unicorn of the mist 87p finish

I still want to add stairs going up the trees and some mist in the backround with my airbrush option, but here is my unicorn almost finished and prepaired for the contest.
And also some intising information on unicorns for reasearch and to get the feeling for this image compleatly.



Throughout the more then 2,000 years of it's history, the unicorn has remained one of the most elusive of creatures. Although colorful and intriguing tales of the unicorns abound in all corners of the world, the one constant found in all depictions, pictorial or written, is the single horn protruding from the forehead if this magnificent beast..

The first "real" unicorn was probably the Monoclonius, a herbivorous dinosaur that roamed North America about 120 Million years ago. Resembling the rhinoceros, the Monoclonius wields a short stout nasal horn..

Accountes of battles between unicorns and elephants may have been inspired by another real unicorn, the prehistoric mammal known as Elasmotherium, found in Europe, Russia, and Asia in the late Pleistocene period. This enormouse beast was roughly the same size as the elephan, with en impressive horn extending up to six and one-half feet long.

While there are seven references to the unicorn in the Old testament, there has always been some debate about the accuracy of the translations and the actual identity of the beast. Although that remains in doupt, it's fierce, indomitable, and mysterious character is consistent throughout. There is some speculation among scholars that the animals mentioned may have been an extinct species of wild ox known as en auroch, or Re'em in Hebrew. Adding to the confusion were Egypt and Mesopotanmian sculptures representing the bull in profile with apparently only one horn.

A gift from en Egyptian queen, Alexander the Great's royal steed-known as Bukephalos-was described as having the "ivory horn of a unicorn and the tail od a peacock." When Bukephalos died, alexander built en entire city to honor him.

Greek mythology tells of the she-goat named Amathea who nursed Zeus. When the god broke off one of Amathea's hoens- thereby transforming her into a unicorn-a great abundance of food poured forth from it. From this story came the term "horn of plenty" or cornucopia.

Julius Caesar reported sighting a unicorn in the vicinity of the Black forest in Germany. He described the animal as similar to both ox and the stag, with a single horn in the center of its forehead which resembled the branch of a tree.

A greek physician known as Ctesias recorded the first written accounts of unicorns in the 4th century, B.C Traders had told him of huge wild asses in India-some lager then horses-with deep red heads, white bodies, blue eyes, and a single horn in their foreheads. The horns were white at the base, black in the middle, with the tips blood red.

India was spared invasion by the single, selfless act of a unicorn. As Genghis Khan, the ruthless and feared Mongol warrior prepared to wage war, a lone unicorn apeared and bowed before him three times. The great warlord took it as a warning against the expedition from the spirit of his dead father, turned his army around and departed.

The southern indian unicorn, known variously as the eale of yale, was even more unusual then conventional versions of the creature. A single horn protruded from the forehead and continued sprouting from the back of its head. This strange horn allowed the animal to protect itself from attack from either the front or back. According to Indian folklore, the eal was held captive to serve as a talisman for wading off evil spirits.
The wildest of all the unicorns had a stag's head, a horses body, elephant feet and a single black horn about three feet long. Known as Monoceros, which means " one-horned," this beast was so fierce it could not be captured alive.

the Persian unicorn- known as a shadhahvar- appears a peaceful, gentle creature. So thought the victims of this cruel beast who, by funneling the wind through its hollow horn, created hauntingly beautiful melodies to lure helpless animals out of their hiding places. The moment they ventured close, they would be slain by the evil shadhahvar, of whom it was said: "When we think we have tamed it, it escapes; when we are ready to worchip it, it turns into the devil."

The Orongo was an animal sacred to the Mongols and Tengutans. There where reported to have been whole herds of these antelope, but the singular Orongo or "one horn" was a rare occurance-about 1 in 2,000. according to legend, its single ringed horn could foretell future events, and its blood had medicinal properties.

Known for its keen sense of justice, Kirin is the name of this ancient Japanese unicorn with a lion's face,deer's body, and dragon scales, who protects the innocent and punishes the guilty.

The unicorn know as a ki-lin has had a rich history in chinese folklore, where stories portray it as a kind, solitary creature found in deep forests and among quiet mountains, eating no living thing, and not even treading on a blade of grass. The sighting of ki-lin was interpreted as a good omen signifying that a long period of peace was imminent.

A credulous medieval Europe ambraced the idea of the unicorn, and codified the qualities that have remained the most familiar to us in modern times. It was at this juncture in its history that the animal became a sacred and wondrous creature: a pure white steed with a flowing mane, an ox tail, an a single spiralling horn, associated with such positive attributes as nobility, strength, purity, innocence, freedome, beauty, and magic.
A conception of the unicorn as a holy creature of God, endowed with the magical abilities to bring life out of death and purify water, gained currency from bestiaries of the moddle Ages. in some legends it was told that the unicon would make the sign of the cross over poisonous water with its single horn- called the alicorn by some. (this beasts is whom I drew my creature from.)

According to some folk tales, the unicorn of the Middle Ages symbolized the season of spring, and was thought to possess the ability to renew life,heal sickness, and guard against evil.

Just as the unicorn was a symbol of spring, the ferosious lion came to symbolize the summer. Each and every year the unicorn (spring) and lion (summer) battled for supremacy, and each and every year the gentle unicorn yielded to summer's fury.

The unicorn horn was highly prized by the rich and powerful because if its ascendancy over poison and evil. It was considered so caluable in fact that some wealthy landowners would mortgage or sell part of their astate to obtain one. taking advantage of th gullibility of the rich, hunters often produced tusks from the narwhal- an arctic whale with a long spiral tusk, sometimes known as the sea unicorn. This was a far easier task then producing the horn from an elusive and well-hidden unicorn like the one shown in my entery.

In some countries the legend sprang up that hunters attracted unicorns by using reluctant young virgins as bait. Scenting sich a maiden in the forest, the unicorn would seek her out, allow itself to be petted, and fall asleep in her lap. Whereupon the hunters would spring upon the unsusoecting beast and cature it for their king..

Rumors of unicorn, also called Souanamma, extended even into the Americas. Duringa voyage in 1564, Sir John hawkins wrote in his journal that adventurers acquired and brought back pieces of the Souanamma's horn abtained fron natives in Florida.

In 1575, Andre Thevet recorded a description of a unicorn-like sea animal known as Campchurch ( in the original French, he refferred to it as "Camphur" ) in his book, universal Consmography ( La Cosmographie Universelle). The creature had been found near the straits of Malacca in an area that is now part of Malaysia.

It wasn't untill the 15th century in Europe that the unicorn was used as a heraldic symbol, dovetailing with its newfound status as a sacred animal. The Almaricornan intereting combination of a winged seahorse and a unicorn-appeared in the coat of arms belonging to Knights of the Realm.

Known as the "unicorn of the sea" the narwal or Monodon Monoceros in an arctic whale whose horn is actually a very large tooth composed of ivory. The hunting of narwals for this presious substance has made them en endagered species..

Found in the evening sky between Orion and hydra, Monocerose is the constellation named in honor of the unicorn. Its first apearance was on a Dutch theologain's celestial globe in the early seventeenth century, and several years later came into general use on a German mathematician's star charts with the name "Unicornu". Monoceros boasts two blue-giant stars that are fifty-five times the size of the sun. These are the two most massive stars yet discovered, and together are known as Plaskett's star.

The great Indian rhinoceros with its single black horn was likely the inspiration for many unicorn tales. Sadly, this endagered species is still being slaughtered for its horn. unless conservation efforts succeed on its behalf, the rhinoceros may join the unicorn and exist only in legend..