Wanted Dead or Alive
Piece 7 of the “33” illustrated art storybook by Meg Konovska
This is piece No 7 of the “33” watercolour series by Meg Konovska (*khu-khum*, that would be… ME!).
The series consists of 33 paintings, 33 x 33 cm each. They are all created in the following manner:
• Randomly make 33 dots on the blank sheet, with eyes closed
• Connect the dots in a complete contour, without intersecting lines
• The resulting silhouette is developed in a sketch which is completed in colour.
To top it off, each painting is accompanied by an explanation for the unsuspecting observer to consider.
I now give you
Wanted Dead or Alive (available)
This is artwork from the poster with a reward for the head of the stag with the golden horns — hung around the entire kingdom of Tavany.
This outrageous stag with golden horns causes great havoc in every nook and corner of the kingdom, by eating each and every golden apple he can find and thus causing much greater damage than 300 dragons put together, as dragons only go out once in a year and are satisfied with 3 golden apples, while this stag roams all year long and bites all apples.
As if it were not enough, the stag polishes his horns by rubbing them in the bark of the trees (thus damaging the saplings), he sharpens them in the building walls (and ruins their coating), and afterwards he wipes them in the washed laundry in the yards so the poor women need to wash it all over again. Should you wonder what the fuss is all about, you need to remember all washing is done by hand in the cold river waters.
To top it off, the stag is aggressive and spoils for fights, and since his horns are made of solid gold, they are extremely heavy and they can murder a man with a single strike.
As a matter of fact, these are not his natural horns. This stag was full of complexes and amputated his real horns, and had these ones ordered and made by Hassan the Goldsmith* following his own design (which explains their eccentric shape).
For their moulding was used gold stolen from the caravans nearby Mecca by the stag himself. He had left for a trip there and proved to be extremely selectively receptive for some terroristic approaches common in those lands. After his return to Tavany he started applying his new knowledge with a great enthusiasm in his native lands.
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Hassan the Goldsmith* — a character from the Arabian Nights tale “The Adventures of Hassan the Goldsmith”. The name of the character is the only similarity with the original story.
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