The talented artists who bring dragons to life with just one brush stroke

These dragons are finished with a single stroke of the brush and their elegant tails are still wonderfully detailed and beautiful.

As you can see the technique begins with a talented painter spending time to create a stunning and ornate dragon head. These designs are impressive in their own right as the artist uses traditional techniques to paint the creature’s head.

Once the head is complete the artist uses a large sumi brush to finish the dragon in a single stroke. That final stroke may be swift and fluid or it may be slow and deliberate. The brush does not leave the page. The technique is called Hitofude Ryuu (Dragon with one stroke).

(Via Jobson at Colossal)