D is for Dragumon Contest

It's an art contest!

Many of you might have heard that the story seed for The Magic Wakes came from a dream my freshman year in college. That seed evolved over the years and grew into something completely different. In fact, the only thing that survived were the creatures from that dream.

Nearly twenty years later and I can still see them when I close my eyes. Perhaps that's why it's so hard to  have an artist draw them. I want specific elements included that pose a problem. Today I want to issue a challenge to any and all artists out there

Can you draw, sculpt or digitally create the image in my head?

• I'll give you detailed descriptions below and then you work your magic in any medium you are comfortable with. 
• You can scan and email me your pictures (or take a couple pictures of your sculptures so we can see all sides).
• By submitting your art you agree to allow me to post the image on my blog (here) and my website (charitybradford.com) with your name and link if you wish. You retain all copyrights to your work and I will not use your images for financial gain in any way. 
• The person who comes the closest to my vision will win a signed copy of The Magic Wakes and the digital copy of Dragumon when it's ready for publication. 

The Details:

The Dragumon were created by a mage using a powerful binding spell to meld together the blood and traits of many species--human, dragon, canine, feline and eagle.

Height: Males average 8 feet tall, females average 7 and 1/2 feet

Color: Most are Greens with a few Reds (Shishali is a Red female. Read more about her on S day)

Physiology: 

The Dragumon stand and walk on two legs, but the legs are not straight like human legs. They are more like the hind legs of a dragon. Strong, powerful thighs, tapering below the knee to taloned raptor or eagle-like feet. 

Even with the bend to the legs, their torsos are upright giving them the appearance of settling half way into a squat. They have a strong powerful tail that helps with balance and its agile enough to use in battle as a finely tuned weapon (whipping, wrapping around things, etc). I believe prehensile is the word.

They have a well defined human torso and muscular arms but the hands are slightly larger than normal. These hands are human in design with retractable talons (feline and eagle DNA).

There is a thick muscular ridgeline rising from the clavicle and up the neck. Think cobra or Cardassians. The entire body is covered in scales, but the face has smooth areas. It's also outlined with ridgelines. No two Dragumon has the same patterns.

The Dragumon's head and face is the tricky part. Think human skull and then pull out the nose and mouth area into a canine short snout formation. Then pull the back of the head out for a slightly (very slight) oblong shape (more like a dragon's skull). Give it tall, pointy canine ears that swivel in different directions to hone in on sounds. Keep the eyes completely human. This is part of their terror--human eyes looking out of that face.


Clothing:
They don't need much clothing and wear a modified (think scifi styled) version of the loin cloth. Males and females have slight differences. Females have leaner but well defined muscles and athletic sized breasts. No double D's! These are physical predators not lush scifi strumpets.

Accessories:
When attacking they wear a battery pack strapped to their back that powers their plasma staffs. These "staff" look just like the wooden staff a mage might carry around and is in fact a mockery of that image. It spits plasma (laser) beams that incinerate anything unlucky enough to get in the way. This is the "clean sweap" method of invasion, but many prefer a more hands on approach to death.

In The Magic Wakes, a small contingent of Dragumon wear a wrist band sensor that tracks the energy signature of the mages--Talia and Landry.

____

Are you up to the challenge?
Send your entries to:
charity.bradford @ gmail.com
by
May 5th.

Ask any questions you may have for clarification in the comments or via email.