"Night Guardians": Real eagles may be daytime creatures, but spirit eagles are nocturnal and can only be seen by the light of a full moon. (Old pic done in acrylics.)
"Pretty in Pink": A preening flamingo. (Old pic done in pastels.)
"Lionheart of Stone": A classic stone lion's head. (Old pic done in gouache and colored pencils--prints available.)
"Apocalypse": The End of the World will be both a beautiful and terrifying thing..."I watched as the angel opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." (Rev. 6:12-14) The decending Dove is, of course, symbolic of the Second Coming. (Old pic done in oil pastels on black paper.)
A Christmas card design for Southwest Log Homes.
"Pandora's Box of Delights": A different take on the old story. (Old pic done in ink and colored pencils.)
Another view of Pandora. (Old pic done in pastels.)
"Life Wish": An android wants nothing more than to actually be able to "stop and smell the roses". (Old pic done in oil pastels.)
"Swansong": Three earth-bound angels whom had taken the forms of tundra swans sing their final 'swansong' under a winter eclipse before departing this world forever. (Old pic done as a "paper mosaic" made from ripped up bits of paper glued to a background and shaded with colored pencils. The snow was made from tissues glued to a paper backing.)
"Firewheel Gryphon": A fiery gryphon holding a globe inside of a leafy circle/wheel, which is bordered by the "Four Living Creatures"--the cherubim said to uphold God's Throne. (And old lithograph print of black ink on florescent orange paper.)
An old lithograph print of an extinct Irish Elk.
An old lithograph print of two frolicing pegasi foals.
"Celestial Cockatrice": Normally, I love using crayons, but this was *really* difficult to do, since they were my child's, and so they were all dull and broken down to about 1 inch long. This pic was inspired by the cockatrice in "The Book of the Dun Cow" by Walter Wangerin, one of my all-time favorite furry books. If you're into animal fables and haven't read this classic yet, DO SO!!! (BTW, I know I forgot to add the spurs and the white ear covering that roosters have.) :P
A traditional/classic style gryphon done in fabric crayons for a t-shirt design.
"Dragons Cry Too": A depressed anthro dragon done in fabric crayons for a t-shirt design.
"Pegasus Squared": A pegasus done in fabric crayons for a t-shirt design.
"Pony in Blue": Roane's elfpony from a book I'm writing (though he's not actually blue in the story). (Old pic done in ball point/felt tip pen on notebook paper; I deleted the lines using GIMP.)
"Fleeing Colors": A unicorn foal creating a rainbow. (Old pic done in colored pencils and ink that I recently touched-up and sold.)
Topaz, a traditionally-colored unicorn char from a story I'm writing. (Old pic done in colored pencils and ink--pose adapted from an old Micheal Hague unicorn calendar.)
The enchanted sword of a faun character, Feldspar, from a book I'm writing. (Old pic done in colored pencils and ink.)
Commission for a furry friend of mine of his char...Nomad is a Loxyote: part human, part lion, part coyote, part fox (the mane has stripes, but there are no skunk genes). He is a genetically engineered mutant; the perfect bounty hunter. His eyes lack pupils, and they glow yellow-green. (Done in colored pencils and ink--prints available.)
A Valentine's Day pic I did for my handsome mate, Sayh, who is an anthro osprey. We both have anthro and non-anthro forms. (Done in colored pencils and ink--prints available.)
"Lovers' Quarrel": Two mythical lagamorph lovers, a jackalope (antlered TX jackrabbit) and a mi'raj (D&D monster), have just had a quarrel. He is trying to make it up to her, but she is not quite ready to, and is still giving him the cold shoulder. (Done in colored pencils and ink--prints available.)
My dreamhouse design.
A couple of wooden hobby horses (seahorse and zebra), and that I designed, cut out, sanded and painted in acrylics.
A design for a ranch gate. The ranch is called "The Mott", which is Spanish for a group of trees on a hilltop, and I hid a family of deer in the negative space of the branches.
Another view of the gate.
A pumpkin I painted for a charity organization. (Done in paint pens.)
A double-headed Byzantine/Russian Orthodox eagle plaque I designed for my church. (Done in paint pens.)
A seraphim plaque I designed for my church. (Done in paint pens.)
