Beasts of Dubious Nature by Anérea

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Fanwork Notes

Series created for the Bestiary of Arda challenge stamps.

I decided to illustrate some of the spirits that chose to take on the form of beasts. My initial idea was to draw them in the style of a medieval bestiary, but then I tried to imagine how the illustrations in an Middle-earthen bestiary might appear instead.

This was a first for me, combining my semi-automatic zentanglish doodle style with deliberately formed subjects. Also a first using sparkly pens. My inner bling (which I never knew existed) loves them!

Pencil, black ink, and sparkly pen on paper; photographed and digitally tweaked.

Fanwork Information

Description:

A wolf, a spider, a bat, a dragon... what do they have in common?

Major Characters: Draugluin, Glaurung, Thuringwethil, Ungoliant

Major Relationships:

Genre:

Type: Character/Portrait, Illustration

Challenges: Bestiary of Arda

Rating: General

Warnings:

Posted on 15 June 2023 Updated on 16 June 2023

Draugluin

Stylised drawing of a wolf

Ungoliant

Stylised drawing of a spider

Thuringwethil

Stylised drawing of a bat

Glaurung

Stylised drawing of a dragon

Glaurung (again)

Stylised drawing of a dragon

Comments

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Anérea has requested the following types of constructive criticism on this fanwork: Style, Technique. All constructive criticism must follow our diplomacy guidelines.

Yay!! So glad you like them :)

It is vellum, although I've superimposed it on photograph of a blank page from a twelfth century manuscript, so I didn't draw on vellum. (I'm too nervous to even draw in my sketchbook, I would be terrified to draw on vellum!)

Oh my goodness, these are so absolutely gorgeous! You really did capture the "spirit" of each, and they glow so beautifully. I would hang these on my wall.

These are stunning, I'm so glad you posted (and I found) them full size! I would hang these on my wall for sure. I was going to say I especially love X character design but actually I love them all. Glaurung is the most impressive though (as I would expect for him).