Draco

Artist: Lynsye Medalia
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Draco

Original is Acrylic on 9×12 canvas board

Featured in C.O.R.E.

This is an older painting that I did….back in ‘06 or ‘07 I believe, this is the first real painting I ever did. Prior to this, I worked primarily in colored pencil….it was this painting that really made me focus on the acrylics. The original now hangs in my sister’s bedroom in Tennessee….this has been one of her favorites for a long time…she graduated from High School in May of ‘09 and I presented this to her as a graduation present.

This painting is inspired by Amy Brown She is one of the world’s leading faerie artists right now….and a FABULOUS lady, I must say! :) I love the way she uses colors and wanted to try and replicate her techniques.

Me & Amy @ FaerieWorlds ‘08 in Eugene, OR

I used her piece, Curiosity as reference. I painted this freehand from a very small image of her painting. As you can see, I took my own twist on this piece.

Curisoty by Amy Brown

Since I chose to put the dragon in front of a background of space and stars, I thought it only fitting that I call him Draco. According to Wikipedia, Draco is a constellation in the far northern sky. Its name is Latin for dragon. Draco is circumpolar (that is, never setting) for many observers in the northern hemisphere. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations today.

Draco is among the earliest of the constellations to have been defined; in one of the oldest known astronomical records, the ancient Egyptians identified it as Tawaret, the goddess of the northern sky in their pantheon of deities. Considered ever-vigilant because the constellation never set, she was depicted a fierce protective goddess whose body was a composite of crocodile, human, lioness, and hippopotamus parts.[citation needed]

The Greeks named it Draco the dragon. In one of the more famous European myths, Draco represents Ladon, the dragon sometimes depicted with one hundred heads who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. The eleventh of the Twelve Labours of Heracles was to steal the golden apples. He put Ladon to sleep with music, which enabled Heracles to freely take the golden apples. According to the legend, Hera later placed the dragon in the sky as the constellation Draco. Due to its position and nearby constellations in the zodiac sign of Libra (i.e. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Boötes), the group of constellations can be seen to tell the tale of the eleventh labour.[original research?]

In another Greek legend, Draco represents the dragon killed by Cadmus before founding the city of Thebes, Greece. In a third legend, it represents the dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece (occasionally revealed as the sleeping or nearly dead figure of Ladon) and was killed by Jason. The fact that the stars of this circumpolar constellation never set plays an important part in its mythologies.[citation needed]

In Roman legend, Draco was a dragon killed by the goddess Minerva and tossed into the sky upon his defeat.

Early Christians originally of the Roman or Greek faith then depicted Draco as the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The Arabs did not interpret the constellation as a dragon, seeing instead an asterism called the Mother Camels

(Curiosity is © Amy Brown. This image is NOT for sale and has been posted here with permission from the original artist)

Draco belongs to the following groups:

Complex Simplicity of Art, ! Inspired Art !, ! φThe Dreaming Treeφ !, ! ◄Rpg Fantasy Games► !, "Exceptional Ekphrasis", * Painted Nature *, 1 In The Beginning - Ancient Practices, A Spiritual Walk, Acrylic Painting, All the Colors of the Rainbow, Core [C.O.R.E], Dragon's Fire, Fantasy Art, First Things, Freedom to Shine, Friends of RedBubble, Greek and Roman Mythology, International Superheroes of Drawing, Illustration and World Domination, Live, Love, Dream: , Mermaids and mystic creatures, Painters In Modern Times, Parallel Dimensions, PEACE, LOVE & TRANQUILITY, Pentacle Passions, Shameless Self-Promotion, Sisters in Arms (feminine relationship described), Spiritual Art, the love of Eerie and enchanting artwork, The Patchwork , THE SISTERHOOD, Vibrant and Vivid Color, Water Media (Paintings by hand only), Western United States Artists and Photographers and Who are YOU to Judge?