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This beautiful creature is known as Zenrikel. She is a Baerelshen, which is a species concept I created. The inspiration came from my two betta fish, Akemi and Shen, as well as my Otter spirit guide.

The Baerelshen are a Draconic race with close ties to the natural world. They have an inert ability to weave the fabric of life, to work a true form of magick. They are an ancient race with much wisdom to offer to those who would seek it.

In my mind’s eye I always saw them as very fluid and graceful, males and females both possessing elegantly flowing fins. I wanted something that would express their carefree yet wise nature, as well as their flowing grace and ability to work magick. This is why I chose to blend the otter and betta fish together in their design, as to me they represent these things very well.

This artwork was created for the Elementals Collaboration hosted by DarkDelusion.

For this collaboration I chose the Water element, as it is an element extremely sacred to me. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to get around to giving the Baerelshen some physical form and paint something a little different from the average Dragon.

The most challenging part was trying to recreate the iridescence that captive bred betta fish are best known for.

The Baerelshen species and Zenrikel are my original creations and intellectual property. Do not steal or I will melt your face.

9"x12" acrylic on bristol.