Museum Entry: Thunder Dragon Emperor Enraiga













 
Greetings. It's been a long time coming, but the photos of the Thunder Dragon are finally finished. This project is easily the largest and most complicated of the dragon heads and its concept evolved slightly since the early phases of development. Here are the pictures of the Thunder Dragon, Enraiga.
  
3/4 View
Close-up view
Here are two side views of the piece. Enraiga's color scheme is meant to reflect the bright intensity of thunder and lightning and I used a blending of bright yellows mixed with blues to reflect this. The jaws and throat are a more subdued gray color which is more neutral and contrasts with the teeth. The white inner teeth are made of glow-in-the-dark clay. As mentioned before, I wanted to try something different with this piece and made the jagged outer jaws in addition to the individual fangs. I think it adds a unique flair to the piece.


Top-down view
Close-up view
In the top-down shots here, you can see the darker blue color scheme of the upper part of the head and horns. I wanted this dragon to have a more regal appearance fitting of an elder dragon so I added long arched horns that sloped off the head and branched. It took a lot of reinforcing to hold their shape but they've since maintained their position. You can also see the gold glass stones decorating the head of the piece to match the yellow color scheme and provide contrast against the blue.

Front view
The frontal view taken from below shows the piece head-on. The jagged jaws are a bit harder to see here but the inner white teeth are more apparent. The piece overall has a more narrow shape than some of the others I've made. This is compensated by the head's overall length/height and including the horns it's at least six feet tall. I actually had to mount it up higher on the wall in order for it to display properly.

To offer a bit of background on Enraiga's concept, this dragon was intended to have a more regal design fitting of a title of 'Dragon Emperor' while reflecting a thunder/lightning elemental affinity. Finally, Enraiga's name in Japanese can be represented as [炎雷牙] which means 'blazing thunder fang'. I did start off with an initial base design in emblem for this one as shown below:

 
 
The basis shape of the head is consistent with the large horns and the color scheme reflected a combination of yellow and blue. I think the decision to blend the colors ultimately worked out.
 
That should be it for now. The pictures of the hydra are done and I'm in the process of sorting them out. I'll prepare a post for that one as well once I've created the emblem for it. Stay tuned.
 
~Zan

 

MLP: FiM Season 4 Celebration! New Button Sets Are Live


Hi there, Pony Fans! Friendship is Magic is set to start up its fourth season this week and the internet is buzzing with excitement! To celebrate the kickoff, I've completed six new sets of face buttons for the Mane Six and they're up on our Etsy store! Check out some previous of the new buttons below!


Fluttershy AKA Still Best Pony

Pinkie Pie

[Princess] Twilight Sparkle

Rarity

Rainbow Dash

Applejack

That's all for now. Don't forget that you can still mix and match your orders with all of our other posted sets. Just be sure to tell us which ones you want and don't be afraid to ask us questions!

~Multi Palette out.

Hydra Project Update



Greetings. As is typical of large projects, the papier mache hydra proved to be too complex to finish by Halloween. To provide an update, here are some more current WIP shots of the piece. It's actually completed as of this post and I will follow up soon with a full set of pictures and a write-up. In order to finally finish off the Thunder Dragon, I'm planning to re-shoot the pictures of that project at the same time. Depending on the size of the posts, I'll either cover both at once or in two consecutive entries here.

Side view
This is a side shot that shows pretty much the entire piece. The body winds around to the side and can be seen in the later shots. After attaching all the heads, I reinforced the necks with several layers of cloth skin over wire hangers to add stability. The one that required the most support was the central larger head.

Close up side view

Front view
 From the front, the width of the pieces can be seen in this shot. I tried to give the piece an organic look by positioning and aligning each of the heads in their own direction.

Top-down
This shot from above obscures the body of the hydra bit due to the winding necks of each head. You can see how utterly massive the entire creature is.

Head 1

Head 2

Head 3

Head 4

Head 5
The four smaller heads and their serpentine shape can be seen in the first four of these shots. The fifth larger central head has a more dragonlike shape originally detailed in the initial concept sketches. I added a few ridges along the snout and head and a row to each of the smaller necks to give some additional detail. The main head required quite a bit of hanger support and I actually tied it to a nearby lamp with wire while it dried during the cloth phase. I plan on keeping it supported for a while after the piece was completed to give the skin and paint time to cure. It should become rigid and hold its shape over time due to the support.

That's it for now. As I mentioned at the beginning, the piece is finished and needs to be photographed now. Hopefully I can get a full set of images up this weekend and also finally post the completed Thunder Dragon as well.

Regarding our previously mentioned discussion with the new potential artists, I've commissioned a set of smaller stylized drawings of my dragons as the entry project for this new artist. The management decided to have them posted as an introduction a little bit later. Finally, expect some new Pony content from Multi Palette within the next week. It seems like I've been delegated the responsibility of news reporter.

Hm.

~Zan
 



Halloween Update: New Pony Sets Go Live with Villians Part 2 and More!


Greetings, Pony Fans! To celebrate the upcoming spooky holiday, we're adding a new set of buttons to our on-line store. This set of designs will feature some frequently requested villains, Nightmare Moon and King Sombra! You can find the 5 and 10 buttons sets on our Etsy Store!

 

On a somewhat related note, we've been experimenting with some pony-related concept art here at the studio. Thematically set in the world of the Monster Hunter series, here are a couple rough designs two characters currently unnamed.





We're not sure what we plan on doing with these characters yet but as things develop, we'll be sure to keep things up to date here!

~Multi Palette out.

Studio Update: Latest Hydra Pictures and Upcoming New Projects


Hello. The papier mache hydra project is underway. I'm trying to complete it in time for Halloween so we'll see if that schedule will hold. Shown below are some updated work in progress shots of the piece during the construction phase.
 

