Sketch

[telophase]

I finally started on another long-term project I have in mind, which is to draw/paint/produce some things to post on stock image websites to see if anyone wants them. Mostly thinking dragon because I see the same damn 3D model over and over (because it comes from a site that allows you to sell the renders as stock) and I'm tired of it, and I hope others are, too.

It's still in the sketch stage as I'm working out the anatomy, but bits of it are quite nice.





The head and talons are quite nice, I think--mostly because I was looking closely at reference* while drawing them, while I need to figure out how the hell you draw two shoulders for a six-limbed dragon like this. (Four-limbed dragons = wyverns, which are the sort they're using in Game of Thrones right now. I tend to prefer the classic six-limbed ones, myself, even though they're even more implausible than the four-limbed kind.)

It's got blue tape on it because it's taped down to my lightboard. I do a sketch, trace it into a new piece of paper, and after I overwork it and can't see what I'm doing anymore, tape that one to the lightboard with another piece of paper on it and start over with new lines. Rinse and repeat until it's done.

* Alligator snapping turtle crossed a wee bit with iguana for the head, eagle talons for the foot.

Comments

[helen_keeble]

I know it’s wildly anatomically improbable, but my brain is convinced dragon wings go behind the forelegs and cannot be persuaded otherwise. I blame all the Larry Elmore etc art I consumed growing up. :-)

[helen_keeble]

I have just realised that this is my brain’s canonical ur-dragon:

https://www.google.com/search?q=dragonflight+cover+art&rlz=1CDGOYI_enGB634GB635&oq=dragonflight+cover&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l2.4760j0j4&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=DCJXRRWlaXgmuM:

[telophase]

Hahaha, mine too, perhaps! XD Certainly the placement of the wing membrane is where I want it to be, unlike the usual models that have it attaching to the upper arm equivalent. (It makes no sense! You want more lift at the body, not far out on the wingtips!)

[helen_keeble]

Those models annoy me so much! THAT DRAGON IS AERODYNAMICALLY INEFFICIENT. I can’t help imagine them whirling their wings madly like bumblebees to stay aloft.

[telophase]

And I know exactly where they're getting them.

I should really just drop the $30 for the basic dragon model and pose it myself when I need a dragon, instead of scrolling endlessly through a billion renders that aren't quite right.

[helen_keeble]

Ah, Daz Dragon 3. How I loathe your wing model. Clearly wings are awful to model in Daz because all the dragons, Pegasi, griffons etc are bad in similar ways (half-assed join to body and completely unrealistic too-uniform feathers)

[telophase]

And given their liberal licensing, that means the stock agencies are stuffed to the gills with terrible renders.

If I had the ability to actually create 3D things, I'd totally model a dragon with a blunt head, instead of the gecko/monitor-looking one most of them have. I love me a big ol' blunt-headed dragon.

I may look more at Komodo dragons and other monitors for the body on mine. I think I like it better close to the ground than standing up like a horse, dog, or cat. I just have to work out the limb placement a bit better because I don't like them arms sprawled way out to the side like a lot of lizards. Hrm.

[helen_keeble]

Ah, you need to look at bird-hipped dinosaur anatomy!

[telophase]

That sounds like a good idea! :D Thanks!

[yhlee]

Me three. XD

[helen_keeble]

And great sketch!

[telophase]

Thank you! Part of tonight is going to be dedicated to looking at a bunch of dragon paintings and seeing the various ways the artists handled it. And maybe deciding which animal I'm basing the body on.

[yhlee]

That's a great sketch. :D

[telophase]

Thank you! :)

[movingfinger]

That looks excellent. I agree that putting the wings too far forward is (a) common these days and (b) weird-looking.

[telophase]

Thanks!

[dhampyresa]

I like this a lot! I'm particularly fond of the flappy neck bit (I have no idea what it's alled, sorry).

[telophase]

Thank you! And it's called a dewlap! I haven't fully decided on its final form--whether to leave it as-is or to shape it a bit more like iguana dewlaps, but we'll see. :)

[thawrecka]

That looks awesome! That does seem like the sort of thing that will sell well on stock sites, too. (I often browse the fantasy illustrations on shutterstock and note which I've seen on book covers at my local big box store.)

[telophase]

Thank you! :D Yeah, there's a couple of pretty cool dragon paintings that I see around a lot. XD

[kate_nepveu]

that's a very cool head!

[telophase]

Thank you!