Butterfly Meets Dragon Gate

This was an enjoyable little commission. I regularly like to design gates using as few straight lines as possible and no conventional frame. The gate's flowing and curvilinear lines were inspired by both butterflies and dragons to give a strong fantasy feel to the design.

I usually start a design like this with a quick paper sketch but this is rarely the final version. The sketch is scaled up and transfered to a life size drawing. At this stage I will often see new curves, shapes and lines developing in the design. Often I prefer these and will "go" with them as I start to hammer out the metal... see if you can spot the difference!