Cloudsteps on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/cloudsteps/art/Appealing-Title-426411533Cloudsteps

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Appealing Title

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Draco, why are your wings so small...? DX They are supposed to be big DX

working On dragons! :dummy: How does it look? This was really fun to draw...

critiques are appreciated! ^^

Image size
3008x2544px 1.91 MB
© 2014 - 2024 Cloudsteps
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aboveClouds's avatar
:star::star::star-half::star-empty::star-empty: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Vision
:star::star::star-half::star-empty::star-empty: Originality
:star::star-half::star-empty::star-empty::star-empty: Technique
:star::star-half::star-empty::star-empty::star-empty: Impact

Like I said in the other critique, it's always a good idea to use reference in your artwork. Now, dragons don't exist, so you have to go for the next best thing: dinosaurs. Look up dinosaur skulls and try to draw them from observation. It really helps if you place a grid over the photo to keep track of where things should be. Here's a tutorial on using a grid:
www.deviantart.com/art/How-I-D…
If you're using photoshop, all you have to do is place the grid layer over your photo layer and set the grid layer on "multiply."

(This method also works if you're trying to draw a background image from observation as well.)

Most people will use velociraptor skulls or t-rex skulls for reference when it comes to dragons, but it would be pretty cool to make a triceratops-based dragon as well. Of course, if you're going for more cutesy dragons, you can also use cuter animals for reference, like cats and dogs. Lots of people will base their dragon's anatomy on canines and felines.

"But I don't want to draw a skeleton - I want to draw a whole dragon!"
You need to understand an animal from inside and out before you can draw them. You don't have to draw every bone in exquisite detail, but you need to at least block them in. Here's an example:
www.deviantart.com/art/Dog-Ana…
See how they use simple straight lines to represent the skeleton? It's always a good idea to start out with a simple structure like this when you're drawing.
You then add the muscles on top of that skeleton, like here:
www.deviantart.com/art/Dog-ana…

You don't have to detail every little muscle if you're going for a cartoony style, but you still have to know their general shape and placement. But if you're shooting for more of a cartoony style, I'd recommend checking out tracyjb 's tutorials. Here they are:
tracyjb.deviantart.com/gallery…
The "Lackadaisy Contruction," "Lackadaisy Poses," and "Lackadaisy How-to-draw" tutorials will definitely help you. Actually, I'd recommend checking them out before you do anything because they're much simpler and easier to understand than photos. You especially need to understand the process in "how to draw" if you're going to draw from a photo. It takes a ton of time, but you'll get it with practice.

I'd also recommend checking out this blog post written by Ulario :
anthro-fantasy-club.deviantart…
If you want your colored pencil pictures to be nice and smooth, you'll need to slowly build up your colors with several different layers. It's very time-consuming, which is why I'd usually use colored pencils with markers or acrylics. I'd lay down the base colors with markers, and add the shading with colored pencils. It's much quicker than using colored pencils alone. It's something that might work for you too!

Hope I helped! You can contact me if you're having trouble with something.