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The End of a Legend
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The final image in my Beowulf series entitled The End of a Legend. This one depicts the final battle between Beowulf and the dragon. Unlike his previous battles this one takes place years later after Beowulf is made king. A dragon begins to terrify Beowulf's land setting fire to all he sees. Beowulf with a group of thanes then faces off against the dragon. When the battle begins all of Beowulf's men except for Wiglaf abandon him. At the end of the fight Beowulf and the dragon both lie dead and Wiglaf sees to him. Wiglaf being Beowulf's only relative becomes the next king.
To contrast with my other pieces I wanted this one to depict the end of the battle, the aftermath of the carnage. I thought a nice way to show this was through the use of an above view so we could see the crows looking down upon the feast before them. I thought this quite appropriate as crows are very symbolic of death.
With the design of the dragon I wanted to keep with the same mammalian and aquatic fusion that Grendel and his mother had. I decided to give him a mane down his whole neck. I figured that any creature who lives in such a cold environment would need to have some form of warmth. He has the similar fin nature to his ear that Grendel and his mother does, but the main aquatic feature I gave him was to base his design off an eel.
I was really proud of how this piece turned out, I hope all of you enjoy it as well.
PART 1 level20artist.deviantart.com/a… PART 2 level20artist.deviantart.com/a…
© J. Edwin Stevens/level20artist
PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE www.inprnt.com/gallery/level20…
The final image in my Beowulf series entitled The End of a Legend. This one depicts the final battle between Beowulf and the dragon. Unlike his previous battles this one takes place years later after Beowulf is made king. A dragon begins to terrify Beowulf's land setting fire to all he sees. Beowulf with a group of thanes then faces off against the dragon. When the battle begins all of Beowulf's men except for Wiglaf abandon him. At the end of the fight Beowulf and the dragon both lie dead and Wiglaf sees to him. Wiglaf being Beowulf's only relative becomes the next king.
To contrast with my other pieces I wanted this one to depict the end of the battle, the aftermath of the carnage. I thought a nice way to show this was through the use of an above view so we could see the crows looking down upon the feast before them. I thought this quite appropriate as crows are very symbolic of death.
With the design of the dragon I wanted to keep with the same mammalian and aquatic fusion that Grendel and his mother had. I decided to give him a mane down his whole neck. I figured that any creature who lives in such a cold environment would need to have some form of warmth. He has the similar fin nature to his ear that Grendel and his mother does, but the main aquatic feature I gave him was to base his design off an eel.
I was really proud of how this piece turned out, I hope all of you enjoy it as well.
PART 1 level20artist.deviantart.com/a… PART 2 level20artist.deviantart.com/a…
© J. Edwin Stevens/level20artist
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© 2010 - 2021 Level20Artist
Comments57
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Amazing! Its absolutley epic.
Thank you so very much.
Wooah, this is really epic ! *O*
Thank you so much. I always like it when my stuff can look epic. 
You're very welcome 
Not familiar with the story behind this, but the picture and the title itself is so...powerful! Really, really AMAZING work!!
Thank you so very much. Yeah this is just the ending of the legend of Beowulf. The end of the final battle. Could classical fantasy.
But I am so glad you like it again thanks so much.
But I am so glad you like it again thanks so much.
Man, I totally missed the dragon the first time I saw this. The whole story's here! Too awesome.
HAHA yeah I have stared at it so long that all I see is the dragon. But thank you so much I am so glad you like it.
Great picture, its from a great view point of the scene as well
Thank you so much. I am glad you like it.
i really loved this series, this pictures where my reason to "watch" you, i can see why are you proud of this
Aww thank you so much that really means a lot. And thank you for the favs as well I greatly appreciate it.
you are welcome
Lovely illustration. The way the carve out the picture is really awesome. Neat idea, and excellently executed! I guess one crit would be that at first I thought the dragon was a tree trunk or something. My point being, I dint see the dragon at first, and a guy that was dead with a couple of guys mourning his death was enough of a narrative for me, so wasn't looking for anything more. I would perhaps try to see if I could lay out some of the picture to bring some attention to the dragon? Maybe some more contrast? The dragins head darker, the ground birghter for example. Maybe bring him out by isolation, ie not have the wing of the bird touch its head. Have one of the men looking at the head of the dragin. Or even touching it? All of thee above elements i mentioned was executed brilliantly with the dead guy though. So maybe you hide the dragon with purpose?
Aaanyways. Lovely piece!
Aaanyways. Lovely piece!
I see what you are saying, however I did intentionally want the dragon to be a secondary element. Since that scene in the story is more focused upon the death of Beowulf himself. Also I did not want to add more contrast for I thought that more contrast would begin to bring the dragon forward too much, and this being a unique vantage point I really wanted to make sure I captured the idea of depth. Which I feel would have gotten lost if the dragon had more contrast. So all these factors made me keep it more as a secondary element.
Thank you though for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my piece.
Thank you though for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time to look at my piece.
te amo!
Gracias.
Amazing use of composition... I really love it!
Thank you so much. I am very glad you like it .
.very welcome
great work i like the composition
Thank you, I am very glad you like it.
yuore very welcome
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