Dragon drawing

 Alright so I wanted to attempt another "big" drawing - which is how I think of it in my head, but not at all literal since it's exactly the same size paper 😂    But by that I really mean something that will be a challenge and likely take multiple days or weeks to complete.   The first was the bird tutorial...   Then I drew Tucker.   Now I wanted something similar quality, but of a fantastic nature.   hmmmm

My learning to draw journey started with a goal of drawing dragons.  My last "big" dragon I was...  less than proud of ;).  lol well that's not entirely true, I was proud that I drew a dragon that was recognizable as a dragon, but the sketch was way better than what resulted when I added colour.   And, well, a whole lot of other issues that come with being a beginner artist.

So I'm still v much a beginner artist but slightly less so than I was last year so, you know, we'll complicate things even more and do not just a dragon but also a fairy ;).  Now the problem is, I'm still at the level that I need to be looking at something to have a hope of drawing it.  This is a challenge, as I don't happen to have a ton of dragons and fairies hanging around that I can photograph (they're shockingly camera shy!)

This is what I started with...

I do, however, have this picture that Em took of Nick and I a lifetime ago.  To this day, it makes my heart melt.   And, I have AI ;).  So I started w ChatGPT which is usually my AI of choice and asked it to take this photo and replace the woman with a fairy and the horse with a dragon.  It failed atrociously.  Several times with different prompts.  Like not even remotely close to what I was after.   Booo.   So then I tried CoPilot which I'd never used and it NAILED it.  Like brilliantly.   I was so excited.   There were a few minor aspects I didn't like, but it was entirely willing to tweak to my specifications and in the end I had a dragon and fairy in the same pose, that I thought might work.

...and after several edits, this is what I ended with.

So we won't discuss how long it took me to figure out the sketch.  Honestly, the real challenge was the fairy's face.  Everything else was reasonably easy, but it took approximately 382783538 tries to get the face "right".  It was painful.  Really painful.

I didn't take a picture of just the sketch (day 1), but - having learned from last time, figured I'd try doing the background first as is often recommended.  Also, I don't love backgrounds so figured if I did it first and f'd it up, at least I wasn't risking the whole drawing...   Decided I would use Faber Castell for the background and Prismacolor Premier for the foreground.   So day one was FC (oil based, and slightly less vibrant colours -- often used for animal and people drawings).   After a ridiculously long time, I ended day 2 with:

So - it's super tedious doing the background first.  

 

Next day's effort included more detail to the background and first effort at the frame of the wings.   To get to that there may or may not have been some youtube tutorials on how to colour gold 😂 

Actually pleased at how the gold turned out!   Background is slightly better but I still don't love it - ah well, we'll see as we go :).  A little concerned about how the dragon spikes are going to work out with the background already there but that's a future me problem ;)

Day one of wings

The world disappeared while I was doing this one.  Was out back and started early afternoon and suddenly it was 5:45 and the alert that cats were being fed buzzed my watch, which told me I should go feed Sasha too.  I fed her, and went right back to drawing and kept going till I got cold.  This one I actually took the time to do a practice round on spare paper - tested the colours, the flow, how to get the markings in (those will be the next day), and the impact of blending (SO glad I practiced that first cause I would've messed it up for sure).   Still work to be done, but I'm happy with how it's turning out so far...

Took a break between last one and this one due to life

Making this up as I go along lol.   Did more for the wings and while I wanted to do the hair today, I figured I should do the shirt while I still remembered how I did the wings.  This was not actually how I had envisioned it, but I think it still works.   Also continuing to fuss with the background 😂   We'll see next time I look at it :)

OMG is this phase ever creepy 

lol so I got to do the hair today and I'm reasonably happy with it.   Surprisingly happy with the skin - watched a fast-forward tutorial to get colour layering suggestions but definitely no tutorial available for this particular artwork so started with base colour suggestions and made the rest up as I went along.  Quite pleased with how the skin turned out but is it ever creepy having a blank face.   🫣 

I have a practice sheet that I'm investing a lot more time in than I have previously and it's definitely helping the overall success rate.   It does slow the pace, but I think it helps the overall result.   And *why* did I choose to stop there?  Well cause I'm still not thrilled w the sketch of the face so kinda figure I have to sort that out before I add colour.   We shall see...

Oops ;-P

Alright so...  Today I am v disappointed cause I messed up some proportions and turned my lovely fairy into a neanderthal.   Booo.   I also learned a whole lot of lessons about colour theory and blending as I started to do the dragon ;).  I feel like the fairy issue might be too much for me to overlook when this is done, so this one will go down as a learning experience.  And also, my dragon scales feel a little like feathers?!?!  lol.  I may or may not be able to fix that.   BUT - I also really like the concept so current plan is to finish this one, learn everything I can, go away and learn more about drawing faces and people proportions, and maybe a bit more re colour and backgrounds, then come back and do it again.  Maybe.

Follow up:

So I posted my WIP in the forum where I’m learning to draw and asked for help.   Common consensus was that the scales do actually look like scales not feathers (and that scales evolved from feathers so good to go either way 😂 - I kinda like the idea of my dragon being an evolutionary transition) - and also someone directed me to a lesson specifically about drawing scales that is many chapters ahead of where I am now.  Won’t help for this one but likely will for the next iteration.   As for the girl - common consensus is that she looks just fine if you don’t know what she was *supposed* to look like, and one useful suggestion about tilting her eyebrows to make it more obvious she’s looking down.   So I’m going with - maybe not quite as bad as I’d felt?   Always the way w one’s own work though eh?

Today’s learning was that blending colours in a small space has some risks - my light to dark on the smaller spikes all the dark went to the light side!   I have no idea how or why - the physics of that doesn’t make sense to me.  But fortunately I was able to fix it w the next layer, just means they’re slightly more vibrant than I’d originally intended but that might just be okay - it is a dragon after all!

Step in the right direction

So with some advice from the art class forum and some studies of the original sketch, I think I've managed to save my fairy!  😂   A long way from perfect, but she looks a lot less like a Neanderthal now.   And I'm kinda loving my dragon.  Who's not actually done yet,  but getting close.  So much learning and problem solving happening but I"m really enjoying it.

We're calling this one done

I think…. I think it’s done ❤️.  ~35 pencil crayons (coloured pencils to the rest of the world), 9 evenings of work spread over a few weeks.   One “help!  How do I fix…” post in my art class forum ;).  And endless learning and problem solving.

Things that were a challenge:

• Sketch that I was proud of in black and white but didn’t look right when colour applied
• Colour theory aka what colours blend well and which ones don’t ;).  And how do you fix it if you choose wrong.
• I now know all the various shades of orange in my collection ;).  A shame it’s the last day of pumpkin season.
• Figuring out all the details you need for photorealism without a photo - this, clearly, I have a v long way to go.  Shadows / values / etc - all a challenge for a beginner with a realistic starting point - way harder with fiction and honestly AI isn't great at it yet either ;) 

There are parts of this that I love, parts that I really do not, and all of it that I can imagine the next iteration after I go away and up my skills a bit ;).   I did enjoy it though and likely will do it again once I feel I have the skills to make what I see in my head a reality.