Dragon's Revisited [Come on in folks]

[Aldymnor]

JEez Liquide these are awesome.

I think the second one (maybe?) you posted has a tail that looks a little pooey. (Edit: just remembered the real word - formless... like it's lumpy or something) They're all awesome though.
I'm almost done wtih my next one, it's a composite shot so it's taking a while. This is a great thread!
I also like Malessa's, it's so grimey!

 

[Aldymnor]

(Ignore the girl, this is just talkin about the dragon)

Here I attempted to use a muscle configuration not unlike the Lockwood clone above provided skillfully by Liquide.

I sorta failed. The wing is bubbly, and I should slender that down a bit.

One thing I like is that this dragon isn't spiked much - I intend on making it a good dragon (or gem as the case may be)

Is the neck too long? I wonder.

Any other comments / shreds are totally welcome. (Also welcome on the girl, but really she's not the focus on this piece.)

 

[Malessa]

Looks great Aldymnor! Very cool indeed, I like your style.


Ok here is mine so far, I'm no where near being done with sketch yet. Feel free to fire away though anyway!

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

Liquide: Well I must say the updated picture of the Dragon is looking very nice. It screams Dragon. It is exactly what I am looking for in a Dragon. I think what I really like about it is the general look of the head and the detail on the feet. My only real thing that doesn't quite feel right is the tail. I agree with Aldymnor that it just feels formless. Granted I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't for his comment.

Granted I always feel strange commenting about anyones art since I have no artistic talent myself. I'm awed by anyone with the ability to draw as well as you and the others do.

 

[Maldur]

Liquide: nice dragon.
Some things I noticed.

The short head spikes and minimal ridges give the impression its a fairly young dragon , was that your intension?

The wing is kinda weird. The muscled part look a bit misplaced. I always invisioned them more orn the frontedge of the wing ( like malessa's-BW/ like bats.

The skin done is shaded pencil like that. doesn't really scream scales to me. Maybe a bit more texture?


You can try doing the same dragon with a different pose. Try thinking of a pose which shows the wingstructure more, or the tail. ( the tail seems allright but the pose gives it a bit of a lumpy quality.


Malessa:
I really love you second, Black and white dragon. the coloured one was a bit overdone in colour, so much it showed colour and obscured the dragon. Your black and white shows you do know what dragons look like. in your first picture is kinda hard to see that. the colouring might be more appropriate for deamons or devils??


Wolv0rine: your "dragon" is very nice. But ( at least to me) NOT a dragon. Im definately gonna steel the pic for another monster ( im not sure when or what monster) but not a dragon.


Aldymnor:
Great! I just love doodles the first dragon is nice and dynamic, I always like movement in pictures.


All of you keep it up, Im a lousy artist, so Im very jealous

 

[Wolv0rine]

Wolv0rine: your "dragon" is very nice. But ( at least to me) NOT a dragon. Im definately gonna steel the pic for another monster ( im not sure when or what monster) but not a dragon.

*Nods* I was trying to meld classic dragons and asian dragons (many of which tend to be fairly leonic) into something a little of both. It's not quite dragon to me, either (although perhaps some kind of dragonic being or creature), but I liked the look of the head in general, glad you did too.

And Malessa, that last one was pretty darned nice.

 

[Liquide]

Okay, okay, Malessa's just too gung-ho. I know Liquide can take him some creative crits, so just to balance things out, I'll shoot it down (because he already knows I dig the pic, hehe)

1. This is a personal preference thing, but I think the horns atop his head are too short. They look more like bony ridges than horns.
2. The cheek frill bothers me a bit, I think it's because it's underdeveloped. Give just a hint more impression of the individual spires that end in spurs.
3. The foreground wing's humorous bone doesn't meet up with the shoulder, it looks dislocated.
4. Foreground foreleg, from the 'elbow' down this looks great, but I get the impression that this humorous is too short by just a wee bit, because I have to look to see that the anatomy here isn't shoulder-elbow-forearm-claw.
5. Fromthe point where the tail bends, it begins to become distorted, at one point the line just wavers and creates a bulge in the lower-tail.
6. The wings, I think, are too structured in their texture. There's this impression of taut leather (as there should be), from the lines, but they are too symetrical.

1. Actually your eyes doesn't folly you here mate , it wasn't intended as horns. The original drawing by the grand Mr. Lockwood had horns but I felt I wanted to Liquidize my version of it a lil bit so I opted for my bony ridge version of the head instead. Hope you can like it more now when you know that
   
2. Suggestions lad, suggestions on how to this I can extend and make the cheek larger I presume and more defined bone structure, but please send me some sugestions.
   
