This drawing was a piece I created in my Drawing II class this past summer at SCAD. The assignment was to come up with a creature that was a mixture of at least three animals. Because of my love for cats, I wanted the main animal to be a cheetah. I added dragon wings, which were also partly inspired by bats, to incorporate my love for fantasy creatures. I added the tail of a snake as a nod to my Hogwarts House - Slytherin. And I added eland horns as an added detail! I named the creature a Dracelian, combining parts of “dragon” and “eland”, honoring parts of it’s mixed heritage.

Since the Dracelian has the body of a cheetah, that comes with being the fastest animal on the planet. It can run up to 80 miles per hour. The dragon wings allow it to fly, so not only can it run faster than any other animal, it can also survive in the air. The horns are used as a defense mechanism in case it needs to protect itself. The contrast between the soft fur and the rough wings and horn, and the contrast between land animal traits and air animal characteristics allow the Dracelian to be very well-rounded and have the ability to survive in multiple different environments. This all being said, the Dracelian is extremely powerful. It eats mostly small animals like birds, rabbits, and anything else cheetahs normally eat, though sometimes it snacks on insects that snakes would.

This piece was done completely in micron pen and took many, many hours. I used a 0.5 pen for the fine detail and an 8 pen for the thicker lines. The original piece was done on 14x18 cardstock. Here is some of my micron pen exploration and drawing process.

After my final creature was completed, I created 3 different sizes (6x4, 18x12, and 24x18) and printed them at the print shop I work at. Now that I have some in stock, I am ready to share my art and ship out prints! You can find the link to the Etsy listing here or reach out to me via email (actuallycarmela@gmail.com) if you are interested in getting a custom size print or canvas. Plus, FREE shipping in the U.S!

All purchases go towards helping me pay for tuition and art supplies for my classes at SCAD, and I really appreciate all your support in advance. Even if you can’t buy a print, all of you who have supported me in any way on my artistic journey mean the world to me. Thank you for letting me do what I love!