How to Draw – Page 3 – Improve Drawing

Dragon Drawing For hundreds of years, it's part of many cultures worldwide to imagine dragons. From European mythology to the Chinese Empires, dragons are deeply rooted in stories, culture, and drawings. This tutorial will delve deep into the fascinating world of drawing a dragon step by step. If you love fantasy and are interested in drawing imaginary beasts, these exercises will be great practice. Let's look at the fundamentals. Dragon Drawing Aspects of a Successful Dragon Drawing Dragon's HeadDragon's BodyDragon's HeadDragon's LegsDragon's Tail • Be Original Drawing Your Very Own Dragon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY5Gyw9V6ww Dragon Drawing Tutorial You'll have more than a few favorite dragon drawings that inspire you. The first step is learning to draw a dragon. What it means to you is also essential. This will help you to give your dragon drawing more visual impact. I recommend that the first step is to collect as many pictures as possible. These can be used as your picture morgue, so a good variety is always better for getting ideas. I like to find old photo albums to insert these pictures like a collage. This is so I can see the different shapes and forms of various animals. Once you've got a full album, you're ready for action. Dragon Sketch • Borrow from Real Nature Since nobody knows what a realistic dragon really looks like, you must rely on actual animal anatomy. I love lizards, salamanders, alligators, and crocodiles for getting the lizard look. To some degree, there are pictures of birds that are also great for wing design and shape. Look at-bats and study how their skin membrane covers their bones. I also like pictures of molting animals, like parrots, to see how their wings look without feathers. Animals that inspire you in real life tend to make great prototypes for drawing a dragon. All of these combined animals or parts of animals also give you an idea of their anatomy. • Give a Dragon Character Do you have a favorite celebrity, singer, or person that inspires you? This aspect is called character-building and is essential for your dragon's character. Take a look at caricatures and the things that pop out when identifying features are drawn. Often a caricature magnifies parts of the face that are either increased or decreased. One way to give a dragon character is to add elements of your real-life inspiration. This helps build a back-story or inner personality, which gives them more intent as a dragon. You'll be surprised how believable a dragon becomes by adding a hint of human emotion or facial resemblance. • Show They are thinking creatures What is your dragon thinking, and is there a reason behind a cheeky smile or crooked frown? Even the position they stand or hold their shoulders conveys how they feel. Use the caricatures of real people to add visual depth to show attitude and style. It will make a big difference if you show they have emotions too, which is what dragons embody as thinking creatures. Since they all love something, show that they enjoy wearing their treasures like jewelry. • Dragon Drawing Orgins? Many people associate dragons with fire and living close to volcanoes. Perhaps your dragon likes cold winter mountains or deep cavernous caves. Adding a bit of background can show where they like to hang out. These elements will obviously be added toward the end of any drawing, so as you develop a sketch, you'll get ideas as you go. Look at their facial structure and imagine the kind of air they breathe. Big noses can mean dry and hot areas, while small noses are for more wet and rainy locations. But really, it's better to do some research on where different people or animals come from. Do they live in the desert or jungle or on secluded mountains or flat plains? It's up to you and your imagination also. • Size of Your Dragon Drawing? All dragons will start out small and grow to be impressively large in size. Think of the scale that you want people to be aware of. How do you convey size in this case? Well, for one, are they well-fed or simply scraping by with scraps? Use these clues to give an impression of their total size. Of course, objects in the drawing make them appear larger but stick to the caricature style of establishing size. If you've ever looked in the side-view mirror in a car, you'll notice that objects may appear more prominent. This is because the mirror is shaped that way on purpose. Your drawing should also make certain parts of your dragon look larger or smaller on purpose. Dragon Drawing • Horns, armor, and floppy frills Just like hair, a dragon will have plenty of exciting attributes. These will include a variety of horns, quills, frills, and leathery hard body armor. These will be mostly your imagination, but the reality is seen in real animals. There are armadillos and pangolins, and armadillo lizards for a good reference. You should also think about the varieties of animal horns you find appealing. Quills from porcupines are interesting, too, along with loose hanging skin that might be attached to lizard frills. These additions give dragons more clues about the kind of protection they need from other dragons or even people… . Click Here for More Drawing Tutorials How to Draw a Simple AlienHow to Draw an Underwater SceneHow To Practice Drawing Anatomy: The Essential Guide101 Easy Drawing Ideas for Beginners How to Draw a Dragon Head How to Draw a Dragon Most dragon heads start as profiles since it's pretty hard to draw a three-quarter angle that looks cooler. I recommend that you start with a profile first to understand what the head looks like sideways. You'll be surprised how realistic a flat drawing can become once you start adding highlights and shadows. But the first step is to decide the shape of your dragon head. Here's how to start. • Defining the Outline With Curved Lines Dragons usually look like they have beak-like faces, but this isn't always the case. You'll want