A seraphim sculpture I made for my church. (Done with sculpy.)
A scherenschnitte (aka papercutting) design.
Another scherenschnitte (aka papercutting) design.
Another scherenschnitte (aka papercutting) design.
Another scherenschnitte (aka papercutting) design.
"East Meets West": An oriental-western hybrid dragon in flight. (Old pic done in ball-point pens and pencil.)
Sketchbook drawing for Jinx, of her catdragon char. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Gift art for Orion Sandstone, of his anthro dragon char. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Art trade with Tiger's Kitten, of her anthro tiger-dragon-dolphin char. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
A wooden hippocampus ornament that I designed, cut out, sanded and painted in acrylics.
Art trade with HollyAnn, of her anthro vixen char in foxtaur form. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Gift art for my sis Illucian, of her and her mate Eclipse (Lux is an angel dragon and 'Clipse is a gryphon). (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Gift art for my soulsis GrayWolf, of her wolf char and human self combined. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Commission for Xaxoqual, of him and his mate Loiosh cuddling (Xax is an anthro mourning dove and Loi is an anthro ringtail). (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Commission for Faithry of his anthro swan char...(This pic has elements of both Art Nouveau and the Pre-Raphaelites, both of which I adore, but I cannot do perspective worth a darn.) Faithry is a wingless, rich, vain, snobbish, haughty, beautiful, graceful, elegant and regal Swan who is also slightly cruel...as is evidenced from her ermine/pearl-lined gown and birdwing fan--taken from creatures that obviously fell our of her favor and good graces. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for Thaily, an anthro lox (lion-fox), shown here in pirate garb...This is my first ever conbadge, so I admit I went a little overboard on it. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Commission for C Eagle of his char, now in color. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conceptual char drawing for Snowelf, an elf/lynx Sphinx--aka "Sphynx". (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
My personal spoof on the infamous iPod ads, thanks to Yerf! :D
A unicorn/swan hippogryph...well, just because. (Quick marker doodle.)
Commission for Celtic Man, done as a gift for GrayWolf, of their two chars (wolf and Irish Elk) and Duncan, Gray's pet ferret...I made the knotwork and spirals orange and green to symbolize the colors of the Irish flag (since the location is in Newgrange, Ireland), and the kilt in the colors of Celtic Man's family tartan (or as close as I could approximate it, anyway). The flowers and jewelry are also symbolic of the chars. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for Jasmina, a winged sussex spaniel/wolf mix. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for Rubyheart, a hot pink corgi. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for XianJaguar. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for Panthras, a black panther. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for Warphammer, a broadwinged hawk. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge commission for Mary Mouse, shown with her sword and Rook companion. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
While travelling in the US, my hubby picked out a lovely wolf-themed card for my soulsis, GrayWolf, and I doodled in it. (The odd thing being that what I drew--the three chars inside the monad symbol--was exactly what Gray had secretly been wanting me to draw and she didn't tell me until I had already started sketching it. But she and I seem to pick up on each other's thoughts constantly anyway... Also, the first gift she ever made me was a dreamcatcher, so this card was very appropriate.) The osprey is my hubby Sayh, Swandog is of course me, the leaping wolf with the amulet is GrayWolf, the ferret is her pet Duncan, and the eurasian jay is Eanjay, who was recently killed by a cat. (The painted wolves and dreamcatcher were already a part of the card, and are copyright to Jody Bergsma and Leanin' Tree. Done in pencil and ink.)
Conceptual fursuit design for my hubby's char. And I noticed after scanning that I spelled "suede" wrong...ah well. :P (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
An anthro quagga/fjordhorse cross (unicorn), done as an experiment both to see how these two breeds would combine as well as to try out my new markers on. (Done in Prismacolor markers, colored pencils and ink.)
Someone bought my old lineart of a cupid ferret, and so I colored it. (Done in ink, Prismacolor markers, white gel pen and white colored pencil.)
The little dragon Teyr enjoys the simple things in life, like making the fireflies dance. (Done in Prismacolor markers/pencils and white gel pen.)
A psychedelic gift art piece for Ebonytigress and my first attempt at completely freehand abstract knotwork. The white patches are part of Ebby's reverse tiger markings, the orange tendrils are stylized stripes, and the light blue bands symbolize the collar she always wears. (Done in Prismacolor markers and ink pens.)
