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DanielaIvanova β Shoulder dragon
Published: 2014-02-15 14:53:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 3179; Favourites: 179; Downloads: 0
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Description
A portrait of a very good friend of mine with her pet dragon perched on her shoulder. During the drawing session her dress caught fire once when the dragon farted so we had to undress her and wrap her up in a sheet of alluminum foil. She endured the whole thing like a hero, though, and fortunately very little of her hair was burnt in the process.
(Joke aside, I was reading one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, particularly the one with shoulder dragons, when I drew this portrait, so this is where it came from 
I'm not totally satisfied with how the scan turned out, it's very pale (I added some contrast here), grainy and has these weird glares on her face that are not there on the drawing but since the scan costs about half my usual breakfast this is gonna be it.Β
Made entirely with graphite pencils from H to 8B on a piece of paper that's way too textured for this purpose, measuring a little over A4.Β
Work in progress stages can be seen here: Shoulder dragon - WIP
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Comments: 86
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Beautiful work!!Β I love the details on the dragon; and the textures, over all.Β Very nice work!
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Thank you very much Linda, it means a lot coming form you.
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I like it. ^_^ Beautifully done. (I wish to point out that if you had said nothing about the flaws in the scan, no one else would have noticed. We're all too busy going "Ooooohhh!!!, Pretty!!!!")
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Oh wow, thank you for such a sweet comment!
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You are most welcome! Thanks for making such a lovely piece to comment on. ^_^
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Thank you!
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My pleasure
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You're so welcome my friendΒ Β
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The brickwork! It's as good as the subjects, particularly the wings.
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Thank you so much for noting that part ^^ It's the one thing I was so unsure about.
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Makes me happy you do! <3
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Wow, they look so similar indeed! I didn't even know about those characters
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This drawing blows me away! It's so beautiful! I love it! You have amazing skill!
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Thank you so much! 
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You're very welcome!
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A lovely study in details. Β A lot of time and patience was put into this one. Β
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Hello, the prompt for the comment tag was "Animal" and it looks like the dragon is the only "animal" in your gallery!
Looking at the dragon, the scales and the wings are quite impressive, but looking at the whole picture, the entire piece is very top-notch and consistent in terms of the texture design, especially with the stones which must have taken a lot of patience considering the varying shapes, cracks, and surfaces which make each one different. And the model is no exception to the technical skills, but her hair in particular really captivates my attention, it shows how fine the vertical detail in terms of the shading, plus the loose, frayed strands make the hair more lifelike and altogether photorealistic.Β
Now a critique. The dragon is good, but it is small, and for that to be the focus or title of the piece, I feel more attention should've been drawn towards it. Ex. Lighting. It should be flipped, in my opinion, getting darker towards the left, and brighter shades on the right to provide higher contrast against the dragon's neck or lower body. The tail tucking behind the girl's back/shoulder and coming off the bottom of the page feels rather disjointed as opposed to a more fluid perception of keeping it in view. Finally, a personal nit-pick, but I'd just like to see the little dragon with more expression/anticipation/emotion, but I guess that's the sacrifice of keeping a style realistic rather than cartoony 
So there's my critique 
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I actually also have a spider, a teal, a spider and a cat in my poems
First off thanks for such a detailed and constructive comment. 
It was surprising for me that you would like the hair since it was the most challenging and frustrating part for me and I feel I can do much to improve there. The dragon itself was not initially planned in the portrait and was going to be just a detail but those scales turned out to be way too fun to draw. I absolutely agree about the emotion and the tail on the dragon. It would have been so much better if I had done some studies and made it more alive. But you know - first time, it was a lot easier to make it static, plus I felt it fit her languid expression as well. Anyways, thank you once again for the detailed feedback and the interesting tag.
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Ah, well, I usually go straight to the visual art when checking someone's gallery so that would explain it.
Glad I could help, you're very welcome
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Hi Danielle! I'm an admin for the group which specializes in artistic depictions of women, and requested this piece for it. You should join us!
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I did! I love seeing women in all art forms so I hope this group livens up with you as a mod. Thanks for requesting it, it's a huge compliment for me 
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Well it's a stunning piece
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