Image© Daniel Mackie

One interesting characteristic of this mythical Japanese fox is its ability to grow more than one tail: with the oldest and most powerful having up to as many as 9 brushes!  But they are only ready to start growing additional tails once they’ve reached the ripe old age of 100yrs, (which slightly goes against the grain in naturalistic terms, as the real traumatic life of a wild fox generally spans a mere 3 years, but they can reach the age of a domestic dog under the right conditions).  Once a mythical kitsune finally does grow a 9th tail, they also acquire untold wisdom, gain the handy ability to hear and see all that is happening in the world, and its red coat turns to an enchanting shade of silver or gold.

Another interesting gift of a kitsune who’s reached the centurion mark, is its learnt ability to take the form of a human being.  This can only occur if they follow the ritual of placing either a broad leaf, some reeds, or a skull over their head.  Once they’ve managed this they are usually known to morph into very attractive females, (‘foxy lady’ indeed!), and throughout medieval Japan, any woman who was seen on their own at dusk or at night could have potentially been a kitsune.

If you are ever under the impression that a person is secretly a kitsune, you could test your suspicions by offering them some deep fried tofu, (true kitsunes can’t get enough of it!): you could also introduce them to a pet dog, and if they run a mile they are for sure a fox in disguise: or you could get them tipsy on saké, as careless kitsunes have difficulty hiding their tails when under the influence.

Cards and prints of this design and others are available at The DM Collection

As the calendar turns to another year, our thoughts turn to new beginnings. What better creature from the Collection to inspire a new start than our little robin red breast?

Our New Year’s resolution is renew our Twitter and Instagram accounts as well as email our customers and fans more regularly. Please do find and follow us as we share more of the illustrations, inspiration, design process, product development and DM Collection news in general.

Always a bright spot in a cold drab winter, the robin’s appearance is a sign of warmth returning and the winter inching towards a new spring. Some Native Americans see the bird’s red breast as a sign of the dawning red sun and the bright yellow beak of our robin’s American cousin is seen as the sun’s rays. The cheerful songs it sings have certainly been a ray of sunshine for many a hardy winter gardener as they dig over muddy soil.

Our robin design perfectly captures this juxtaposition of a dull winter with new hope. The brown, windswept landscape and grey cloudy sky along the bird’s back is being encroached upon by the bright pink roses that are growing up the bird’s chest towards that open beak, chirruping its enlivening song. The slender branch our robin is perching on is still bare, but its delicate tips will soon burst into bud.

And where will we be when the spring truly comes and our cheerful robin goes unnoticed in the chorus of less hardy songbirds? At the DM Collection, some exciting new designs are already being sketched out. It will take a while longer to see what final versions emerge, but we hope to share them before the spring is over. Sign up to our newsletter (at the bottom of the website) to see the designs as they emerge, and find us on Twitter or Instagram if you’re not following us already.

And what’s your resolution for 2016? Take a look through the Collection for the design that most inspires and motivates you – do tell us which one you choose. Though you can’t do much better than the robin as the ultimate motivator: as well as encouraging us with its cheerful song, as we learnt in our previous blog, this chirpy little creature will peck another to death if provoked! Something to bear in mind when our resolve weakens…

Image © Daniel Mackie

This is the first Mythical beast I have painted! I keep getting asked to do a unicorn, but I can’t quite bring myself to do it! Dragons Have much more punch, in particular Chinese Dragons! This one is a three clawed dragon and was used in ancient chinese culture to represent the common people. A five clawed dragon represented the emperor.

A long time ago well, 1987 there was a discovery of a dragon statute in Henan that dates back to about 5000 BC. The chinese dragon classically takes on a snake from and is associated with water. Down through the ages The dragon came to represent weather and water and unlike European folklore where dragons are fire-breathing monsters, the chinese dragon represents power, strength, good luck and imperial authority.

It is unclear why the Chinese dragons have an association with water but they are believed to be the rulers of bodies of water such as seas, rivers, lakes etc.. There are four major dragon kings, representing the four seas, these are the east, west, north and south seas. In modern China these are the East China sea, South China Sea, Qinghai Lake and Lake Baikal.

for me this composition was all about the snake form, in fact while doing it I thought it might make a good composition for a sausage dog! I do like painting water, cerulean blue was used here and my two favourite colours , Rose madder Genuine and Quinacridone gold..,mmmmm lovely!

Image © Daniel Mackie

It is my intention to do more mythical creatures, greek mythology is full of them, perhaps the three-headed dog Cerberus, who guards the entrance to the underworld?!

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Image © Daniel Mackie

Being a prime tourist location, Greenwich Market is a fantastic place to share Daniel’s illustrations with people from across the globe, and I always find it interesting to see how people from different cultures relate to the various animals.  As you may guess, the likes of dogs and cats are universally popular, but like abandoned pets in a rescue centre, there’s a home for every creature in The DM Collection; so which feathered friend do you think frequently gets to travel across the English Channel to France?  The magnificent Rooster, or ‘Le Coq Gaulois’!

But why do the French like the Rooster so much?  Well, it all started in ancient Rome, when one of their historians, Suetonius, noted that the latin translation of Gaul, (gallus), had a double meaning, as not only did it translate as inhabiter of France, but it also means cockerel, or rooster.  Over the ages this play on words stuck to the people of France like glue, but what really propelled the rooster up to emblem status, was when it was pictured on the flags as a symbol for the French Revolution.  Today you’ll see Le Coq Gaulois proudly displayed on the shirts of their national ruby and football teams, and fearlessly strutting his stuff alongside the touchline as the French mascot.

Sure enough, this bold and beautiful fowl is certainly an animal to be proud of: but hang on a minute, has anyone ever stopped to think where roosters and hens actually come from?  Well, it turns out that these domesticated fowl are actually related to a bird known as the Red junglefowl, originating in South East Asia.  Noted for their steady supply of eggs and palatable meat, it is said that they first started to domesticate the junglefowl over in India, as far back as 3200 BC: and if we go back even further – and I mean a lot further – we discover that the Red Junglefowl is… (drum roll please) … is … the closest living ancestor to the Tyrannosaurus-Rex!

So who are you calling ‘chicken’!?

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Hello,

My blog has moved to a new location. It is now holed up on my website.

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All the best

Daniel