HOME | DD
SeaSaltShrimp — Tutorial: Dragon Designing Tips - part 2/3
#dragon #tutorial
Published: 2016-08-28 16:56:27 +0000 UTC; Views: 64321; Favourites: 2630; Downloads: 675
Redirect to original
Description
PS - There's a reason I call them tips and not a "how to" tutorial, these are not absolute rules that must be followed. It's not my intention to force people to do/not do what is shown here, or to sound like you must never use the "inaccurate examples" drawn here. You do whatever you want. Those are just there as extra advice for people who wish to remain "realistic" to some level with their designs. If you don't care about realism I ain't stopping you, dragons are dragons after all.--
I'm so glad you guys liked the first part so much c': Here is part 2, I hope you'll find the rest helpful aswell. Last part coming in a few days!
I know I only talk about the classic bat wing, but I'm so bad at feathered wings I have no way of explaining how to draw them haha. Same with fur, I don't mention it but that can be stylized in all sorts of different ways too.
Some of those coloring advice I should learn to follow sometimes. *snicker*
color palette links: coolors.co/
www.design-seeds.com/blog/
www.color-hex.com/color-palett…
Part1: Part 3:
Related content
Comments: 174
please read the top of the description, people who get upset over the tutorial seem to overlook what I wrote at the top, or even at the beginning of part 1. I mentioned that those tips are for people who WISH to use a more accurate anatomy, and I am in no way imposing them. Of course dragons are fantasy creatures and it's your own choice how "accurate" you want to make them look, and no one can impose to someone else how a dragon must look, because, simply, they're up to imagination. Heck, some of those "mistakes" I showed in this tutorial, I conciously DO them myself, or used to.
I don't understand why people keep getting upset when it's clearly mentioned that this is in no way to be seen as an absolute rule, and that I am NOT forcing people to follow this tutorial (not saying that as an offense). Anatomy tips are there for people who wish to use them, people who wish to focus more on the fantasy part are free to skip them.
(hope this comment didn't come off as rude, I'm not trying to be but I'm just explaining my way of thinking when I made this tutorial)
👍: 4 ⏩: 0
I have some worries about the wing part (since you seem to base them on bat wings, but make the "hand" remarkably larger), but the tutorial is very clear and points out an astounding amount of details :3 I might make a couple of fanarts someday to see how your characters' details would be visible in my style (which still needs to be improved ^^'). So far I wasn't paying attention to many things, and my dragons are mostly sharing the same body shape, so my style wasn't very detailed. I'm going to change it. Thanks. c:
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
yeah some comments made me realize I stylized the wings too much here D: I should have used some actual bat wings as references instead of drawing them like I always do, I didn't think about it.
And thanks! Glad it helps! :3
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
(And an actual bat wing has index finger and middle finger stuck together. It seems reasonable to support the whole construction of the wing :3)
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
hmm, on some of those wings, it seems to have a 'wing spike' without actually have one, curious about that.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I take anatomy and physiology, and I am in the medical field at my school, when you place the wing behind the scapula it doesn't make any anatomical sense at ALL. I'm sorry to say that but it is not possible.
Also I go for very bright colors for cartoony designs, I think it is good for cartoony art.
