Sign In

Close
Forgot your password? No account yet?

Ferro by ElrondDrakendil

Ferro

ElrondDrakendil

Elemental Horse: Ferro (metal)
Personal Work - Print available!

Last year I was commissioned to do a series of Elemental Horses based on the four classical Greek elements. Ignis (fire), Aura (air), Aqua (water), and Terra (earth). They were themselves done in the style of my Planet Horses (Jupiter, Saturn, Ouranos and Neptune) from 2013. This year, I’m revisiting both series, beginning with the addition of the two missing classical Chinese elements (wood and metal).

Ferro (technically steel, but here used to represent all metal), is mostly damascus steel with a healthy dollop of mercury, bronze hooves, and golden eyes. I chose damascus steel because I felt the swooshy, almost organic patterns contrasted nicely with its form as the strong, sharp blades it is usually used for. The mercury represents the fluid, flexible nature of metal, and I’ve draped it over the form of Ferro in a manner reminiscent of an Appaloosa’s blanket. For the horse I drew inspiration from the gaited, trotting breeds, notably the Standardbred. Horses are often depicted at the canter or gallop, as those gaits tend to lend themselves well to beautiful, dramatic poses, but for this final installment in my elemental series I wanted to highlight the grace and power of that often over-looked gait: the trot.

Mixed media: black ink and watercolor, colored pencil, and silver paint pen. Ferro’s sigil is, like those for fire, air, water, earth and wood, of my own devising. In this case, however, I have incorporated elements of the Chinese character for metal in the Wu Xing, 金 (jīn). Original will be for sale at Further Confusion later this month.

Submission Information

Views:
786
Comments:
7
Favorites:
10
Rating:
General
Category:
Visual / Traditional

Comments

  • Link

    Wow, this is amazing! This one feels to stand out from the rest, the detail in the metal is eye boggling and the mercury effects are very well done. The whole thing just sings "metal"!

  • Link

    i love the horse's design, and the background complements it very well

  • Link

    Impressing! Really powerful and strong! The metallic structure with both shiny and pale(?) parts is really well done. My favorite parts are the mane and the tail. They look so flexible and dynamic although they are obviously made of steel.
    Really cool! I'm curious how the other materials will look like. ^^

    • Link

      Thanks!

      Btw, the opposite of "shiny" in this instance is usually "matte". :)

  • Link

    Thank you! I found that word, too but I wasn't sure if it might have a rather negative meaning.

    • Link

      As far as I know, "matte" has no negative connotations. Unless of course whatever is being described is not supposed to be matte. ;)