(My entry for this year's "Cake Portfolio", which will be offered for sale at AC by Frisket.) For a bit of explaination, I'm a big Spongebob fan, plus a native Texan living in Norway that gets homesick once in awhile...Well, there was an episode of Spongebob in which Sandy the squirrel got homesick for Texas as well, and so they threw her a suprise Texas-themed party, complete with "ten gallon hats" (made from 10 gallon jugs), "BBQ" (made from barbed wire shaped into a "Q") and a "pecan pie" (with a can of peas stuck in the middle) among other things. Thus I couldn't resist including a couple of those silly items in my pic, as well as some TX flora, fauna and folklore. ;) (Image is 11x14, done in Prismacolor markers with some touch-up work by colored pencils, and there's a faint line across the middle because it was scanned in two pieces; will try to fix it and reupload later.)
I'm commissioning Malytwotails/Malystryxx, who makes these adorably silly felt hats of people's fursonas, to make a pair for my hubby and I, and thus I drew up designs for them. These were also my submissions to Maly's hat design contest. (Done in ink and Prismacolor markers.)
A gift for my soulsis, "Aisling the Dream Dragoness" and her mate "Nameless the Illusion Dragon", along with a raven clutching their wedding rings as well as a symbolic sun, moon and eclipse. I bought this nifty parchment stationary the other day and just had to try drawing something monochrome and ancient-looking on it (being that I'm heavily inspired by Brian Froud), plus I've really been wanting to draw Aisling's lovely new dragonform ever since she adopted it...And I took a bit of artistic license on Nameless' char; his neck isn't supposed to be that long, but I wanted them both to be roughly symmetrical. :) (Done in ink and colored pencils.)
Old lineart (from around '91 or so) that GrayWolf bought from me and had me color as her pet ferret Duncan hugging his pet ferret Derby. :D (Done in ink, Prismacolor markers and colored pencils.)
My submission for GrayWolf's "Laced" Portfolio, which showcases anthros in corsets (we got to draw our own chars, if we wished). So here is my fursona in a golden chainmail corset. :) And yes, I embellished on the length of my tailfur, but I think extravagant floof is pretty! :D (Done in ink, mechanical pencil, Prismacolor markers and colored pencils.)
A sketch that Gobby bought from me which I had started a couple of years back, and then set aside until just recently. There are several glaring problems with it (my marker even leaked on the background, so I had to cut the image out and glue it onto decorator paper), but she seems to like it anyway. :) (Done in ink, mechanical pencil, Prismacolor markers and colored pencils.)
Spurred by recent art theft, I've created a transparent watermark for myself using GIMP. The swanprint is of a mute swan's right foot because I'm right-handed, and I added the crossed pencil and paintbrush for a coat-of-arms effect since the swanprint is shield-shaped and I'm a heraldry nut. ;) The dogprint is of a saluki's hindpaw, of course, and the celtic knotwork circle is obigatory, as my visitors should know by now. :D The photo is one we took last year of some nacreous clouds, and was posted in my DeviantArt scraps; I just used it as a low-contrast example for this. :)
Art trade with Pshaw Raven and Ka Crow. I just included them both in one pic, since they are both corvids and good friends with each other besides. :) (I updated the image as my submission to the "Corvid Portfolio", which will be for sale at AC '05. Done in ink, Prismacolor markers and colored pencils.)
Since I'm obsessed with heraldry, and no one to my knowledge has ever drawn an anthro Enfield, plus the forgotten, obscure mythical beasts of heraldry don't receive enough recognition these days, I decided to draw one myself. ;) Her name is Kelly, and she's strolling through the seaside fields and moors of the Irish Burren playing her tinwhistle. The background is referenced from an actual photo, but I added the megolith stone circles and the hillock she's standing on. The wildflowers and butterflies are all Irish species (yes, I did my homework!) :) I didn't design the zoomorphic knotwork, however (I'm not proficient enough to do that yet); it was from free clipart and I tweaked it to my needs. The little spiraled beasts are the letter "e", and the beasts in the corners symbolize the various aspects of her: fox, wolf, lion, greyhound and eagle. Hanging from her belts is a raven and hare skull, a badger claw, a strip of untanned rabbit fur for a "fleacatcher", her antler-handled knife, her whistle bag, and a herb/medicine pouch. The flowers also symbolize her: dogrose, dog violet, dandelion, foxglove, etc. Color prints will be for sale; if interested, please e-mail me--thanks! :) (Done in ink, Prismacolor markers and colored pencils.)