Another point, where the index finger is on the wing. The index finger is WAY to long. If you look at your hand your middle and ring finger are the longest which should match up with the wing fingers.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
And I still will draw my dragons with wings connected to their shoulders above their front legs, because it looks more correct for me, and..... because I can
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Damnit, see, there are still things for me to learn. I never questioned putting the wings ontop the shoulders until I did some more research after reading this. Welp, turns out to be true (:
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Made this coolio gal with your help !! My dragon anatomy absolutely
skyrocketed after these tuts ... thank you so much for the help <33
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wait, I use an "elbow finger" design, but I think it is a style choice more than a design issue if it is implemented well. I have a five finger hand bone structure, but only 3 long fingers at the "wrist" and that same thumb-like appendage to grab cliffs, branches, etc. To understand the "elbow finger" hold your arm out and imagine the pinky finger is located back towards the elbow joint. It is not decorative and serves a very important purpose too. As you mentioned the wings have a larger effective surface area and more realistic design if the wings join along the whole body instead of at one point like Spyro's, but it is also important to arch the wings to produce a low pressure bubble under the wing if you wish to produce lift and glide, so having a finger located there to manipulate the arch of the wing would be very important and help keep that extra surface area of the wing producing lift instead of flopping about like a limp canvas. It would not be 100% needed to fly if a dragon could arc the wing enough with the other fingers, but it would grant an aerodynamic advantage to have more control of your wing shape and moving one finger back there would be more useful than having 4 nearly identical fingers all near the tip of the wing. It might bother some people to think of a finger jointed away from the wrist like that, but you can actually see digits jointed like this on real animals today such as those weird fingers halfway up the legs on some dogs, so it does happen.
Did not mean to really rant about this, but I think a few parts of your guide reflect a tad bit about your personal taste, but I can't blame you entirely when some people's design choices bother me too since I also have built in preferences. A few more examples of personal taste might be stuff such as having the web on the inside of the wing's elbow. There is no reason all designs need that webbing and it provides minimal surface area when flying while exposing that softer tissue to the leading edge of the wing making crashes or tree limbs more dangerous. Even wings built too small to realistically fly or wings connecting only at one single joint point in the Spyro style are viable design choices for characters if realism is not their highest priority. Some dragons such as those super fat ones with little wings in HTTYD are horribly unrealistic but it does not make them a bad design choice just because the physics of how they fly bother me so much 
I like your advice with these guides overall though and it reflects a lot of the character design points I try to emphasize such as thinking through how your choices make sense for the personality of each character and functionally benefit or express the character's personality. I just wish I could be good enough to draw wing digits or claws in more poses without them turning out looking silly. I guess knowing how to do things right and actually getting it right on paper are two different stories, but some of my recent sketches are looking a bit more realistic and one might even get posted if I ever finish it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
can anyone provide images of what "v-shaped" and "u-shaped" wings would look like?? i tried looking em up... and google failed me. :-/
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
omg yesss I made a tutorial just like this on paper for my friends
holes and tears in wings are a problem too, some people overdo them to the point the character wouldn't be able to fly???
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
um i need help wing wise...i've got a dragon that has only two legs and its wings are the other two limbs...if you have time do you mind making a quick example as to where i could put the wings (if you haven't already and if you have show me where X3)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
:3 do you mind telling me what you think about mine and maybe helpful tips? This is what i got (i TRIED to use this example...) sta.sh/01efz3n4momb
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
THIS HELPS SO MUCH OH MY GOSH
//gonna write a proper comment tomorrow because i'll fall asleep writing it
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hahaha thank you! ;-;
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
okay so this was extremely helpful because scales and tails and everything else in this have always been a huge issue for me and this makes me very happy
I would've added some kind of Gecko-like scales though, where they're just "pores" instead of actual scales. c:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… <-- Fat Tail gecko
www.caribbeanpets.com/site/ima… <-- Leopard gecko
Though most geckos do have actual scales, i would've thought these guys would be a cool addition c:
and the wings have me slightly confused?
Would the wing on the far left of this be able to exist?
enkue.deviantart.com/art/Wings…
I just like really exaggerated wings xP
And is the "thumb" on the wing a must? Most of my dragons don't since no one cares for rock climbing or leaning on their wing c:
and I always had an issue with putting the wings on the back of the shoulder >< it just looks really weird in my style ;A;
enkue.deviantart.com/art/Drown…
And I've ALWAYS had trouble with weird angles of the wing and this helps so much omg--
Again, this was a really awesome tutorial and i enjoyed it very much ;A; can't wait for the next part! <3
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'll bump in about a couple of issues.
