the king and the dragon’s warning

This is a bittersweet story in the vein of old school children’s fables. I love old tragedies and cautionary tales, so I decided to make on of my own regarding an impending disaster.

The goal was to evoke an ancient, wood cut aesthetic, inspired by games I grew up on. I was able to create the desired aesthetic fully digitally using Procreate brushes and textures. I also made a custom font for it!

A black and white sketch of a jungle scene with a volcano, trees, and plants. A leopard is walking on the ground, and there are birds in a tree and flying in the sky. There is a poem or story on the left side of the image, addressing a young listener about the wonders and weirdness of the ancient world.

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A vintage-style illustration with two sections. The left side depicts a large monkey hanging from a tree branch with the text: "There were all kinds of lovely creatures that you could hardly imagine, furry ones with human faces that lived in the trees." The right side shows a whale swimming in the ocean with the text: "And gentle giants, longer than the trees are tall, swimming in enormous lakes called oceans. But perhaps the most extraordinary creatures of all..."

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A two-part illustration in a vintage style. The left side depicts a green dragon surrounded by clouds, with the text 'were Dragons!'. The right side shows a stylized sun with swirling rays, clouds, and mountains, with the caption 'When they danced, the clouds moved aside and the sun lit their scales in a hundred scintillating colors.'

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A black and white drawing depicting two characters in front of a cityscape with tall, decorative buildings, a smiling sun with rays, and a row of small, humanoid figures in cloaks. The scene includes stylized, geometric elements and a quote about building cities and floating among clouds.

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A stylized illustration showing a king seated on a throne and a knight standing on stairs below him, facing a large flying dragon. The dragon has purple scales and a crown above its head.

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A comic-style illustration of a dragon with glowing eyes and an open mouth on the left, and a king with a beard, wearing a crown, sitting on a throne on the right.

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A colored illustration of a dragon skeleton on fire, and a separate panel showing a king deep in thought, with a narrative about a coming catastrophe and messages to the people.

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Black and white illustration of a medieval scene with a council debating in a castle, with a clock and hourglass symbols indicating the passage of time. The scene includes text about a debate lasting days and decisions being made to determine the best course of action.

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A woodcut-style illustration of a stormy sea with large, curling waves and dark clouds in the sky. There is a small, arched structure on the right side, resembling a lighthouse or hut, emitting light. Text across the image reads: "The sky grew sour. The seas began to rage. A great dark cloud was on the horizon. Still the scholars debated."

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A black and white illustration of a dragon queen with large horns and wings, speaking in a story or dialogue, with a small crown above her head and a decorative emblem in the bottom right corner.

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An illustrated page showing a sad king with a crown, standing on stairs inside a castle. To the right, a purple dragon leaves the room.

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A rough woodcut-style illustration depicts many dead dragons, with text boxes stating, "The storm came. It was as fierce as the dragon queen had foretold" and "They say all of the dragons died that day."

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The left side shows a king with a crown and four loyal subjects exiting a bunker. The right side depicts a rebuilt kingdom with a large, detailed castle and a dragon skeleton underneath.

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Illustrated fantasy map featuring mountains, forests, a castle, a volcano, a body of water with a sea serpent, and a compass rose, accompanied by a story about the dragons being lost.

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An illustration of a dragon skull in water with a butterfly perched on it, accompanied by a quote about wonder and fragility.

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