CHAPTER 1 | MYTHICAL CREATURES

Fantastic creatures are a delight for illustrators. In 1806, German illustrator Friedrich Bertuch created a children’s picture book in which he illustrated mythical creatures such as the griffin, the phoenix, the unicorn, the dragon, and the mermaid. Each mythical creature has its own exciting or romantic story! On the Internet you will find an alphabetical list with the corresponding stories.

Several mythical creatures above and below are composed of different animals, or they are half-human and half-animal, like the mermaid. A mythical creature can therefore have different types of skin within a single body: smooth, scaled, hairy, spiky, and/or feathered. For drawing different skin types, see Chapter 2.

EXTRA: Find a mythical creature that appeals to you and create your own drawing about it. You can also compose your own mythical creature and give it a name.

Mythical creatures appear in all cultures. For example, terrifying giant snakes and dragons exist in Norse mythology (the Midgard Serpent or Jörmungandr), as well as in Bali (the Antaboga) and Iran/Persia (the Azhi Dahaka). Anyone who thought that mythical creatures like dragons only appear in ancient stories is mistaken. The Shoyrus are small dragons that fly around in Neopia, a digital world.

Less cute is the giant African/Asian dragon below, attacking an elephant