Character design
Cloud Dragon
A New Year cover character that had to look good in silver ink.
Client
Quarterlight Magazine
Year
2025
Medium
Colour woodblock print
The project
The brief
A cover for the New Year issue, printed with one special silver ink. The dragon had to be friendly enough for a newsstand and still feel powerful.
How it was made
I designed the dragon as one coiling line so the silver could follow it. The clouds were cut back three times until the face had room.
The result
It was the issue’s best-selling cover of the year, and the dragon came back as a sticker sheet.
Sample image: Totoya Hokkei, Dragon in the Clouds, 1832. Public domain, Art Institute of Chicago.
Want one like it?
Send a short brief and I’ll reply with questions or a price.
