Alchemical Dragon

I made this one over the days 9.2 and 9.3.09
along Market Street. A funny intersection where Market, Herman, Guererro and Laguna come together. A busy, slightly chaotic intersection. I found a spot on one of the corners near a dry cleaners shop, a nice wide bit of sidewalk under a leafy tree.

I had come across something in a book about Alchemy, and an illustration from a 17th century treatise. The imagery of a triple headed dragon with rainbow skin captivated me. It describes a chemical and a metaphysical formula. Mercury represents the ephemeral (spiritus), sulphur the fiery energy of the soul (animus), and salt the corporeal (corpus).

The combination of these could form the (materia prima) which could be transformed into the philosophers stone of wisdom. It is a reminder about finding harmony in a three fold solution.

The design itself is much simpler than the last two pieces along Market Street. The color blending was the key feature of this one. It took a while to get a decent semblance of the color spectrum. The outline was a bit rougher than I would have liked. The proportions of the dragon's body weren't quite as refined as the sketch I was working from, coming out a little longer and narrower.

It proved to be a lively location. Numerous people stopped to appreciate the work, and I got into a few conversations with various folks during the second day. Besides having a super cute girl to chat with on her work breaks, I got an offer to do a mural in someone's home, and had a lengthy talk with a travelling dude about San Francisco. At one point a gaggle of kids were being led around doing a neighborhood scavenger hunt, and the item: "temporary public artwork" (!!!)