Dragon - sand sculpture

avatar



I find it interesting that Dragons appear in so many cultures around the world, from China to Mesopotamia from the Nordic Countries to India, all have their own version of this mythical beast. Like all legends, there may have been some truth to the beginning of their story. Maybe these great fire-breathers did exist at one time and became extinct or maybe the ancients found the fossils of dinosaurs and used their overactive imagination to embellish them with magical powers.

As an evolutionary trait, I can't really see the use of being able to breathe fire. A good weapon to fight an enemy, maybe but, not very useful during lovemaking. Heavy breathing could have made their partner very hot and bothered. Then again, if memory serves me correctly, in fantasy stories they were egg layers and maybe it was to keep them warm. Scales are also not very aerodynamic and their wing to body ratio leads me to think they were flightless.

Drag on!

Where am I going with this, ah yes! I am just trying to write a few words to make you think about anything else and not the sculpture which in my opinion was nothing to write home about. But still, Like all my sculptures, it needs to be documented here on Hive.



It was made over a three day period at the Dunncannon sand sculpture festival 2015. This little fishing village in the south of Ireland has invited us down over many years to make a sculpture. Unfortunately, time has never been in big supply when it has come to make the sculptures because the budget is quite low. This year they could only afford to have Niall Magee and myself down. They piled up banks of sand and I decided to do the larger 360 pile while Niall made a castle and some knights in the other one at the end of the tent.



When I say 360, I mean that this pile of sand could be viewed from all angles by the audience. I figured it looked a bit like a sleeping dragon and that would fit in quite nicely with the theme they had given us of 'knights and castles'.

I'll be the first to admit it wasn't brilliant but I think it got the job done in the time I was given.



In the composition I also made this girl type character pulling his chain. She looked an awful lot more graceful in my head. At the end of the long days, they were happy and so I was happy.

Working in soft, uncompacted beach sand like this is always a challenge and you have one chance to get things as close to okay as you can. There is no possibility or time to redo. It is really like sketching a drawing in 3 dimensions.





Ps

Thanks for reading. I use PeakD to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, amongst other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Hive Blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.

4:16 am - sand sculpture

Daddy's boy - Family and a little sand sculpture

A drink with an Alien - sand sculpture

I hope you'll join me again soon
@ammonite

If you would like to support me

Bitcoin: bc1qp4lfg0ttz66nesgff8fd5unglg9y0l2jy53j36
Ethereum: 0x6abaE039b9BDFB67495A0588cb90F9EAF5f7556c
Eos: ammonitearts

I am also starting to create NFTs of my sculptures and welcome you to my gallery where you can own a bit of ephemeral sculpture history



0
0
0.000
16 comments
avatar

Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍

Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!

Want to have your post on the map too?

  • Go to Pinmapple
  • Click the get code button
  • Click on the map where your post should be (zoom in if needed)
  • Copy and paste the generated code in your post (Hive only)
  • Congrats, your post is now on the map!

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

One of the leading hypotheses for the origin of dragons is that it is based on the three/four main predators a pre-sapien hominid faced, which has become instinctively ingrained into us to cause revulsive fear. A dragon combines the elements of crocodiles, snakes, big cats and eagles into a single animal. When our primordial fear is triggered by any one of these, or anything resembling these, what our imagination immediately sees and reacts to is the dragon. In this way fear of dragons could be a single evolutionary trait that protected us from multiple predators at once.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Interesting theory. I always find it interesting when people have certain phobias like for snakes when the chance of actually meeting one is slight. It does sound like the hypotheses could be correct. I still don't get the fire. Maybe it is the fearful respect of these things.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I love this and how modest you are. You done a great job. I hope you are keeping well xxxxx

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you @trucklife-family. I am not sure about modest, I have been known to be quite immodest. Happy new year to you and yours.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Unbelievable ❤️ I cant believe how talented people can be with sand sculptures. Love it! That's pretty cool and a great way to promote the new art!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Like all your other sculptures, it's fine XP

Poor dragon with the bull ring though.

0
0
0.000
avatar

It was Ok I suppose.

This Dragon was quite dangerous so the nose ring was a must. I originally wanted to put it around his neck But ran out of time and sand.

0
0
0.000
avatar

What a good job I love dragons not only because of the mythology around them but also because of how monumental they show it, I also like the girl that you added in your composition shows a strong woman who is able to tame her own dragon without waiting let someone else do it for her.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you @devania. I am also fascinated by these creatures and love to see them in fairy tales. The girl definitely has strong shoulders. I would not want to be under her control. Happy new year to you.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Me hiciste recordar al dragón de la historia interminable ¡esta genial!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Muchísimas gracias. Me encantó esa película.

0
0
0.000