Mixed wings (feathered top on a bat wing) are quite possible, the wing arm stays bat-like, just grows more fur/feathers. It can serve as a way to warm up the wing arms. This type isn't very common though, as it's hard to draw it under some angles with proper folding. I know a dragon species that has scales covering the wing arm, called Razorwings, same principle as I explained, bat arm + scales on top on both sides sezaii.deviantart.com/art/A-Cl…
The wing thumb purpose isn't only for climbing.
1. You know wyverns, they walk on all four limbs while on the ground, thus use wing thumbs as an additional support.
2. Birds have this thumb, it's called alula, with 3-5 feathers attached, which helps birds to keep the speed while maneuvering (i.e. while landing or slow flight) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alula (not sure if it's possible for the bat wing type to have such a role though, but with mixed wings I talked about before, quite, if the thumb is done as an alula).
3. Another use for the thumb is... fighting. Yes, like roosters, just with wing thumbs, though these would be more like a spur rather than a finger.
- So, to sum up, your dragon can have no wing thumb at all. It won't affect the flight at all if you keep the wings bat-like (no feathers), I'm sure of it. It's just that a lot of people tend to draw the thumb, either for the reasons above, as a trait from ancestors (rudiment?) or as a habit.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
After reading the part you mention about wings, it made me think about my chupacabra character who's wings look awesome but like you said are probably less than amatonically correct. I mean I don't worry too much about them, he's a mythical/fictional creature/character and I really like how his wings look, but I may at some point attempt to give him more logical looking wings.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That's only if you want to :3 I'm only leaving the anatomy examples here as tips for those who wish to have more "accurate" designs, but if you like your character's wings as they are you shouldn't feel forced to change them just for the sake of being more realistic. You can always just try and see if you like it or not!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I understand, and like you said there is nothing wrong with not being "accurate" if they look the way you want. I still think I might just try it to see if I like the look better. C:
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hi Fourth-Star, I know you are probably busy doing other stuff, but I would love to have some help, and for me, you are the dragon master from Deviantart, so who is better to help me than you (if you can, of course). Here is my problem: I have a wyvern character that is covered in feathers from head to knees, and those feathers can become metal feathers, but I would like to know how can I draw them in a way she will not stab herself or that she can fight with them or even fly without falling or hurting herself.
And my biggest problem is how the face would work. Any suggestion or help you can give me?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Maybe they can move and work like hard scales when metallic, kind of like the sharp-looking scales example I made up there, if her whole body is metal-solid I don't think the feathers would pierce each other and injure her body. But the feathers can also be very tiny in certain places on her body where she might otherwise get injured or have trouble moving, like near the wing membrane (if her wings have a membrane).
The face feathers can be very small aswell so it doesn't limit her mouth movements or anything else, ORRRrr the feathers can remain soft on her face
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I never actually thought of that, it is a very good idea and for the wings? They are also feathered, kinda like a pidegon's wings ( orig00.deviantart.net/8cf1/f/2… ) but she will walk with them, and use them as a shield for attacks. Do you think that the metalic feathers in the wing will be a trouble? If so, how can I make them work? Sorry if I ask so much
And I think that leaving them feathered will give her a nice touch, maybe just some feathers near the neck will only change. Thank you so much for your tips and help!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Will be putting the 'drawing wings in complex poses' tip in action straight away. I have so much trouble drawing wings in any position but flat. Also, wouldn't the wing joint in front of the shoulder make sense too?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
I don't have enough knowledge to tell if that would make sense realistically, but as a personal taste I find the wing joint placed in front of the shoulders pretty uncomfortable-looking ;-;
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
It would cause disbalance due to putting too much muscle (thus weight) upfront, plus be quite impractical.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I don't think so, I can find hundreds of images with dragons with wings in front of their shoulders that look like they'd be able to fly. Toothless for example.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'd write more on this matter, but I stumbled upon someone who already did f-nodragonart.tumblr.com/post/…
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Cool, thanks for the info.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Other than the wings, which has been my biggest weakness, I wanna see YOUR style in "Perspective Drawing." I saw your first tutorial and a lot of those character examples are drawn from their sides. How would you draw your dragons from differing angles? Also, we can't forget about types of teeth!