My old fursuit concept drawing desperately needed to be updated, so here is what the head is starting to look like now (it still needs to be furred and the saluki-type collar made, but the rest is done, and the neck is actually longer than is shown here). I found some semi-celtic gryphon ribbon on Ebay and decided to use it for the collar (just need to find some matching tassels now), along with some silver charms that were given to me by my friends and family. ScribbleFox and I will make the oversized custom collar, and he will later add and paint the wire mesh (or use large cabochon jewels) for the eyeholes. (Done in Prismacolor markers, colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge for Thistledown, an anthro percheron mare. (Done in Prismacolor markers, colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge for Tye G. Wolfee, an anthro, bespectacled wolf with fox-like paws. (Done in Prismacolor markers, colored pencils and ink.)
Conbadge for Talbona, an anthro, pregnant, white tigress/dragon hyrbrid. (Done in Prismacolor markers, colored pencils and ink.)
My hubby, Sayh, suddenly decided he didn't want to be "furry" anymore...so he shaved. :D Maybe I should follow suit? ;) (His fursona is a "Panduck": a mandarin duck/red panda gryphon; pic was done in Prismacolor markers, colored pencils and ink.)
Drawing knotwork and making papercuttings are both very theraputic for me, so I just combined the two crafts. Here's what's left of my parchment paper, laid on top of decorator paper (not glued down yet). The design was adapted from a tattoo I saw, and I used an X-Acto knife.
The Dancers in this pic (a six--rather than eight--legged Sleipnir from Norse mythology and a Displacer Beast from D&D) were drawn about four years ago; I offered the unfinished pic for sale awhile back on my LJ, someone bought it, so I finished coloring it I couldn't think of a decent background, and all my vain attempts left the paper rather messy, so I just gave up and cut out the Dancers, then used the knotwork frame seen in the previous image, entwined the two, and glued it all down on decorator paper. I had to make it diamond-shaped because the Dancers wouldn't fit on the background any other way, and it seems they came out a bit tilted (glue-damp, delicate papercuttings tend to warp badly and are very difficult to get down straight). XP
Commission for Warphammer...This will be my last commission done only in colored pencils, due to the time it takes and the risk of burnout (I started this before I got my Prisma markers, which take far less time and hassle to color images). Warp's char is a broadwing hawk; the dragon is just a special symbol to him, which I added in an egg-shaped, yin-yang pose. This pic is supposed to be stylized and not perfectly true-to-life; I wanted the contrast of detailed characters set against a simple background. Also, the colors are MUCH more vivid IRL, the details more clear, and the original is quite large--at least for my usual work. (Done in colored pencils and ink.)
My art trade with Wylde, the sultry demon bunny of the mismatched feet. :) (Done in markers and colored pencils.)
Our new Christmas (Jul) card to everyone, showing Sayh and I as hatchlings. :D I wish I could have put everyone's names on it like I did last year, but I ran out of room even then, and we've both made many new friends over the year, so I wouldn't want to leave anyone out. But this card extends our love and appreciation to all our family, soulsibs, friends and aquaintances--you all mean the world to us! <3 :) (Done in markers and colored pencils.)
Though deceptively simple at first glance, this has got to be the most complicated papercutting I've ever done, requiring 6 different colors of paper (I didn't add color to anything), 7 layers of cuttings, and 3 weeks of work. I designed everything myself except for the "Valknut" symbol, which you can see in full over here. The Valknut is an interlocking triple-triangle associated with Odin, which is found on several Runestones and on the headboard of the bed found in the Oseberg Viking ship burial. The 8-legged Stallion is of course Sleipnir, Odin's steed and the son of Loki (I based his body on that of a fjord horse). The two Ravens are Hugin and Munin, Odin's messengers/information gatherers, whose names mean "thought" and "memory". The swirly borders at the top and bottom are space fillers (based on an infinity symbol, which is an ancient Norse design), and the circle in the back is the full moon.
