how to draw a 3d dragon
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Dragons are beautiful creatures that, unfortunately, don't exist. This simple fact makes drawing them quite problematic - is there any way to draw them correctly? I tin prove y'all how to depict a dragon head in a realistic fashion, in every pose in 3D space. Y'all just need to consider the basic structure of a skull shape and work from there.
1. View the Skull in 3D Shapes
Step 1
Here's a 3D model of a dragon skull I've created for you (you tin can download it and use equally your reference in any 3D software). I'grand going to refer to this 3D model to show you the key areas on the skull. Can you identify the upper jaw, the lower jaw and the encephalon example? You could even pick out the eyeball socket, the nostrils, teeth and horns. If y'all consider each one of these areas, you lot can build upon information technology to blueprint your ain dragon. That's all we're going to demand.
Stride 2
Hither's a plan of the same skull. Simplified plans are the best way to start a drawing. This plan is still besides complicated, though. In that location are too many weird angles y'all'd demand to accept care of when turning the head. Let's simplify information technology even more than!
Step iii
There it is! Every bit you tin can see, information technology'southward less accurate - information technology doesn't fit the skull's outline any more. Still, simple shapes make the pose establishment easier, and we tin rework them later to suit our needs.
Step four
While the upper part's movement depends on the neck, the lower jaw can move on its own up and down (and sometimes left and correct likewise, but pure carnivores tin can't actually chew). The circumvolve point shows the axis of rotation we'll need afterward. Try looking at other skulls of carnivores for examples of this mechanism, like crocodiles. They have long palates which rotate on a like axis.
Step 5
OK, so we know how to depict a dragon head from one side. Just if you tried drawing dragons before, you probably guessed how to get this far on your ain, as it's quite intuitive. What you want to learn is how to create a 3D pose, right? And then, let'south create 3D blocks of the 2d shapes that the skull is built of.
Basically, we've got an oblate ball, a cuboid and an "Fifty" shape laying apartment. These blocks will let us build a dragon head!
ii. Create a 3D Pose
Before we start, let's go technical. This tutorial will exist based on simplified perspective tips. While it'south not "technically" authentic, information technology'south a good exercise to practice the thinking in 3D. How you envision a dragon may be different to how I do; that is completely fine. However, we're going over the 3D mechanics of a skull for the initial part of the tutorial and this theory piece of work volition exist valuable for your own creations.
Stride 1
Permit'southward showtime with a ball. It doesn't demand to be perfectly round, what we practice now is just a sketch, a base for something more.
- If you describe traditionally, continue the sketch low-cal and almost invisible (a hard pencil may exist good for this phase).
- If you draw digitally, keep the sketch on a layer you'll be able to delete later.
The arrow shows the direction our dragon volition be facing.
Pace 2
Time for the upper jaw. We need to describe the 3D cuboid. Intuitively, we should draw two rectangles. As the oral fissure is tapered, you'll need to make the rectangle at the forepart of the mouth smaller.
The vertical altitude should depend on the mouth's length, while their horizontal distance should depend on the arrow's direction. It'southward only partially right, though.
Step iii
The one-point perspective cube that we draw in geometry classes is, in fact, an impossible figure. This means you tin can depict information technology, but it doesn't be in 3D space. Don't believe me? But take any cube and try to identify it a position to see a perfect square and a bit of two sides at the same time. Surprised?
To make the oral fissure more natural, nosotros demand to tilt one of the sides - a or b. The next step volition go into more particular about this.
Footstep 4
Hither comes some math! If you're familiar with perspective rules, you lot can skip this step. The rest of y'all, don't worry - yous don't need to learn everything by heart, these rules are pretty piece of cake to follow:
- When all the sides are the same lengths and the angles are xc degrees, we can meet a square.
- When you rotate the figure horizontally, the left or right side appears. The more you rotate, the shorter
candabecome, so more than of the new side is visible. - When you rotate the figure vertically, the top or bottom appears. The more y'all rotate, the shorter
banddgo, so more of new side is visible. - You tin't see both the top and bottom at the same fourth dimension.
- You tin change the angle between sides to see three of them at the same time.
Footstep 5
Let's come dorsum to the dragon. Now create the correct 3D shape. You lot are free to use whatever lengths and angles for now, but later you'll need to lucifer the other elements to them.
Step 6
We'll depict the lower jaw at present. Do you remember the "50" shape? It should be longer than the upper jaw, with an additional part fastened to it. It also needs to exist placed correct under the upper jaw.
My mouth is going to exist tapered, so the part in the forepart is smaller so the one behind it. Observe that I attach the bigger office to the back of the upper jaw.
Step seven
Since the lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw, and they both showtime at the same point, we need to move the back role a bit deeper. To find the correct direction for it, you can draw ii lines across the upper jaw's sides. If your mouth is tapered like mine, you need to pretend it's a cuboid for a moment.
