RE: Offering Redlines < Resurrected! 3/18/07
Glad to see you back. :] Are red-lines really that bad? :[
Unfortunately, dragons are probably the most open ended "animal" to draw, since they are based on fiction and nothing solid to work from. So I'll try my best to offer a redline and some reference help, but in the end, dragons will always be subject to their creator.
First ask yourself--Am I drawing a realistic animal that could potential live, breath, fly, eat and defend itself? Or am I just going to draw a mythical beast without real anatomy or evolutionary substance? Either way is fine, but it certainly changes how you should go about designing a character.
Even when drawing a fictional animal, you can gather resources from many species without making your dragon looks like a bad science experiment. For instance, you can look at the belly and neck scales of a crocodile to see how the neck scales could fit together, or even a snake. Smooth scales are smooth because they slide on the ground, or have a lot of contact with the ground--so if you're trying to make a "realistic" dragon, you have to ask yourself, where would the scales be smooth?
For how spikes and horns attach, you can look at rooster spurs, chameleons or horny toads for instance. The only real prominent horns in nature are on gazelle and antelope, so you can look at their skulls as well for inspiration.
For feet, birds (like cassowaries, ostrich and birds of prey) can be good for reference, same with a lot of lizards.
Iguanas have some pretty awesome tails and spine-spikes, too.
In specific relation to your drawing, the only thing that looks "off" is the way you have the neck bulging, and the throat scales at irregular widths. You have to keep in mind, an animal's spine is also in their neck, and the neck would have a gentle curve and a consistent solidarity and weight. The neck grows thicker at the base of long necked animals (such as a giraffe or okapi) to attach firmly to their shoulders and torso. Also keep in mind, an animals head has to stay balanced on its long neck--so it either has to have a spindly neck with a small head, or a very muscular neck to support a larger head. Otherwise, you've stepped off into a realm of complete fantasy, which is alright with dragons. ;]
Anyway, dragons are fun. ;]
Cheers,
-Blotch
Wolf E. Urameshi said:
Glad to see you back. :] Are red-lines really that bad? :[
Unfortunately, dragons are probably the most open ended "animal" to draw, since they are based on fiction and nothing solid to work from. So I'll try my best to offer a redline and some reference help, but in the end, dragons will always be subject to their creator.
First ask yourself--Am I drawing a realistic animal that could potential live, breath, fly, eat and defend itself? Or am I just going to draw a mythical beast without real anatomy or evolutionary substance? Either way is fine, but it certainly changes how you should go about designing a character.
Even when drawing a fictional animal, you can gather resources from many species without making your dragon looks like a bad science experiment. For instance, you can look at the belly and neck scales of a crocodile to see how the neck scales could fit together, or even a snake. Smooth scales are smooth because they slide on the ground, or have a lot of contact with the ground--so if you're trying to make a "realistic" dragon, you have to ask yourself, where would the scales be smooth?
For how spikes and horns attach, you can look at rooster spurs, chameleons or horny toads for instance. The only real prominent horns in nature are on gazelle and antelope, so you can look at their skulls as well for inspiration.
For feet, birds (like cassowaries, ostrich and birds of prey) can be good for reference, same with a lot of lizards.
Iguanas have some pretty awesome tails and spine-spikes, too.
In specific relation to your drawing, the only thing that looks "off" is the way you have the neck bulging, and the throat scales at irregular widths. You have to keep in mind, an animal's spine is also in their neck, and the neck would have a gentle curve and a consistent solidarity and weight. The neck grows thicker at the base of long necked animals (such as a giraffe or okapi) to attach firmly to their shoulders and torso. Also keep in mind, an animals head has to stay balanced on its long neck--so it either has to have a spindly neck with a small head, or a very muscular neck to support a larger head. Otherwise, you've stepped off into a realm of complete fantasy, which is alright with dragons. ;]
Anyway, dragons are fun. ;]
Cheers,
-Blotch