3. Me and bones == don't match up well Still I can see what you mean, lil hard to fix it now since the paper is well "over-done" at that place on the illo.
   
4. Well, no comments here it is a lil bit short, but it would mean that I am to redraw a large chunka of the illo in order for it to match up, so no please.
   
5. Had to bend the tail for it to fit, this one I can remodel since I have not torn the paper apiece at that place yet So suggest the fix please.
   
6. Nag Nag Nag , well if you say so (I likem me wings though )
   [/list=1]
   
   

   Now, I do like this pic. Here is what I DO like
   1. On the whole, it stands up well. Forms and structure are mostly in proportion to each other, and it fills the negative space very well.
   2. The head itself has a good shape, not over-done, not under-done. More draconic to my eye than any other dragon I've seen Liquide do.
   3. The neck, in thickness, length, and scale-pattern -- this is a grand dragon neck. It connects to the head, and the shoulders (and before anyone calls that a backhanded compliment, look at some dragon pics. So many don't do that).
   4. The outline of the wings is superb. This is their size, mass, and overall shape. These wings could lift this dragon (even if it does have 2 sets of biceps, hehe)
   5. The claws are very nice. In specific, the claws that are bearing the dragon's weight are very nice. It would be easy to stop and point and say "Hey, here are three dozen tips for making those claws look like they are really bearin that weight!", but darnit I like 'em.
   6. The subtle shading of the musculature. I like this technique, although I think it's just a hair too light. We need a slightly darker line, with a bit of shading gradiation blending it into the hide, but I like how muted it is now too.
   
   Overall... we know that Liquide's got a solid handle on the theoretical anatomy, the man's practically written a treatise on it for us. And, while I disagree on a few points, he sticks to his own rules, and that provides a level of internal consistency that is supporting of each piece.
   
   Okay, that's enough, I just don't want your head to swell up with praise so much that you don't improve, mate.

   
   Hey I never swell (at least not too much since that would make me explode), and thanks mate
   
   editted for grammer

 

[Liquide]

(Ignore the girl, this is just talkin about the dragon)

Here I attempted to use a muscle configuration not unlike the Lockwood clone above provided skillfully by Liquide.

I sorta failed. The wing is bubbly, and I should slender that down a bit.

One thing I like is that this dragon isn't spiked much - I intend on making it a good dragon (or gem as the case may be)

Is the neck too long? I wonder.

Any other comments / shreds are totally welcome. (Also welcome on the girl, but really she's not the focus on this piece.)

First, the lady became the focus of the pic when you made her the centre front piece but enough of that from me now

The muscle tone I created in my pic is done with an eraser and not a pencil I might add BTW. First I fill all the body areas with the muscle lines, fill in lots of light pencil fillings. Then I use the eraser to define the highlighted muscles and smudge out the shadows (just discovered this technique and it is fast and gives a quite nice result, takes some time to master though)

Neck seems OK to me mate, I tend to make it a bit shorter and more musculer since I want to give the impression of a muscular and agile predator that uses its neck to tear away bits of flesh when it has grasped an opponent/carcass, but that is just my personal preference.

Dragons need spikes and bony plates , it is not the dragon that does the detail. It is the detail that does the dragon, the more detail (and smaller details) you can put into the pic to more firghtening it will look and the more real people will percieve your dragon as.

Ok enough of my thoughts

 

[Liquide]

Looks great Aldymnor! Very cool indeed, I like your style.


Ok here is mine so far, I'm no where near being done with sketch yet. Feel free to fire away though anyway!

OK lady, there is nothing wrong with this as far as the sketch tell me so far One little nit-pick (and it is a small one), a bat wing has 1 thumb and 4 fingers not 2 thumbs and 7 fingers but me commenting on fantasy anatomy will prolly just get me in trouble.

And you are improving by miles with this picture compared to the old ones, one little note when making the horns try and find some obscure animal with curved horns for dragons (makes for a better image and strengthens the illusion that you have actually drawn something from real-life), suggestions on animals can be found in every movie about african wildlife (more or less).

.End report

 

[Malessa]

Thanks Liquide, I'll look up bat anatomy on google, horns as well. Right now I just woke up..blurry eyed..so need much coffee first... Hopefully I'll finish him today, or at least make more progress...for now........COFFEE.....MUST HAVE COFFEE.....! *yawn*