Step viii
Now just "slide" the back part across your guides to become the correct altitude.
Pace 9
This is the easy office: describe in the rest of the jaw.
The pose is set! Wait... A dragon with its oral cavity closed is a peaceful dragon, simply what if we want to draw a fearsome muzzle seething with anger? See the adjacent steps if you want to learn the answer.
3. Draw an Open Oral fissure in 3D Space
Step 1
If we want an open rima oris, we need to depict the rest of the "Fifty" shape. Its back, upper part will be the axis of rotation; we demand this axis to define the next pose.
Step 2
Let's open the rima oris as much as possible (a right angle is the limit, in my opinion). A 90 caste rotation is quite like shooting fish in a barrel to practice; the summit becomes front side and the back becomes top. The right side just switches the lengths.
Step 3
Nosotros need to find the center of the mouth. To do this, draw a line beyond the upper jaw and the rotated block. Then draw a vertical line down. The angle between the two lines is 90 degrees, but perspective alters it.
Step 4
Imagine a huge circle with a center in the corner of our correct angle. Depict only the part that's between the lines.
Step 5
An open oral fissure volition exist moving along a curve. You can see the front part of the lower jaw will go on narrowing while sliding down, until nosotros end seeing its front (and the inside is visible instead).
Step 6
To have the oral fissure wide open, you need to draw the front of the mouth turned away from you, then connect it as usually with the rotated dorsum part. The lower lip should bear on the curve.
Step 7
Since you know how the closed and fully open mouth looks, you tin can easily find every transitional position. You just need to imagine the "L" function rotating over the axis, and the oral fissure sliding over the curve between jaws. Remember to ever touch it with the lower lip!
Step 8
This is how my dragon guide sketch looks. If you're drawing traditionally and your sketch looks very messy now considering of all these lines we don't need whatever more, you tin trace the sketch on a new folio. Keep it lite! If you're drawing digitally, simply lower its opacity, lock it, and create a new layer.
4. Form the Bones Structure of the Dragon
Pace 1
In one case we take our elementary blocks defined, we need to add more complicated blocks to pad out the confront. When you depict a dragon without thinking about 3D, yous merely draw an eye or optics, nostrils and horns, and that's all. The whole face up is flat and unnatural. You need to program the face masses get-go, and and so depict all the bulges and depressions. See them in 3D!
Once again, it's still in the sketch stage. It ways you lot need to keep the new lines low-cal (or on a new layer). Allow's draw the upper jaw first. Information technology should be connected to the brawl, simply yous don't really need to be strict with the shape. Use the pose sketch as a guide, but don't trace it.
Step 2
Draw a forehead too. As you can run into, I didn't worry most the model'south size at all. It's the direction that matters.
Pace iii
Add together the brow ridges at a whole forehead's width. You can fifty-fifty depict them from the nose to the end of the caput.
Step 4
The lower jaw is virtually traced, as there's no room for whatsoever changes (yet).
Step five
Place the eye in a socket. Where to place it? I helpful tip: herbivores generally have their eyes on both sides of the head for the widest field of vision possible (to encounter an enemy while eating). Carnivores take their optics on the front of the face for a precise sight (compare a horse and a lion). Therefore:
- If yous want a dragon with gentle look, place its eyes relatively far from the forepart of the face up.
- If you desire a murderous beast, place its optics closer to the mouth.
Tin can you guess what kind of dragon I drew?
Step 6
Since all the shapes are nicely defined, nosotros can start drawing for real! Catch a softer pencil or create a new layer and let'southward become!
5. Draw the Dragon's Features
Step 1
While horns look pretty easy to draw, people tend to accept problems with them. Everyone has their own style, only if you lot want your dragon to look natural (so, more realistic), don't brand them sharp. Horns wear downwards when used! Also, directly ones await quite artificial, and then bend them a little.
Step 2
Dragons are by and large covered with small scales that resemble peel (similar snakes), or with big plate-scales. While pocket-sized scales are very like shooting fish in a barrel (and tiresome) to draw, plates are what make them await massive and armored. Once you learn how to draw them, you'll run into information technology's much faster than covering whole torso with a bazillion fiddling ellipses! So, three tips:
- You tin can imagine a single plate-scale is a hand with three fingers. This paw tries to embrace the surface information technology's laying on, so most of the time we'll see just a one-half of it (two fingers).
- When the scales grow bigger, they don't just increase their size - they're like fractals. It works similar a growing tree that gets more branches with a fourth dimension.
- Scales lay upon each other, but they're not glued together; when their base is bending, they "open".
