St. George and the Dragon

Here are the initial sketch, the outline and the final shading of my last drawing.

It can seem a 'strange' way of representig this subject, but the reason for a fantasy picture of this fight goes back in time ... when I was a child.

At the time happend to me, to find and read a short graphic novel about Saint George and the slaying of the dragon.

I don't remember the artist that made the drawings, but, for sure, it was a strongly fantasy oriented set-up: with knights crushed by the dragon, a princess, with really few dresses for covering her beauties (as in the 'best'  fantasy fashion), and, above all, a fair haired muscular hero just a bit short of Frazetta's Conan height and bulk, that confronted the dragon with its mighty sword (not a lance or a spear).

After killing the monster the hero put an hand into a pool of its blood ad created a marvelus flower, a red rose, that he gave the princess before leaving. The last pictures of the novel  explained that was the reason for men to give a rose as present to their beloved women in the Saint George's day. And so the reader discovered the identity of the hero, and what the story was about.

I liked the mixing of fantasy and actual traditional elements, and the fact the hero was going to be a saint made it all more intriguing (can you imagine Conan make saint? ;) ). The seed for interest in Myth and Fantasy was already planted and this was just watering it a bit more!

When, last month, I found a short essay Dragonslayers: from Beowulf to St George myths and legends, the idea of making a picture of St George battling the dragon started shaping and...this is the final result.