to take caricature aspects of actors or people that you like to build into your sketch. The best way to start is by sketching curved lines to create the overall shape. I like to think that the main facial outline resembles a souped-up muscle car. This will appear very low in the front and high in the back. All of the faces are pretty much going at a downward slope at 45 degrees. Try to put an overlay of the caricature onto the face's front part, seeing where facial features line up. I highly recommend bringing along the resemblance of someone you admire to further enhance your dragon. It's also a lot of fun to see if anyone can notice that, making your dragon very unique looking. • Draw Dragon's Neck You need to draw an extended neck once you have a side profile that you like. Starting at the highest point of the back of the neck, your curved lines can gradually arc downward. This arc defines muscles that hold the head up and show how strong they can be. The lower and skinnier an arc your draw, you get more of a gentle neckline. Drawing the lower neck starts at the mid-jaw line. Don't start that at the jaw's very back since this will make your neckline too thin-looking. At the midpoint, this is where a natural line will make sense to draw. If you're going for a skinny neck, use reference photos to give that impression. • Adding horns There's no rule where horns can be placed but think about the weight to support them. Most animal horns are placed on the skull toward the back. Horns that are further forward are thinner, whereas most of them are placed at the mid-point. But if you're going for a cool aerodynamic look, horns that follow the overall head shape are pretty traditional. Remember that horns are a lot like hairstyles, so be open to horn variations. Once again, you can refer to celebrities or characters you like and see how horn patterns can resemble their hair. Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld or David Bowie from Labyrinth is an excellent visual examples. • Filling in teeth and scale detail You'll want to add teeth detail at this point. This will begin by drawing a line that tells you how the mouth is separated under the nose. Going for a caricature-style mouth will also be vital if you want your dragon to be familiar-looking. Depending on how wide their mouth is, extend the line further. Not all dragons are going to have massive jaws stretching ear-to-ear. Perhaps your dragon has a concise mouth opening. With a line separating the top from the bottom, you can start adding teeth. Start with the top row first, using the reference of what you find appealing. This will also depend on whether this dragon has an overbite or underbite? The toothier, the better, so don't be afraid to experiment with random tooth patterns. When filling-in facial and neck detail, use all your reference pictures added as scale detail. The best method is to follow wrinkle patterns that come from the eyes. You would be surprised how easy it is to create armor detail from intersecting age lines. There are also wrinkles around the mouth that connect with laugh lines or nasal labial folds. Use pictures of old people to create a wrinkle map, and where wrinkles cross paths are where armor plates or scales can form. The younger a dragon will also be lighter and less bumpy. Keep your lines light-handed so you can erase mistakes as you go. How to Draw a Dragon Eye There are many types of eye patterns that you can start with, but first, you'll need to choose a shape. Deciding which eye appeals to you the most will be the window into your dragon's soul. Lizard eyes are mesmerizing, but it's hard to feel empathy for a pupil with a slit shape. The angle of the eye's position also tells you about their disposition. If we go back to different actors, we can see all kinds of exciting eye shapes. Are their eyes droopy like Vincent Schiavelli (the angry subway ghost guy) or almond-shaped like the singer Björk? If you want to stick to animals like lizards, they'll vary in shape from a complete circle to oval-shaped eyelids. Use lots of photo references to start sketching in your favorite eye shape. Keep in mind that you want to build character through the eyes. Larger eyes convey friendlier dragons, while small beady eyes are more sinister. When it comes to drawing the pupil, this will allow you more freedom to explore your personality. Ask yourself if they're thinking of something or pondering a memory that haunts them? Yes, kids, just like those crazy Instagram selfies, eye position tells a story too! The most popular is the 10 or 2 o'clock position. This seems to always give a dreamy thoughtful look. Then there is the dreaded 4 and 8 o'clock position, broody and looking back. It never fails to give your drawing more appeal if there is more to where your dragon is directly looking. If you don't know these eye positions look at a clock face and copy yourself with a selfie. The impact is immediate, and it'll be hard to not spot this in countless celebrities or singers posing for pictures. You can also play with where a pupil is looking any way you like since these are just suggestions. • Drawing a Realistic Dragon Eye You will be adding little details that all eyes have. Some lines are placed above the eyelid and subtle lines underneath the eye. These lines will be deeper-looking or softer shadows using a blending stump depending on age. Being that any dragon needs to have scales around the eyes, use your imagination and photo reference—very lightly pencil-in small scales around the rims of the eyelid. These are all based on wrinkles and wrinkle patterns around the eye. Follow tighter scales around the very edges of the eyelids. Then fill all the open spots with progressively random scales that follow a natural wrinkle map. • What eye colors to use Dragons always seem to have vivid glowing eyes that piece the darkness. As I mentioned before, you want people to see their inner soul, so this is one way to get that