Ghost in the Swamp

By the time you see him, it's already too late...

This is prize art for ~Roiuky for placing in #Unicorn-Club's Two Worlds, One Love contest. It was supposed to be a black and white sketch, but I liked the design of the character so much it turned into a colored one.

The creature in this drawing is a Fera Unda stallion. According to ~Roiuky, the Fera Unda is...

"a swamp-living waterhorse, with the powerful tail and sharp teeth of a crocodile. It is a top predator in the marshlands. Gills on the neck let it breathe under water.

The Fera Unda lives alone, is very patient and cunning, and hunts by luring prey close to the water's edge in its horse form. Then, before the prey knows what is happening, sharp teeth drag it under and it drowns.
Fera Unda are highly disliked by unicorns, but in their horse form, they sometimes come very close."

The crocodile tail was fun to paint. I couldn't get the dreadlock mane to look right, though. Also I need to work on drawing perspective/foreshortening correctly.


Species reference and art:


References:
[link] [link]
Google Images for crocodile tail refs

Painted in openCanvas 1.1
1.5 hours