Step three
When yous draw a scale (or annihilation fabricated of natural material), information technology doesn't demand to be perfect. Nature isn't perfect! Scales aren't made of plastic; they have been growing for a long fourth dimension, in the rain and cold; they have been striking and scratched, and that has changed them. (Or, if your dragon is fabricated of adamantium, zilch inverse them. Perfection is fine in that case.) Don't exist agape to raise your pencil and come dorsum to the line you lot but started - long, polish lines requite a cartoony look. Don't attempt to gear up your lines either, or you'll go a mess.
Step 4
Since nosotros know how the scales work, we can start to wearing apparel our dragon. Offset, we'll take care of the eyebrows. They wait merely like tapered cylinders, and so information technology's easy to imagine how the scales should be placed. Start with the 1 on the forepart - the merely one that will be fully visible. And so draw some other, a little bigger, and so on. Every other calibration may be more complicated than the previous one, just every bit if you were drawing them growing!
Stride five
Now, identify your scales from the nose to the end of the head. This time they're quite similar, as the surface they're laying on barely changes its shape. They also can lay flat.
Step six
I'one thousand not going to teach you nearly an eye'southward shape, because they can exist really different. Nevertheless, there's i universal thing: the eye is placed in the eye socket, covered with eyelids, and protected with two large bone masses - the brow ridge and the zygomatic bone. There are two things to remember:
- If dragon'southward skin is very thick, the eyelids are probably quite thick as well - therefore, when the centre is open, the eyelid will have a stiff wrinkle.
- There's a correct angle between the top of the zygomatic bone and the eyeball, so go on that in heed when irresolute the pose.
Stride 7
This is how I drew the eye:
Step viii
Time to draw the rest of the mouth. Draw information technology with your hand shaking - this way you lot'll get a lot of interesting shapes, which are and then much amend than tedious smooth lines. Also, can you see the little depression? It's non required; yous tin can continue your mouth round if yous want.
Step 9
Let's draw the lower jaw! It's going to be quite complicated, considering of all the teeth and so on, so let's accept it slow. Commencement, draw the front role of the jaw (a shaking mitt will assistance you again). We also need to add this strong jaw musculus that opens the mouth. The bigger the angle of opening, the more than stretched the muscles. This tension adds a lot to the moving-picture show!
Pace ten
Generally, teeth are going to use the same curve to slide over when the oral cavity is opening, considering the upper and lower ones want to run into - just like the jaws. Likewise, don't forget:
- Teeth wear out too! Don't brand them all pointy or they'll seem unused.
- The kind of teeth tells a lot about your dragon. Should they exist like a T-Rex's, or more like a lion's? What does it swallow, and how does information technology hunt?
- Dragons tin't expose their gums like wolves, because their skin is much harder, merely they still should be visible when the mouth is open.
Step 11
A tongue is usually plump, so don't make information technology flat. Information technology needs to aid the huge beast eat quite large things, after all! Points to consider:
- If your dragon tin can eject its tongue long out of the mouth while roaring, ask yourself: what's the point of this? I don't really know any fauna that does it, and so yous need to detect a practiced reason to make information technology "realistic".
- A forked tongue is an organ of smell. Snakes flick their tongues out all the time and, theoretically, your dragon should do the aforementioned if information technology has a forked natural language. Otherwise, it's pointless!
Step 12
The caput is almost complete, so let's simply add an element to merge both jaws together. You lot tin can utilise bony wings hither, boosted horns and spikes, anything you like! Just remember - it all should serve a purpose (for instance, to look bigger or more than attractive for a potential mate).
Step xiii
So, the head is washed! It's notwithstanding only a line art, so if yous want to learn how to make it more attractive, come across the next pace.
6. Add a Spark to Your Drawing
Step 1
We're going to exercise the inking at present. Digital artists are in a meliorate position hither, but traditional markers and brawl pens will do too!
Our movie is made of lines of almost the aforementioned width. Stress some of them to add importance to the various areas.
Step 2
Add some darkness to wherever it's needed. Here, I want to show the difference betwixt the inside and the exterior of the oral fissure.
Stride 3
Cover the horns and teeth with sparse curves. They should exist thinner than most of the lines that build the picture show.
Footstep iv
Utilize the aforementioned thin lines to sketch shaded areas. Keep it loose and fast. When you want to darken a place, cross the lines, only don't change the pencil!
Pace 5
Here is what I've got by adding depth to the scales.
Step 6
Look at your moving-picture show and cheque whether it needs whatever more contrast. If a place is already covered with lines and you want to make it darker, you tin use a bigger brush or softer pencil there.
Awesome Work, You're Now Done!
You've simply learnt how to create a 3D pose and draw a convincing dragon caput. I hope you liked it! Feel gratis to come back here whatever fourth dimension if you lot demand a quick reminder.
Source: https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-draw-a-realistic-dragon-head-in-3d-space--vector-14639
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