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KatePfeilschiefter β Qilin
Published: 2011-03-21 03:08:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 23068; Favourites: 726; Downloads: 0
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Description
My take on a Qilin, doodled during a class.Qilin (chinese) or Kirin (Japanese) is an oriental chimerical creature described as having the horns of a stag, tail and hooves of an ox, head of a dragon and scales of a carp. They're supposed to be omens of good, and have often been misleadingly called Chinese Unicorns, despite their ancient depictions resembling a hooved dragon more than any herbivore. They also posses a pair of antlers, rather than a single spiral horn.
I like the Chinese idea of them being more draconic than the Japanese version, in which they're more deer-like. But either way they have dragon heads and carnivorous teeth. The depiction of them with deer or horse heads is a recent invention.
Anyway, I drew this guy with the idea that they're omnivorous cousins of the oriental dragons. There are so many various body-builds amongst westerns, it's interesting to find an eastern correlation.
Wikipedia Qilin article: [link]
As always, critique is always welcome and helpful.
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Comments: 24
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Great work!Β Love the color and posture!
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its posture reminds me of the deinonychus in Jurassic park. especially the claws.
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I once did my own Qilin and it had a single, branched antler-horn in the middle of its head. I did it in colored pencil and some of the people who saw it said the drawing looked like an Ancient Chinese illustration. I did not do the clove hooves since it was an upper-body version of the creature. But I gave it a flaming mane and fierce eyes.Β
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"The depiction of them with deer or horse heads is a recent invention."
I'd say it's the opposite. The oldest Chinese sources (Erya and Shuowen Jiezi) say qilin looks like a deer with the tail of an ox and a single horn. In Zuo Zhuan people mistook it for a muntjac.Β Only later art portraysΒ it resembling a dragon and frankly, Chinese decorative art makes everything look like a dragon.
Oh, and look at the Chinese name in the topΒ left corner. The radical -- part that governs the meaning of the word -- in both charactersΒ is ιΉΏ, which means "deer".
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I'm referring specifically to the depictions in ancient Chinese art and sculpture, which as you said does tend to make everything (even real world animals) look vaguely dragon-ish. In writing, they are described as having deer characteristics, but in their artwork the dragon aspects dominate.Β
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So pretty! I also prefer Qilin over Kirin, since Qilin are more dragon-like and Kirin are more deer-like. I can never understand why people would call them Unicorns... Even the single-horned ones don't look anything like Unicorns -_-
I love the ancient Chinese paper background as well
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Awesome! 
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Oh wow. Β I printed this image off google when I was researching the Kilin for a university project. Β I'm glad I found it again.
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Great. How did you colour it? It looks like a professional tattoo.
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beautiful work! i love the details and pose!
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This is something I would willingly get as a tatoo...beautiful.
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This looks absolutley wonderful! Your art is always so beautiful
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