across. You need to choose colors that include tones that pop, so use brilliant color pencils. I recommend the Faber-Castell Polychomos series of pencils to get brilliant colors. You can find a perfect set on Amazon: Click Here to Visit Amazon. Choosing a color also has an immediate call for emotion since we associate colors with our feelings. Red is the angriest of all the colors, while blue can be cold or unhappy. Green is one that we feel is jealousy, whereas pink can be a loving or romantic feeling. Not all of these color indications are directly related to emotions, but they're an excellent place to start. • Adding highlight and simulated shine Giving dragon eyes great highlights is one of the most effective ways to increase your drawing realism. But you have to know a little about highlight and shadow. To get the most from your drawing, you'll need to decide where the light source is coming from. Is it coming from the left side or right side? Or is it from an angled overhead or from below? This tells you which part of the eye is darker and which is lighter. Using slightly darker shades from your color pencil kit, gradually shade half of the eye. These colors can be slightly darker on the darkest side. Use a blender stump to smooth out these areas as you go. The lighter side repeats this process using one or two shades lighter than your original eye color. This can also be blended with a freshly shaved blender stump. I should remind you that freshly shaved blender stumps won't smudge your colors. The next step is to add little details that give your dragon eye more character. Take a color that is 3x lighter and 3x darker than the shadow and highlight the color. It doesn't have to be the exact color either, so if you have green, then use an aqua blue. If there's a red, use a coral pink or bright orange. Do the same for the darker colors, using subtle colors even in the shadow spots. Using light strokes of these color pencils, you can create iris color pops. These trim lines inside the iris show up on one side of the eye. It also makes your dragon eye look like it has more depth with a 3D look. This also gives the dragon's eye a better look without going overboard. Just light lines where the most vital part of the highlight and shadows are going. • Getting the right glint Eyes have a certain glint, which is hard to do with most colored pencil drawings. Glint is not just the reflection inside the eye that shows where a light source is. This glint is the wetness that rolls along the edges of the eye. What parts of the eye are moister or oily-looking? The edges of the tear duct will always have a slight glint, just like the eye's inner lid. Don't go overboard because glint only appears where a light source allows it to be. It won't appear in the shadows unless it's catching the very top of high peaks on the skin. • Reflecting shine Now, this is where the eye color gets tricky, so you need to be patient. Reflecting shine is the background of where your light source is located. These colors will reflect the sky over the highlighted part of your dragon eye. But this is where you need to consider whether it's day or night and sunset or high noon? This is a lot to throw at you, but eye reflection is a beautiful 3D effect that nails the realism. To get the best effect, you're adding a one-quarter sliver of light to the highlighted area. This helps show a skyline and light source such as a sun or moon. Look at pictures of eyes close up to see how the curve of the eye reflects light. Start with a light line representing a horizon line and bend this into a bright spot. The bright spot is your reflected light source, so it should be the lightest of all the colors you'll use. How to Draw Dragon Wings How to Draw a Dragons Body Dragon wings are something that is always limited to getting creative. Like most unicorns have feathered dove wings, we usually go right to the skin-covered bat-like wings. There never was any new idea that makes them different to this day. In essence, a wing is an arm with extended fingers covered by stretchy skin. So your dragon is basically a creature with four arms. Now getting the right-wing shape should also be proportionate to the size of your dragon. This is obviously why they need to give enough lift to get off the ground. The best way to start with a dragon wing is to study a standard batwing. This means that whatever personal touches you add to beef up this wing is to add muscles that show strength. These will be in the upper shoulder and toward the upper arm biceps. These are areas that could realistically have overlapping armor or scales. The extending fingers and thumb are then covered with leathery skin that's stretchy and very wrinkly. Think of the skin that hangs from turkey necks filled with wrinkles but is still very elastic. • How many fingers Bat wings have a total of three outstretched fingers and a thumb. The thumb is poised at the forearm's top, whereas the tree fingers extend outward from the wrist. Like any animal, there will be wrist bones to allow finger mobility. This will apply to the thumb joint to make grappling onto any surface easier. If you add more fingers, you need to stick to how a batwing works. You'll need to pay attention to the shading and highlights of your dragon wings as you finish them. Finishing touches that will make these wings stand out can include tiny spines or quills. These can stick out from the upper arms down to the thumb claw. These are also exciting highlight spots that add depth and mass to your dragon. • Does the membrane attach to the Dragon's Body? Like the membrane attaches to a bat, this skin runs alongside the body down to the hind leg. Every time you see a dragon wing, the wing ends at the back of the rib cage. Realistically, no lift can occur without attaching to the hind leg. But over the years, fantasy and anatomy have switched camps. That doesn't mean that you can't make concessions for realism. Why not add this skin