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OK, here is lesson number two, how to draw a dragon.
This is difficult for me to explain so most of this instructional is
carried by the pictures. Be patient,I can't stress that enough! Here
we go...
Before you draw anything you must first gather the appropriate materials. Here
is what you will need:
- patience, patience, and more patience
- a sharp 2H pencil
- a sharp graphite pencil, preferably a 4B drawing pencil but anything
under an HB will do
- drawing paper: 70lb sketching paper is ideal
- an eraser, the Magic Rub vinyl eraser is the best one for the job
- a flat surface and somewhere you can work undisturbed
- Using your 2H pencil, lightly draw the base for your dragon.
Remember, the 2H pencil is pretty hard so you can't get dark
lines with it no matter how hard you press. Start with circles
and ovals to mark the major joints of your dragon. Use a large,
roughly circular shape for the chest with an overlapping oval
for the body. Use a roughly oval shape for each thigh. Draw
a circle on either side of the chest for the shoulders. Draw
an oval for the head with a smaller oval below it for the snout.
Connect the head to the chest with a line for the neck. Draw
a front center line down the body.
Figure 2-1.
- Draw cirlces for the feet and hands of the dragon.
Draw a sinuous line for the tail coming from the underside
of the dragon. Put away the 2H pencil, you will not
need it here on in. With a sharp 4B pencil, connect
your joints with smooth lines. Draw in the wings with
a few quick strokes. Flesh out the face. (See Lesson
1 for more details on drawing the head). Hint at
muscles in the thighs and body with some lines. Draw
in the other side of the neck and draw a a front center
line that curves from the front of the chest to the
underside of the head. Sketch in a few neck plates.
Figure 2- 2.
- Continue building the head. Connect the arms
to the shoulders and sketch in the talons.
I draw dragon's hands much like those of a
human, so if you are having trouble study how
your own hand moves. Do the same with the feet,
only the toes are shorter than the fingers.
The hind legs are built like those of a cat
or dog. Draw in the rest of the tail, starting
with it thick and tapering to a point at the
end.
Figure 2-3.
- Flesh out the wings. Just follow
the guides that you had drawn before.
You can finish the wings with little
claws if you like. Draw in the belly
and tail plates. Add ropy muscles at
the neck leading back toward the wings.
Draw the claws onto the hands and feet.
Figure 2-4.
Now you have the basic shape for your dragon.
Next elaborate on it and add shading.
Here I turn you loose. I have kind of run out of ways to describe
exactly what I am doing here, but you can see by the images.
You can add scales and shading, or extra spines and so on. Have
fun with it. If you are worried about runing what you have so
far, practice a little on a scratch piece of paper.
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Tips
- Don’t become discouraged if your
dragon is not coming out as you expected; keep working on it
and experiment freely.
A dragon is an imaginary creature so it can look like anything
you want.
- If you become frustrated don’t wad
up your drawing, snap your pencil in half and swear never to
draw again; just set it
aside and take a short break.
- I went ahead and made a finished scene after I completed the
dragon, though I wouldn't recomend that approach. It is much
easier to create a sketch of scene with all the elements planned
out before you complete just one element (like the dragon.)
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