The Making of a Dragon - Niv-Mizzet

Earlier this year I was delighted to have my needle felting proposal accepted to enter The Desert Bus For Hope 2019 Craft-Along. This annual auction and giveaway of art and crafts based in Canada raises money for the Child's Play Charity providing games in hospitals for children around the world

After the excitement of being accepted came the realisation of the long and daunting dragon-creating road that lay ahead!

For more info click the link below.

https://desertbus.org/info/about

Niv-Mizzet comes from the game Magic The Gathering and there are many beautiful artworks featuring different interpretations of this dragon.

My initial dilemma was how to find my own style and design with so many inspiring illustratons to base it on. I wanted to capture his proud, self-important and powerful nature but also give him a (slightly) cuter style.

This was my first but rapidly abandoned attempt at the head and neck fan structure. It is now in my 'waiting to be re-invented' box of felt body parts!

Nuno felting the wings with Peace Silk, NZ merino, Bamboo Fibres and recycled saris.

Thanks to the advice of other felters, I decided to wet felt the wings to make a strong but thin and almost translucent fabric with slight fraying on the edges. It took a few attempts to get the right graduation of colour but I love how they turned out.

Adding wire structure to the wet felted neck fan ruff

Glass cabochons were hand-painted to make eyes in a fiddly process using many layers of nail varnish, scratching it off and painting over it again. I found this great tutorial by Yvonne Williams that got me started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsSaE9g1Y1w

The claws were created by dipping wool in melted black beeswax and then trimming and shaping them.

Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but 2 dragon fingers slipped down quite nicely!!

Adding the claws before covering, shaping and a little manicure.

The stomach scales were created by cutting up and re-felting my trial wings and neck fans.

I sculpted Niv-Mizzet's mouth so that it could be opened slightly to show off his white beeswax teeth.

I'd love to hear any questions and comments that you have about this making process. It's a speedy run through of work that took over 100 hours.

If you'd like to be in with a chance to win Niv-Mizzet in the giveaway, he will be up for grabs on Saturday 9th November between 8pm and 2am (GMT)

Update : So delighted that my Niv-Mizzet dragon just made $4,104.59 for Child's Play Charity.

Fly well to your new home and a huge thank you to @desertbusforhope for all their hard work fundraising so far.

To see the exciting giveaway head to my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/johannailesart/videos/2514716261951235