Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl is one of the most well known owls of North America. It's also been called the Tiger Owl and Hoot Owl, and has the widest range of any owl in the Americas. It hunts at night and mostly eats small mammals.

I've been working on an image that features several different breeds of owls. For each one I have to create a digital sculpture, and, since the great horned owl has always been my favorite owl, I started with it. I created this image as a test of my sculpture, but I though it turned out well enough to be an artwork on it's own.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Kronosaurus

Kronosaurus was a marine repitle that lived during the early Cretaceous period at the same time dinosaurs roamed the land. Though sometimes called a dinosaur, it is technically a pliosaur of the order of plesiosaurs which is different from dinosaurs. They were large, only a little shorter than the average length of a school bus and preyed on turtles and plesiosaurs and possibly giant squid and elasmosaurs. It is named for the ancient Greek titan Kronos.

This one came from a request by a paleoart fan. He wanted a prehistoric aquatic reptile. He suggested a few and I like the Kronosaurus the best.

Thanks for looking
Daniel

Resting Bison

A North American Bison rests in golden grass as the prairie stretches out behind it. Lazy clouds drift through the sky overhead as this lazy buffalo lays down without a care in the world.

This image has a companion, too.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

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.

Thanks for looking!
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.

Thanks for looking, Daniel

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.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel