King of the Mountain

If the Lion is the King of the Animals, and the Eagle is the King of the Skies, then what does that make the Gryphon?

If a cat can look at a king, and an eagle can look into the sun, what can a griffin see?

If the lion is the supreme hunter of the land, and the eagle of the sky, then what domain does the gryphon rule?

Whatever the answers, I think it is safe to say: a griffin is not a creature to cross.

A quick watercolor, exploring a variant on the traditional gryphon: I have had problems with gryffins (and not just the damn spelling choices), and I realized it was because I have always had a very fixed idea of what a griphon is: that is, the front quarters of a bird of prey and the hindquarters of a feline. And this is a difficult combination for me to reconcile, so recently I have taken to playing a little looser with what you could call a gryphon: in this case, it is the top half of an eagle and the bottom half of a lion and the tail of an archaeopteryx… or something. But. It is still a griffin, however you spell it.

Whatever. Enjoy.

Watercolors on hot press watercolor paper. Art © myself, some rights reserved:
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