Dragon Rider

After doing Venom and being so thrilled with the result, I wanted to make something big. I just couldn't settle for something small or unexciting, so I decided to sculpt a huge dragon ridden by a king.

This was done without any specific reference. I just imagined a Game of Thrones style scene, modified to feature a fat king. That was just my initial idea, though to be fair, there is no shortage of references out there for people riding dragons. I deliberately didn't want to sculpt a ripped, muscular character. Personally—and this is purely speculative—I assume most kings would have been fat. Assuming people didn't really work out, and considering the king basically had a management "desk job" with access to the absolute best food, a human king in my mind would almost always be fat.

Honestly, I don't like the result much. The dragon isn't very detailed. There is some nice anatomy in the neck, but the rest of it is pretty much just a big mass of "more of the same." The king was also the smallest figure I had sculpted up to that point, and it just isn't that finely detailed or well-executed.

It is still an eye-catcher, and I see people get excited over it. But for me, it feels a bit "populist"—basically just a crowd-pleaser. It looks cool at first glance, but as far as the actual sculpting, painting, and scenery go, it is definitely not my best work.