This was my first dragon. He took 24 hours to make, and had 1400 hand cut paper scales glued on one at a time.
My Dragon’s, my story
I’ve been making my dragons for over a decade now, and they have continued to evolve and change over the years. My first dragon took me six months to come up with and create. When I finally got down to putting everything together it took me over 24 hours, and used over 1400 hand cut paper scales. Now, my dragons take 4-10 hours depending on the complexity of the theme/design. The body is made from wood, I then use 12 gauge wire for the stability of the body and claws/limbs.
I didn’t really know what it was going to look like when I first started. My friends and I were talking about the medieval fair coming later that spring, and how there was always the “guy in the funny dragon costume selling ice-cream there every year”, which gave me the idea “what if I could make a realistic dragon costume?”. That was going to cost to much and take to long, so it quickly turned into “What if I could make a dragon puppet to sit on my shoulder?” to then the dragons you see now. Although I can make them to sit on a shoulder it’s a lot of work, and it isn’t easy as every shoulder is different.
Each dragon is a unique piece of art and is one of a kind. Even if I were to make the same dragon again, it would turn out differently due to the how the materials work.
My Mini World’s, a world unto its own
My “Mini Worlds” as I call them, have a much shorter story. A few years back, a friend of mine was sick, so I made her this magikarp desktop bowl. As she had a few cats and a son, and couldn’t have any more pets, let alone fish. Least to say, it cheered her up and she loved it.
A few months later, right before covid hit, I got the idea to make and sell more. I went out and spent a great deal of money buying the figures, bowls, and other supplies to make them and list on etsy and ebay. Covid hit, and nothing sold. The supply chain disruption caused more issues in getting more materials reliably, but I already had a good stock to work with, and started selling them in person and at craft shows, as well as to people I knew.
The way I go about making a mini world is first finding the proper figure, as I don’t like figures that look like toys (where you can see the bends of the joints) next, I pick the right size bowl and gravel to set the scene, along with fake plants and anything else I think will fit. Everything is then glued in, and apart from the figure, although with a lot of force in some cases, it’s just about impossible to remove anything without breaking it.
I should also add that these are not meant to house water, fish, or any type of animal or insect of any kind. They are meant as purely a desktop/shelf decoration.