Inspired by Chinese ink work from the Tang and Northern Song dynasties, The Conqueror Worm anthropomorphizes a mountain for a confrontation of epic proportions.
My inspiration is a quote from Guo Xi:
"If mists enlock [a mountain's] waist, then it will seem high...if a mountain is visible in its entirety, not only will it no longer go afar through twisting and bending, but you may as well paint an earthworm."
Just as an ordinary worm buries itself in the soil, so too its monstrous counterpart symbolizes lurking aggression or repressed fears that have finally been set free in the mountains, a place of respite from the bridles of urban life. The constrast in scale between human and nature shows the power of the beast and the way a person's interior struggles dwarf their exterior. However, a problem may become feasible to solve once the fighter takes a step back and views it at its full size.
Digital drawing, ibisPaint