Throwback Art ~ Tsunami Dragon

Tsunami Sea Dragon, graphite and charcoal art by Amber Marine

This is one of my oldest surviving art pieces; "Tsunami."

I worked on this piece for a little over a month back in December 2004 - January 2005. I really couldn't afford art supplies back then, so this guy was drawn using my old school supplies - mostly mechanical pencil and a little bit of charcoal in my old worn sketchbook I had been carrying around for years.

Tsunami is a relic that reveals a bit of how my artistic style has evolved. I began as an illustrator. I have always been very detail-focused - down to the grit on each individual scale. When I began painting regularly, my detailed style endured - to this day I finish my paintings with itty-bitty brushes, and will detail a single art piece for weeks on end.

Back in 2005, I found a little frame for the original drawing at a thrift shop. I finished the piece right before my Grandpa's birthday, and I gave it to him as a gift. My Grandpa's encouragement as well as his love for the ocean were fundamental to my development both as an artist and as a person. He was my favorite salty old sea dragon.

As the world turned, my dragon came back to me. I had been keeping it safe and locked away for almost a decade. I recently decided to bring Tsunami back out into the light and show him to the world, (Grandpa was an artist himself, he would have wanted all this detail work to be seen!) and on Tsunami's 12th anniversary I've made a small batch of 25 first edition limited prints.