Consider the characters in the painting: the Virgin, baby Jesus, St. Margaret, St. Louis, two angels and a dragon. Although St. Louis is the French king Louis IX, he was revered among the ...

This Hitofude-ryuu artist can paint an entire dragon’s torso with only one brushstroke. The traditional Japanese art technique began during the Edo period in Japan from 1603 to 1867.

An authoritative artist has many rules for his still life painting. Too bad! Because the mouse, the dragon, the knight, and the princess are here to break them in this raucous new picture book.

The piece, painted by La Jolla native Natalie Bessell and unofficially titled “The Dragon Mural,” was finished Oct. 9 on the south wall of Mandarin House restaurant at 6765 La Jolla Blvd.