Kyle Ploehn is an artist, illustrator and writer living in Billings Montana. He likes to spend the few hours he isn't painting hiking the mountains of Montana.

This painting was a commission project for a wonderful local nurse. As an artist, having someone fall in love with a painting is a particularly special experience, however there is something exceptionally fun about finally showing someone a finished project they helped craft. After spending many hours discussing sketches and layouts she had to sit patiently by while I painted for a number of months. The way her eyes lit up when she finally saw the finished painting really reminds me why I like to do what I do.

While a dragon is a fantastical creature and I’m typically known as a wildlife painter, it can be good creatively to stretch beyond what is normal. A painting like this poses new interesting problems to be solved. For one, a creature like this doesn’t exist so how would it work? What would it look like? How would a wing work if it also has a shoulder? While being a challenge, it also provides exploration and a sense of creation working on real animals can’t evoke.

The original is sold. Visit me at http://kyleploehnart.blogspot.com