membrane attached to your dragon's hip. It can even run down to the knee along its leg. How to Draw Dragon's Body Scales in Color A dragon shouldn't be simple green and brown colors since many lizards are often very colorful. In recent years, dinosaurs' drawings have become a rainbow of attractive shades with bursts of lively color. Your dragon scales will have plenty of colors that should reflect their lifestyle, food, and climate. Just like real animals, you need to look at references related to your drawing. Since dragons love their treasure and tend to collect gold in particular, it would make sense that that shimmer will rub off onto them. Their scales and claws will have a certain golden shimmer from rolling around in their golden piles. Alternatively, if they live in caves, there will be iridescence from minerals along the cave walls. So along with natural colors with added highlights, your dragon scales will be practically glowing. • Method for coloring scales Each scale that you draw will need special attention to the little details. You need at least three colors for each scale. The first is a primary color, which is an earthy tone. Keep it natural so if you use red, use a terra cotta red or clay. Mineral colors work best for getting a realistic base tone. The base of each scale is your shadow point, but you'll need to stick to where the light is coming from. Most scales are darker at the base and lighter at the tips. Snake scales are great for color reference because they have decorative patterns. These patterns are helpful to snakes, so they'll blend into the ground where they live. Other predators won't see them in that case. • Adding highlights Have a good selection of iridescent colors to make highlights pop on individual scales. If you have metallic colors, including gold and silver, use these generously for adding final touches. Using iridescent colors on the edges of scales helps bring out a 3D effect. This is the sheen that you see on lizards how their body is rounded. It also looks good if you follow the direction of a light source. You can't go wrong with glimmering highlights as long as you stick to the direction of light. A random shimmer is fine as long as you stick to the light source angle. Alternative Dragon Drawing Ideas How to Draw a Cartoon DragonDrawing a Cartoon DragonHow to Draw a Baby DragonDrawing a Dragon Eye How to Draw a Chinese Dragon's Body No matter how you slice it, Chinese dragons are very specialized. They sort of looks like a salamander with big heads and scales! There is always going to be the issue of length for Chinese dragons. Some drawings show they are very long with twists and curves, while others are relatively short. When it comes to color, the scheme is commonly red or green. You might see variants that include royal colors such as blue and gold are pretty popular. The head is unlike any other dragon and is a horse and pug dog mixture. The mane is frilly with flame-like tendrils and two longhorns. These horns extend backward over the neck like tree branches. The spine of each dragon has the traditional spikes leading down to the tail. Each tail explodes in flame tendrils that spread out in all directions. The scales are everything from fishy-looking to lizard-like. • Traditional Chinese Dragon Starting out, drawing a Chinese dragon is never a significant challenge since most designs are 2D. You can make them into 3D-looking drawings if you add highlights and shadows. Start with a snake-like shape that you like. The head is easy to draw from looking at these drawings so have reference pictures as inspiration. These will start at least twice the length of each leg on the body as for the front legs. The legs are always stubby and cartoon-like, with three toes in front and one-pointed backward in the rear. The body itself is long and serpentine, so the hind legs will be at least two neck lengths. The belly is a traditional snake stomach with flat lines between each segment. You'll have to angle these lines to match the curves of your dragon. Add your scales and spike, and soon you're ready to add color. • Chinese New Year's Parade Dragon Chinese parade dragons are off-the-chart for silliness. They are the Sesame Street version of all dragons and have colors that explode. Aside from the head's general blocky look, the body has zigzag patterns that would impress 'Long Horse.' This is always the easiest type of dragon to draw, but it will be the most colorful. The colors are nearly neon and day-glow with lots of sparkles and glitter. Bring your gold and silver pencils along for the coloration process. If you love imaginative detail, the scale patterns on this type of dragon tend to look more like Japanese goldfish. Don't forget that every Chinese dragon looks like its eyes are literally popping out. If you decide to start any dragon drawing, this version will be a thrilling romp of color combinations. Have fun! My Favourite Drawing Resources General Drawing Courses. I really like Udemy if you are looking to develop your knowledge of drawing techniques Udemy is an excellent choice due to its wide range of creative courses and excellent refund policy. They often have monthly discounted deals for new customers, which you can check here. Use my link. Sketching and Collage. Take a look at this sketching resource I have created. Use this link. Proko. Is one of my favorite teachers who surpasses in the teaching of Anatomy and Figure drawing. Prokos course breaks down the drawing of the human body into easy-to-follow components aiding the beginner to make rapid progress. For this, I really like Proko. Art Easels. One of my favorite ways to draw is by using a drawing easel, which develops the skill of drawing on a vertical surface. The H frame easel is an excellent vertical easel way to add variety to the style and type of marks you create when using a drawing board. To see all of my most up-to-date recommendations, check out this resource I made for you.