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Bayard Wu builds up atmosphere in a scene using invisible lines, lighting and dynamic storytelling

Bayard Wu makes use of invisible lines and lighting.

This image is an example of the personal work I undertake from time to time. As such, it features my own ideas and preferences. Here, I’ve chosen to depict a dramatic landscape that features a range of rock textures, and I want to push the feeling of depth in the environment.

Even in a practice piece there’s always scope to tell a story with drama and emotion. Indeed, it’s this attitude that I take into all of my creative endeavours.

In my other paintings that feature dragons, they’ve been huge, mighty and proud creatures. For this piece I want to show a dragon that’s quite the opposite: a small, cunning beast that’s lurking in the shadows as it tracks a group of adventurers. But perhaps the riders are in fact dragon hunters? We don’t know, and along with the dragon, the viewer is also hiding in the shadows, quietly watching the adventurers a`s they make their way across the precarious-looking bridge.

Like a well-made film, a still image can pull the viewer right into the scene. This, in turn, can prompt them to explore the story in their mind, and wonder what happens next. I’m fascinated by the possibilities thrown up by a person’s imagination, and am very keen to tap into its power through my art.