The Hellion

Greetings. Today I present to you a drawing that is very special to me. I didn't even realize how special it is until I began working on it and even more so until I saw it coming together, finished and lifelike. Now I do. And it's precious.

So this is a Hellion. Hellions are a species of great felines native to Hell, very wild, very proud and very powerful. They are bigger than tigers, the body structure is similar to tigers, and they have tiger-like ghost stripes throughout their black fur, similar to how you can see the ghost markings on a black jaguar or leopard. Their face shape is closer to lions though (I may not have managed to show that here), and they have a magnificent lion-like mane.... made of flames. Both sexes have a mane, although of course it's bigger and wilder in males. They are Demonic, the Hellfire runs in their blood. Magnificent, majestic creatures from the vast remote wilderness of Hell.

However, this is not just any Hellion. This is a Hellion I once actually met, and even if I never knew his name, I can never forget him. I didn't meet him in the wild, in fact I met him in the residence of one of the most powerful Demons.... Baal, whom I happen to know. No, he is not a "pet" to Baal. A creature like that is not and never can be a "pet". He is a friend to him who, as I understand it, sometimes comes to stay at his residence, and the one time I've been to this place he happened to be there. I remember it so vividly. He was laid in front of a large black mantelpiece, much like a tiger in leisure, he was with his back to me and when I walked in, he turned his head over his shoulder and looked right at me with those piercing fiery eyes I can never forget. He didn't say anything, although I am sure he could, he just turned his head and pointed to the door ahead of him where Baal was waiting for me in his study. That was all. Such a small moment, such a tiny fraction of my memory, but the encounter with such a powerful, magnificent and unimaginable beast so up close, an exchange with him, albeit such a short wordless, that kind of memory remains forever. I see it as clearly now as if it happened just an hour ago. And so.... I wanted to draw him.

I always had wanted to draw him. Been postponing it for a long time, and it wasn't until I decided it and started it that I really understood how much I had wanted to. I was torn: I knew I can draw a portrait and make it spectacular, I am sort of specialized in that - but part of me also wanted to draw the whole scene as it is imprinted in my soul. I actually sketched the scene, with the intention to use the same pose for the portrait. Perhaps one day I also finish the whole scene. But for now the portrait is more than satisfying. This is the first literal past life memory I draw and finish exactly as I remember it. And that makes it really, really special and important to me. I'm not even going to talk about the technique this time. I am just glad I could recreate him in a decent way, close enough to how I remember him.


Reference: past life memory.
Polychromos color pencils, erasers.
20 x 30 cm black paper. ~ 4 hours maybe.


In light of all that, please no silly comments.
Be respectful to him because if you met him, I guarantee you would be either respectful or dead. Sometimes you might be respectful and still end up dead. You do not mess with a beast like this.

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