Sketchbook Project: Shen

Shen, pen, watercolor & acrylic ink on watercolor paper, 7 x 10", 2011.

I didn't complete the project I was working on for Illustration Rally, so I worked on a page of my Sketchbook Project sketchbook. That way I'd feel like I finished something this weekend!

My theme is "Uncharted Waters", so I've been drawing mythological water creatures. This one is new to me; I had never heard of it before I started researching different water myths. A shen is a giant clam kind of thing that creates mirages. It comes from Chinese legends, and is supposed to really be a dragon disguised as a mollusk... pretty tricky! The mirages were never specifically described in anything I read. I decided that since desert mirages show water, underwater mirages must show something with land.

People who pick up this sketchbook when it's on tour are going to be super confused because it won't come with an explanation! I'm going to look like a crazy person who draws space-forest-clam things... which I guess is true...