Meet Vezzik, a cat-sized drake from The Asha Chronicles by Mike Knapp. Smug, dramatic, very funny, and a real predator when it counts.
The author gave me a few chapters and a description, not a scene. I read the story, picked the moment myself (right after the hunt, rain still falling, blood on the talons, and that grin), and built the whole piece around it.
Part hawk, part dragon, all attitude. Pencil sketch first, then scales, wet light, and a storm-lit forest. 100% human-made, no AI.
Swipe to see where it started. What do you think that grin is saying?
for follow more like this Ali Gillani
Bondri has been featured by 6 different curators in the past month and I’m still a bit in disbelief.😮
I put a lot of care into every detail of this one, from the illustrations to the packaging to how the day and night variants talk to each other. Seeing it recognized like this means a lot.
What makes you stop and really look at a project when you’re scrolling?
I think it’s the little details that make a project stand out. When everything feels intentional and tells a story, it naturally makes you want to stop and take a closer look. Love how much thought went into this! 👏
Well-done Chantal
Final direction picked! I love when brands use custom illustration as the main way to communicate with their audience.
Direction discovery should not take more than one week and it should be full of personality! Ready to upgrade your brand?
Lately, I’ve been spending more time illustrating. Not necessarily with a particular goal in mind, but simply because I enjoy it.
Working as a designer often means adapting to different visual languages. Every project comes with its own identity, references, and expectations. And while I love that part of the process, there’s something refreshing about creating without any of those things in mind.
I’ve started noticing certain patterns in my illustrations. The way I draw faces, exaggerate proportions, or approach particular details. Little decisions that I don’t necessarily think about while making them, but somehow keep appearing.
It’s interesting because I’ve never really sat down and decided what my illustration style should look like. It seems to be something that has developed naturally through repetition, experimentation, and probably a lot of things I’ve been influenced by along the way.
I think we sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves to develop a recognizable style, especially as creatives. But maybe it’s less about trying to create one and more about paying attention to the things we naturally gravitate toward.
There’s something quite satisfying about looking at something you’ve made and seeing a little bit of yourself in it.