This is one of the drawings of which the concept just kind of popped up in my imagination while daydreaming. With most of those ideas I let them simmer in the back of my mind to see if they stick or evolve. If it stays for like a week it most likely is interesting enough to sketch and play around with on paper. This is why I can always start drawing when I sit down. The process doesn’t start with an empty piece of paper. If I don’t have ideas, I go for a walk instead of sitting down as it makes me more creative.

For this drawing I decided to experiment with using image generation for finding references that work for me. I do not think AI generated images are art or writing a prompt is “creating”, but I do think the generated content can help with inspiration. On the right here you can see how I used two generated images as references for the fantasy animals. I had an idea for a bird and a crocodile in a swamp, and the general composition, but especially the generated bird helped me with its anatomy and figure.

Now both those generated images aren’t interesting enough to look at for over a few seconds. And trying to explain my concept in a prompt will not result into an image that resembles what I have in mind, nor would it be worth the effort. I do however really like some of the details it comes up with, like those in the neck of the bird and the spikes on the crocodile. I like the trees too, but they’re not for this drawing.

I’m not sure at what point I decided to add the babies. It started with the one on the bird, thinking to myself that this could be a dream of that baby. But the more I looked at it the more I wanted to add one on the crocodile too. It made me think of when me and my brother would play together and come up with all kinds of stories. You wouldn’t see from the outside how captivating they were for us.

This was my second drawing on A2 paper and honestly way more fun than the first one. No architecture, no difficult anatomy, just a lot of fantasy and storytelling. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Interested in buying a high-quality print? Visit my Etsy page: