I’m excited to share a series of dragons from last month’s “Smaugust” artist event that were created by another of my favorites, American professional artist Katie Croonenberghs, posting on deviantart as Kamakru.  Above is her adorable Day #20 Smaugust Original, available for purchase (if it hasn’t been sold already!) on Katie’s newly revamped website.  As the artist herself explains:

Smaugust is an art challenge in which one dragon is created every day during the month of August. Smaug is the famous dragon which makes its appearance in The Hobbit, hence the title of the challenge makes this all about dragons! Last year’s series was done on toned paper with graphite and black and white colored pencil.

This year each dragon will be designed and painted in watercolor. The illustrations themselves are 4×6 inches on 5×7 high quality watercolor paper. Some paintings are embellished with reflective paint, white ink or even heavy white acrylic paint for added texture.

I actually shared Katie’s Smaugust pieces last year too!  You can check them out at her link above, or in my post here.  Next up is Katie’s Day #19 dragon.  I love dragon-and-moon pairings!

Here’s a really nice dragon in flight, her Day #1 picture.  As one commenter pointed out, the colors of the clouds are unusual, and really beautiful!

And then, because I’m sitting next to the water as I write this, here is her awesome water dragon for Day #7.  Katie says, “Sea serpent! I had a lot of fun with this guy, pushing those teal colors with watercolor is tricky, then trying to give more dynamic lighting as well.”

I always have so much trouble just choosing a few images, of course, so here are more of Katie’s lovely Smaugust pieces. Below is Day #22 with a shining star, Day #5 with awesome multi-part wings, Day #10 with beautiful fringe, Day #3 on a beach of its own, and Day #6 with a bright sun!  Be sure to hit the links to see larger versions of each picture!

And finally, possibly because we all had eclipse-fever here in the States last month, Katie also did this eclipse dragon on Day #21.  I love her double wing design!

This piece has already been sold, but according to a recent Facebook post, just like she did with her Smaugust 2016 images, you’ll have a chance to purchase a book of art prints for Smaugust 2017 in the coming months!  You can also visit Katie’s Portfolio on her website, follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, and watch her work on her YouTube Channel!

That’s a picture of Katie at her booth at Rose City Comic Con from her Instagram feed. You can also catch Katie in person coming up at Geek Girl Con in Seattle, Washington on September 30 – October 1, and then at Jet City Comic Show in Tacoma, Washington on November 4 – 5.  Keep up with where Katie’s going to be by checking her Convention Show Schedule page.

So, once again I missed last week, but that just means another post will be coming later this week, so come back to check that out!  Thanks as always for reading, take care, and stay creative!

Image credits:
All art in this post is by Katie Croonenberghs, and can be found on her Smaugust Originals page
Smaugust 2017 Pieces #20, #19, #1, #7, #22, #5, #10, #3, #6, and #21
Katie at Rose City Comic Con from her Instagram feed