Here is the first WIP shot of the hydra. This picture shows the five heads and necks joined to the body. On the four smaller necks, you can see a skeletal structure of wire segments running the along the length. I went back after this picture and removed the heads, adding an additional layer of padding around each to fill them out. I've clothed the underside of the main body and each of the smaller necks to reinforce them. The necks will be clothed up to the end before I attach the heads to make sure each will hold its position after the heads are added.




This shot is a better view of the five  heads. Note the serpentine shape of the four smaller ones. The jaws have been clothed and painted per the normal methods and the larger main head has horns and a central crest. In order to make it easier to get details at the cloth stage, I plan to cloth each of these heads before attaching them to the neck.

 
As mentioned in the previous post, the above is a scan of some rough pencil early concepts of the hydra. The original design was intended to have four heads with a snake-like shape and a central more detailed dragon-styled head. I do like the additional fins and the ridges on the main head and will probably add some additional features prior to covering them with the cloth skin.

___________________________________________________________________________________

On an unrelated note, the studio has been in discussions with a potential new artist for our projects. A concept artist with a focus in cartoon/manga styled drawings, we're working on some actual graphic representations of my papier mache pieces, specifically the dragons. The following two shots are teasers portraits for two of them.

Noctis Abraxia

Sylphine
The studio will probably have the potential new artist make an introductory post with some more teaser content as it develops and follow up with some complete drawings. Stay tuned.

~Zan

New Project Launches: Paper Mache Hydra















Hello. The studio has been working on some projects behind the scenes lately and it's time to start posting some updates. Due to having to re-shoot the completed Thunder Dragon, we've decided to move ahead and start getting some updates posted on our latest mache project.

The next piece that's currently in progress will be a 5-headed Hydra. A serpentine creature with multiple heads, this will be a full-sized piece made using the standard processes. Right now it has been mached and is drying before moving on to the construction phase. The following in a WIP shot of the piece so far.



Shown here, you can see the body of the creature in the upper left. In total, it's probably more than ten feet long including the two necks. The five heads' jaws are in the back and the remaining necks and construction materials are there as well. The jaws have actually been clothed already and are waiting to be painted. The next phase will be during the construction phase. I plan to get a picture of some early concept sketches for this piece as well.
Stay tuned.

-Zan



Thanks to All the Attendees and Staff at Everfree Northwest 2013!

 

Greetings! The studio's first year at a convention as a vendor was an overwhelming success! We met so many incredible people at this year's event. The response to our button sets was fantastic and we couldn't have asked for more. This was definitely a learning experience for our team and we'll be incorporating those learning points for next time.

Once the dust settles and we recover from the con, we'll be working on some new items based on feedback we received from folks at the event. There are some new Pony characters coming as well as some much-needed updates on our mache projects.

Thanks and stay tuned!

~The Drakenwrath Team

Operation EFNW II: Vengeful Ten x Friendship




Hello. With the event a couple days away, the studio has been moving quickly to try and finish the last of our inventory. Due to a last minute supply crunch, we weren't able to get a complete set of buttons for my Graphic Design series. While it is unfortunate, our focus is on the Pony-related items for the event so that took priority.

Still, we want to be able to offer some of Drakenwrath's own unique items so we will be taking the entire Vengeful Ten (nine in total) set of masks to be put up for sale at the event. Our on-line listings for these nine will be temporarily deactivated on Etsy for the weekend. Any masks that aren't sold will be reposted after the event.

For those wondering, the prices of masks will be dropped to $40 for the event. We don't have the custom insignias or buttons but the pieces will be offered at this lowered price for this weekend only. I will be the one primarily operating the table on behalf of the studio for the weekend and can answer any questions regarding the masks at the event.

See you there.

-Zan




Operation EFNW: Production Mode Engage



Greetings Pony fans and greater internet! It's been a bit since we last posted here. Things have been really busy around the studio because we'll be attending the Washington MLP convention, Everfree Northwest in July! This year marks the second run of this growing con and we've taken the chance to attend as a vendor this year. Based on the overwhelmingly positive responses to our buttons when we went last year, it looks to be a good chance to help Drakenwrath Designs get some more exposure. At the event, we'll be selling all of the button sets for the Pony series that have appeared here, as well as some of Zanshinretsu's original work as well. Time schedule permitting, we hope to include some of the non-pony designs and paper mache masks at the event.
 
To give those of you who may be finding this page from the EFNW main site, here is a teaser of our button layouts that we're bringing to the con. Please note that they have been grouped together on these sheets at an upscaled size for easy viewing in our catalog books. Also, the numbering has been changed on a couple of them since we wanted to group them by character. A couple are missing due to formatting and if I'm able to make some adjustments to the sheet layouts I'll add them to this post later.
 
 
Fluttershy (aka Best Pony)

Pinkie Pie

(Princess) Twilight Sparkle

Rarity

Rainbow Dash


Applejack

Princess Celestia/Princess Luna/Aloe/Berry Punch/Colgate

Discord/Chrysalis/Lyra/Bon Bon

Big Mac/Cheerilee/Trixie/Zecora

Spitfire/Soarin'/Vinyl Scratch/Octavia

Derpy Hooves/Dr. Whooves/Princess Cadance/Shining Armor

Apple Bloom/Scootaloo/Sweetie Belle/Cutie Marks I

Cutie Marks II

That should do it for now. I'll make sure to keep this updated if our offerings change. Expect Zan to make a post for his work that will be at the con as the event gets closer. We're still processing orders through the Etsy store in the meantime if you absolutely can't wait until July. Just remember to follow the numbering shown on the Etsy listings since the layout here is specifically for our setup at EFNW.

See you soon!

~Multi Palette out.