The Dracopedia Project

Monday, November 29, 2010

St. Margaret and the Dragon

St. Margaret and the Dragon
William O'Connor ©2009

When we think of dragon slayers we always imagine brave strong knights in shining armor riding their chargers with lance in hand slaying a horrible dragon and rescuing a maiden in distress. St. George is a perfect example. Beowulf and the army of the 12 Lords, The Redcrosse Knight of Spencer's Fairie Queene is another, doing battle with a titanic 600' long flaming flying beast for three days. King Seigfried kills Fafnir and of course, as I'm sure we are all anticipating being brought to life in vivid digital 3-D CGI, Bard of Esgoroth who slays Smaug in The Hobbit.
There is however a great dragon slayer who tends to go overlooked, a 15 year old shepherdess girl who slays a dragon single handedly with nothing more than an iron cross from around her neck.

St. Margaret is an amazing story, and one that I had only very briefly mentioned in my book Dracopedia, and had gone mostly unnoticed in my research until I moved into St. Margaret's Parrish in Pearl River , NY. On the first day attending church in our new home there above the alter in vivid stained glass was St. Margaret standing on a dragon. Thinking this serendipitous, I began to do some research and became very impressed with this young lady!

Starting life as the daughter of a powerful 5th Century Roman priest, she converts to Christianity and refuses to marry and denounce her faith. She is cruelly tortured and (stories vary here), she becomes a shepardess living in the country. Here she encounters a dragon who swallows her whole. Some stories suggest that it is Satan in the form of a dragon, but the imagery and metaphor is still poignant. A young teenage girl tortured and violated by the minions of her own father is then devoured by a dragon. Instead of surrendering, instead of giving up, she fights back, and cuts and hacks her way out of the dragon with her iron cross. Eventually however she is put to death instead of renouncing her religion. (That is a really tough girl!!) She shows up again briefly as one of the Saints that appears to Joan of Arc.

The sketch above is a design I developed of St. Margaret and the Dragon, with the intention of finishing a full painting. (Do Churches still commission Alter pieces?) It recently was included in "Sketchbook Confidential" put out by Northlight Books, where I've included several of my dragon drawings and talk about my process. Below I've attached a few art history examples of Margaret and her encounter with the dragon.

Enjoy and Good Dragon Hunting!

WOC

To view a selection from the book or purchase Dracopedia visit:
Amazon.com/Dracopedia

©2010William O'Connor/William O'Connor Studios/Dracopedia:A Guide to Drawing the Dragons of the World/The Dracopedia Project. All rights reserved.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Dracopedia Sketchbook #005

Dragons love to sleep. Warming themselves in the sun is a big part of the day, using their wings as solar panels.
Two studies of dragons in Couchant pose.

Enjoy

WOC

Monday, October 25, 2010

Dracopedia Sketchbook #004

Pencil drawing of the Coatyl.....
feathered dragons are very interesting to draw, and studying dinosaurs is a big help.

WOC

Monday, September 20, 2010

Dracopedia Sketchbook #003

New Dracopedia Sketches for the week.....Keep watching and I love to hear your ideas and comments. I'm trying to keep up with new images more regularily so be sure to follow and share!

WOC

Great Welsh Dragon Head Study
9"x12" pencil on paper
©2010 William O"Connor

"Acadian Dragon Sejant"
8"x10" Pencil on paper
©2010 William O'Connor

Monday, September 13, 2010

Dracopedia Sketchbook #002

Foreshortening dragons is always difficult. This is a sketch started as just a head study, and kept getting bigger and bigger....I've included a detail so you can see all the pencil rendering, I love pencil rendering so I won't paint this one.

Enjoy!

WOC

"Great Icelandic Dragon" (#004)
12"x16 Pencil on Paper

(#004-detail)

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Dracopedia Sketchbook #001

Some recent Dragon Sketches....Enjoy.

WOC

Friday, May 28, 2010

Dragon of the Month: British Spitfire Dragonette

British Spitfire Dragonette(Dragonel)
Volucrisus britainicus

Size: 25'
Wingspan: 30'
Recognition: Bipedal body with small fore limbs. Long tail and broad wings. Bright green and tan markings (male) Brown Markings (female)
Habitat: Highlands of the British Islands
Taxonomy: Draco/Aerodraciforme/Volucrisidae
/Volucrisus/V. britainicus

Soaring high over the lake district, or winging across the English Channel in bright formations, no sight in the dragon world conjures a more romantic image than the English Spitfire Dragonette. The Dragonette has a long history in Britain, beginning with its introduction by the Romans during the reign of Claudius in the 1st C. Although small breeds of wild dragonettes existed earlier, it is the Roman Dragonette that begins the proud tradition of riding dragons in England. When Rome abandoned its English provinces in the early 5th C. the English dragon riding tradition went fallow for hundreds of years during the reigns of the many saxon and viking warlords.

In 1066 William the Conqueror reintroduced the riding dragon to England where today's breeds begin their lineage. During the middle ages the monarchy prided itself on a formidable dragon force, and many knights used riding dragonettes as their mounts. During the crusades many knights returned to England with Arabian breeds that were additionally added to English breeding stock. King Henry V is known to have rode an early English dragonette into battle at Agincourt. Even Oliver Cromwell is documented as having used the riding dragon during his campaigns.

The modern riding dragonette that is today known as the British Spitfire was first documented in 1815 as the name of the mount of the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo. The field marshal's fame led to the breeding of his personal dragonette into an seperate breed that became known as the Spitfire. The Spitfire became the most famous and popular riding dragonette breed during the nineteenth century, and in 1833 was adopted as the official breed of British Royal Dragon Guard, which was a small elite troop of British dragoniers, and is still to this day.

The Spitfire is most famous for coming into its own during WWI. At the height of the war in 1914 there were over 1000 Spitfires on active duty, performing reconnaissance missions over enemy held territory. Sadly however the slow flying, unarmored dragons were easy prey to the new weapons and by the end of the war only a few dozen still remained having been completely eclipsed by airplanes. In WWII it is no coincidence that the most beloved and famous fighter aircraft was dubbed The Spitfire.

Today the Royal Dragon Guard still uses Spitfires as their mounts, and are kept at the Royal Mews, near Hyde park in London. These Spitfires are used for ceremonial purposes only, but the Spitfire is still a favorite among breeders and racers.

Spitfire Overhead View

Wild Spitfire Habitat