A multi-layered papercutting picture frame I made as a Christmas present for my new niece (born at the end of Nov) from different colors of fuzzy velour paper (pink, blue and white, the rest is colored with markers, chalk and colored pencils). This photo of Ida Helene is was digitally added.
Cake I decorated for my niece's "Navnedag" (sorta like a baby shower), and my first try ever decorating a cake (it's a lot harder than it looks!). :)
My submission to the Music Portfolio, in which various artists get to illustrate songs using anthro characters. My chosen song was "Bright Eyes" by Art Garfunkel (written by Mike Batt), which was featured in the Watership Down movie, and is among my top 5 favorite songs. This image features the rabbit deity triptych, with the central char being the Black Rabbit of Inlé, patiently waiting to harvest the souls of the warren rabbits; he is not evil, but like the Angel of Death, is only doing his job. He wears a necklace of both predators' teeth and claws and a rabbit's skull and vertebræ, and has markings resembling moon phases. The stylized sun with the rabbit's eye is Frith, giving life and warmth to all creatures; his rays are made to resemble both tree roots and flames. And the rabbit hero El-ahrairah is the star constellation, guarding and inspiring his beloved progeny. The stylized clouds are creeping fog, and the hill in background is the real Watership Down hill. The dying rabbit (in the movie, it was Hazel-rah, but here it's just a generic rabbit) is in a yin-yang symbol because it's hovering between life and death, light and darkness, like the sky surrounding the scene. The other rabbits are watchful of what they can see and hear, feeing relatively safe and content as long as they have each other (like the little one dreaming), and fearful of the death and darkness they know they all must face. They ready themselves for that long journey and yet never lose hope or faith in life, which they will ever struggle to cling to.
Papercutting (commission) of the giant gryphon Archteryx and his equine pal, Silver Brumby, enjoying a twilight romp together. Traditionally, gryphons and horses are mortal enemies, but sometimes they can look past tradition and become the best of friends. :) I colored the sunset gradient on golden parchment paper with Prisma/Trio markers and colored pencils, shaded the knotwork edges with markers, and inked the black lines over the knotwork as well as the signature at the very bottom. The knotwork itself was cut from the parchment (same as you see in the margin), and everything black you see was cut from black paper. The quote and sunrays were cut out of the black paper (so that you see the parchment beneath), making three layers of paper total. The floating inserts in some of the letters (r, e, d and o) had to be glued down separately.
My finished submission to the "Pathfinders" Animal Totem Card Deck...Pictured here are the eight living swan species of the world: Whooper, Trumpeter, Whistling/Tundra, Bewick's, Mute, Black, Black-necked and Coscoroba.
What started out as the B/W weathervane design seen in my lineart gallery is now what you see here, having been crafted by Dralco, Inc. The weathervane is about 5 feet tall, lasercut from powder-coated steel, and my dad built the log gazebo it's on for the client who commissioned the vane (as well as the gazebo itself, and their log house, etc.). I'm currently designing other other metal cut-outs for this same client, and will be posting more photos of the finished products soon.
My finished submission to the "Pathfinders" Animal Totem Card Deck...Pictured here are the two most beautiful drakes of all, the Wood Duck and the Mandarin. They are close relatives, being the only two members of the genus Aix, belonging to the perching duck tribe Cairinini.
A scherenschnitte (aka papercutting) gift pic for a dear friend.
A luna moth fursuit I plan to (eventually) try to make for myself.
A unicorn fursuit I plan to have commissioned by BeetlecatOriginals.com.
Art trade with Blaze, depicting his gryphon char as a fursuit design.
Fanart for Luve and Lullaby-Child, depicting their chars Uniboar and Savicorn in a touching moment together.
Combo Christmas card and giftart for Whippetluv, of her white reindeer char, "Lumi", as a (peary) caribou carousel.
Stained glass concept design of my "Lunacorn" char (deer-unicorn/luna moth hybrid).
Updated ref for my "Lunacorn" char (deer-unicorn/luna moth hybrid).

  Color Art Gallery  

This is the gallery for my color art. Warning: There are five (tasteful) nudes in the artwork shown below! All artwork is © Xenia Eliassen/Swandog. Newest images are at bottom. Click on any thumbnail to enlarge the image:

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