings to catch the cool breeze. Before it stretches a valley of rolling hills dotted with forests of fir trees. Giant jagged mountains edge the other side, their massive snow covered peaks reaching into the sky.

This is the latest in my series of fantasy themed artworks. For this one, I wanted to create a very bright scene, so I made the dragon extra colorful. I love the way the mountains in the background turned out in this.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Autumn Pegasus

A winged horse lands on the banks of a shallow rocky river, splashing water into the autumn air. This is not your usual pegasus though. Rather than the pure white coat one would expect to see on this popular mythological creature, this fantasy beast has taken on some of the colors of the season. In response to the fall foliage of the trees that line the lake, this fantasy steed looks more like a winged paint horse with patches of rich bronze breaking up the white. Meanwhile its mane and tail have turned a deep brown.

Having been over a month since I last added to my fantasy art series, I felt it was time for a new one. Also, it will officially be fall in a few days with the autumn equinox falling on September 23rd this year. So, I decided to create an autumn themed fantasy artwork.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

A Mermaid and Her Pets

A castaway stranded in a lifeboat is visited by a beautiful mermaid. The man stares at the golden scaled half woman-half fish in disbelief. Meanwhile, as she gazes back with a tempting smile on her face, two sharks circle the waters beneath the small boat. It looks like it is time for the Mermaid to feed her pets.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Reading About Dragons

It's a warm summer day. A woman sits against a tree reading a thick novel. She is flanked by two small dragons, one green, the other blue. Perhaps the dragons are real or just creatures of her imagination that have leapt from the pages of the book.

The sun shines down brightly upon the trio. They lounge in the shade of a moss covered tree in long grass full of white wildflowers. Puffy white clouds drift lazily in the sky over the gentle tree covered hills in the distance.

The woman has long brown hair woven into braids. She is barefoot but wears a red patterned dress and a white shirt. She looks down intently at the heavy book cradled in her hands. Near her legs the little green dragon looks off into the distance. Meanwhile, the blue dragon lays down in the grass on the other side of her.

School has just recently gotten out here in North Georgia, and I was reminded of when I was young and had summers off. This was the time of year that I would finally have time to tackle the pile up the novels that I had built up over the school year. I've always been partial to sci fi, horror, and fantasy stories. Fantasy, in particular, was the genre of fiction that I read most during the summers. So I guess being reminded of summer reading inspired this particular image. I rather liked the way it turned out. I am particularly partial the tree trunk in this one.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge