Leviathan - Ruler of the Sea

If I haven’t been replying to you it’s because this has keeping me occupied for the last 4 days. I was so inspired that I had to keep painting. Isn’t he cute?

Leviathan is a Biblical sea monster referred to in the Old Testament. Its appearance varies greatly but is commonly believed to resemble a large fish or a whale with luminous eyes. This here is my own interpretation so I’m sorry if it isn’t completely accurate. Same goes for the following (crappy) story that I half made-up when I was painting it

Leviathan spends most of his time slumbering on the deep artic seafloor. Gargantuan in size he feeds mainly on whales and larger species of squid and shark. Only when the tremors of land quakes caused by the thundering hooves of Behemoth reach his murky abode does he rise from the depths to meet with his adversary. As Leviathan breaches his frigid skin instantly freezes the surrounding surface water and giant icicles form from his back. It is said that the ensuing battle between whale and ox can only be stopped by the hands of the Creator, whose mighty blade cuts through sea and mountain. When felled, the beautiful skin of Leviathan will be given to man, sheltering the righteous from harm.

A big thank you to ~Samist for allowing me to use his ‘Haloscape 5’ deviation ([link]) as a BG for this piece! It’s his screenshots that inspired me to create this and all credits for the BG design go to him (and the guys from Halo I guess)

Oh and I’ll NEVER paint water effects again. Period

I hope everyone likes it too! Oh and hit download for the full-sized version. It's much bigger

~Vyrilien

Medium: Intuos 2, Corel Painter Essentials 2 and Photoshop CS2 (this water tutorial used [link] it’s so handy and amazing!)

Time taken: 4-5 days

EDIT: I removed the black borders. I guess I didn't like them.