Here's an example I use of drawing from above:
from the front:
From below:
and...I couldn't find anything from the back. I look forward to ur last tutorial!
One more thing: U gotta talk about what accessories work for certain dragons.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
OwO can't wait till part 3.
I always have a bit trouble with coloring the character. But mostly I color them more natural to blend with their environment. Still... SOMETIMES IT TAKES HOURS TO FIND THE COLOR I LIKE!!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Luckyly I made a redesign on my blue green dragon before this xDD
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
And here comes the part with the one of the biggest and oldest problem with all anthros and how people ignore that they can't wear anything if they have wing membrane that reaches the tail (including me [I'm trying to fix it by literally cutting membranes when it comes to wear a shirt{The membrane in my uniwerse regenerate that fast, that cutting it is not a big deal to dragons}]).
Actually, not only anthros but even humans with wings.
Nude chest or illegal shirt? Be or not to Be? Those are the real questions.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
wow exelent tutorial, helped me to correct certain things, but the design is something to difference hahahaha but neither exaggerate
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Yet another awesome, and helpful tutorial :3
While I sometimes use either a texture or make my own scales, if I were to spend time to the most detail,
usually drawing scales, and doing all the shading for them can take up to around 2-3 hours alone >.=.<
But usually worth it when doing highly illustrated artworks~ xD
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I like it! So far I'm really enjoying these tutorials. I think it's going to help a lot of developing artists. I do, though, feel like the part about 'hand-like' wing palms is misleading (and limiting) if the user wants to base it off of a bat. e.g. paulmirocha.com/wp/wp-content/… and c8.alamy.com/comp/A4HCWD/vampi…
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
That wing part is very nice! I really love that.
I have an understanding of how wings work on an anatomical level, yet every time I try to draw them in a complicated pose I just blarhejfsdkhg
I probably just need to practice. I don't draw dragons nearly often enough to actually be any good at it haha
I personally always used pictures of bat wings for reference! :0 but seeing other people's' sketches always seems to make it easier for me, I think because it's easier to see the basic lines and shapes.
These tutorials are super nice c: thanks for sharing them!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is gonna help me so much thanks shrimp
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I have seen several artists say that when to colour in something white (eyes, claws, horns) to never use pure white. But why
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This really helped me out a lot but may I ask for a tip from you? My oc Heiress can stand like that of a vilociraptor but she can also walk on all fours due to her arms being a bit long. Whens shes posing like this, are her legs ok anatomically or do adjustments need to be made? Drawing a dragon in this stance is a bit tough because shes in a looking position, not a position for her to be on all fours.
👍: 0 ⏩: 4
Thank you c:
A raccoon and pangolin works just as well for a pose like this to.
I appreciate your help
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
In this sketch, it looks like her back end is higher than her front end and more curved upwards when standing on all fours and it kind of reminds me of a raccoon c: Maybe you could try referencing their anatomy for a pose like this upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
But as someone else mentioned, Nipponosaurus and Pangolin could be good creatures to reference anatomy off of in this case!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'm not sure because she's crouching a bit here and not completely in a standard standing position, however maybe I could suggest making the hind legs straight-er when on all fours? c: Like, have less of a sharp angle at the knee.
I looked up those dinos LastKrystal suggested and those are indeed a good example :'D atrox1.ucoz.ru/_ph/11/2/549277…
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
There, hows that? The refs you and both LastKrystalDragon gave me really helped out a lot with her crouching stance. I think I may implement the Parasaurs and Iguanodons standing feature into her new ref as well. Shes gonna be a Dino Birb!!!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
| Next =>