Art Book #1

Whyvarian Tattoo HC

Alright, this chapter is less of real art and more just doodles. 

Jacaranda, my Emerald Guild dragon, has a jaguar tattoo on the inside of her foreleg. And recently I started thinking...how exactly does a dragon get a tattoo, what with the scales and all? So, I developed a (headcanon?) theory about how Whyvarian dragons get tattoos.

Behold the Jessefyr! (with a soft j, JEH-suh-fur)

The Jessefyr is a tropical flower that grows almost exclusively in the Emeraldo forests along the coast. It has stiff, shiny,  red clasping leaves and a spike cluster of small white flowers at the top. They like shade, and typically grow in dense groves of palms. They thrive in the sandy loam that the palms like, and the trees provide shelter from the sun and wind. 

The secret of the ink-making lies with the Emeraldo Guild, closely kept and practiced. They carefully cultivate Jessefyr in special buildings dedicated to the purpose. The plants are seeded in brick growing beds, with shelved hollows in the sides. The shelves are filled with coals, which heat the beds. Troughs of water provide moisture for the necessary humidity. The buildings are hotter than the plant's natural environment, but they have discovered that the damp heat quickens growing and promotes oil production in the leaves. The pollen of the Jessefyr is highly volatile, and the plants must be tended wearing cloths wrapped around the dragons' snouts. If inhaled, the pollen abrades the throat and nasal passages, rendering them raw and inflamed. Too much pollen in the lungs can even be fatal.

When mature, the flower clusters are harvested and dried, and the pollen shaken out onto clean cloths. It is sieved and carefully gone through to remove any debris and impurities.

The ink is derived from the pollen and the oil of the leaves. The oil is extracted by boiling the leaves, and skimming the liquid as it rises to the top of the water. It is very caustic when fresh, and the boilers must wear gloves at all times. The oil, when pure, is a clear yellow-gold. It is aged in casks for three months, then bottled and stored. The ink is made by grinding the leaf oil and pollen together in a mortar.

When crushed, the pollen and oil react to form a pure black liquid. When applied to dragon scales, the ink bites deep into the keratin, coloring it permanently. It is an extremely penetrative substance, and elicits a faint tingling burn when applied. The ink lasts for many years, even through the annual shedding of the scales' outer layer.

The ink is applied via paintbrush, and the artists use varying types to achieve different effects—thick brushes, thin brushes, flat, pointed, rounded, etc. Though different tribes may become tattoo artists, they never know the process of ink-making. They are mainly Emeraldos, though, and they will travel far and wide to practice their craft.