Jun 14, 20223 min read

The Beast from the Brush: Ryuvhiel’s Fantasy Illustrations

Ryuvhiel is a traditional and digital fantasy artist who launched her freelance illustration career a year ago.

Ryuvhiel creates gorgeous digital and traditional paintings of fantasy creatures large and small. She enjoys working with ink, oil, watercolor, and acrylics.

"For me painting is not only a technique, but also a way of thinking – I find a lot of joy in constructing artworks with colors, shapes and splashes. Creating with pure lines has always been more difficult for me, however I really like to define objects with different kinds of strokes and deep contrast.”

Gryphon Starting His Flight:

There are plenty legends of gryphons living among the mountains. [Digital]

Ryuvhiel has been creating art all her life. Since she began drawing at the age of three it has always been her favourite thing to do. She loves the fact that through art she can bring life to anything she imagines, creation in its purest form.

It is for this same reason that Ryuvhiel decided to make art her career. A career she is now expanding through the recent launch of her etsy shop where she sells a collection of gorgeous black ink prints.

Ryuvhiel finds most of her inspiration in the visual texts of different cultures. Along this line she loves the fantasy themes found in the paintings of the old masters:

“I truly admire works of Arnold Böcklin, a XIX century Swiss symbolist painter. They are incredibly rich in narrative and tell amazing stories.”

Centaur in the Village Smithy (1888) -Arnold Böcklin

Her favourite of his works is the painting called Centaur in the Village Smithy, which depicts a centaur asking a blacksmith to shoe him. The scene is observed by other villagers and you can’t be sure whether the centaur is visiting the place regularly, or maybe he is not wanted there at all. In her opinion it is this collision of realities and creative usage of mythical themes that make this artwork a masterpiece.

Other artists Ryuvhiel finds inspiring include: Heinrich Kley, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Franz Marc, and Zdzisław Beksiński.

For literary inspiration Ryuvhiel turns to the works of Ursula K. Le Guin of which The Earthsea Cycle is her favourite:

“What I love about it is how deep and holistic the story is. It takes places in perfectly balanced universe held together by ancient rules. Understanding those rules can help us understand our own reality... This story is full of wisdom and shows human nature and life's journey in beautiful manner. I also love the way Le Guin is depicting dragon characters, which are my favourite fantasy creatures.”

Finally, her favourite film universes include Star Wars and The Dark Crystal, both of which she appreciates for their deep and innovative worldbuilding.

Dragon's Breakfast:

This shade of emerald green is one of Ryuvhiel’s favourite colors compelling her to create a dragon in this palate. [Digital]

Ryuvhiel participated in her first D&D session several years ago. It was a special experience as the session was a gift to her best friend. She deeply enjoyed playing with her friends and years later would join another more regular campaign with a friend who took up the mantle of game master.

Inktober 'Crystal' Dragon Head:

This dragon is so old that his head was slowly covered by crystals. [Ink]

Ryuvhiel finds plenty of inspiration in every D&D session she plays, she finds the variety of races and species that populate the setting a particularly strong source for artistic ideas. As such she has done sketches of characters in her game and has recently felt inspired to fill an entire sketchbook with drawings of D&D characters.

It will come as no surprise that she has a particular soft spot for dragonborn.

Inktober ‘Roof’ Gargoyle:

Created for Inktober 2021. Is this beast defending the building on which it sits

or claiming it as its own? [Ink]

When not drawing Ryuvhiel likes to spend her time writing. She dreams of one day writing a fantasy series of her own, perhaps even in the form of a comic or picture book incorporating her artwork.

Currently she is working on building her own fantasy world, filled with custom creatures and characters, one of which named Ryuvhiel inspired her to take on the moniker herself.