The humble dragon has a history that dates back to the era of Ancient Greece, and is a familiar character across literature, art and film. The legends tell us that dragons hatch from large eggs, so let’s get started in creating our very own creature!
Tutorial Video
Step-By-Step Images and Instructions
1.
Start with a pencil and create a curved “E” shape roughly in the center of your page, curved down towards the bottom left-hand corner.
2.
Add three “spikes” to the bottom of this “E” shape, and connect the ends of the spikes with a slightly curved line.
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Then, add another “prong” to the top of the “E”. Next, add two “horn” shapes emerging from the back of the “E”, and add curved lines moving up the length of these.
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Then, add a semi-circle shape coming from the top of the “E”, and add this to another curved line on the left-hand side. Add a semi-circle shape emerging off to the left, and then at a curved “M” shape around halfway up the semi-circle, to create the tongue of the baby dragon.
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Now add a few razor-sharp teeth to the top and bottom of the jaw.
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Follow the curve of the mouth around and across to create a lip and attach this to a “dipped” line which creates the chin of the creature. Draw two long, parallel lines heading downwards for the neck.
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Now add another parallel, vertical line, and three long, thin “sausage” shapes beside the original pair to create tiny fingers. Top these with clear shapes and add a series of hatching lines across the surface.
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Return to the right-hand side, and draw a short line heading up at around a 45-degree angle, towards the top left-hand corner of the page. From the end of this, bring a line down at a curve, towards the bottom left-hand corner of the page, end in a point, and follow the line back up. Repeat this with two smaller shapes to the right, but do not join the ends of these in a point.
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Now, add another three “fingers” to the left-hand side, beneath the shapes you just drew.
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Connect the two sets of fingers together with the double “zigzag” line, almost like a lightning bolt.
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Now, add a curve to the tops of the fingers on the right-hand side, and repeat the long, thin curves seen on the left-hand side. Connect the bottom of the points with a slightly curved line, just as you did before.
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Now, add a large curved “semi-circle” emerging from underneath the fingers and wings, and reaching the bottom of the page – this will be the egg that your baby dragon hatches from!
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Now, fill in the surface of the egg with details, including oblong, rectangular and square shapes, as well as a tiny crack down the center, descending from the top.
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Next, return to the head of the dragon, and add a small dot, with a semi-circle around it, to the bottom of the nose. Add another semi-circle to the curve at the top of the nose, creating cute nostrils.
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Now, bring your dragon to life by adding an eye – use a half circle, and fill this with a smaller circle inside. Then, add a small oval shape inside this, and two small dots – one at the top and one at the bottom – inside this one. Finally, add a curved line above the eye for an eyebrow.
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Now add detail to the neck of the dragon with a series of short, horizontal lines moving across the space.
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Take a black liner and use this to add an outline to the whole shape, and fill in the center of the eye, leaving the small dots blank.
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Before grabbing an eraser to remove any pencil marks, except the pencil marks on the egg.
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Now, use a light orange pen to fill in the head, top of the wings and fingers of your creature.
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Use a purple pen to add a little color to the tongue…
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And a black pen to fill in the back of the mouth.
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Now use a yellow pen for the horns and the inside of the ears…
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And a blue pen to bring the eyes to life!
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Return to the yellow pen, and fill in the inside of the wings…
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Before returning to the orange pen to add a shadow to the underside of the jaw, the edges of the fingers, and the edge of the neck.
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Fill in the shapes on the shell with a gray pencil.
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And then fill in the rest of the egg with a pink pen.
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Finally, use a gray pencil to add detail to the bottom of the eye, on the inside line.
Voila! You now have your very own baby dragon hatching from its very own egg – who knows where its adventures may lead, or the stories which may be created? Time to let your imagination run wild!
There is an array of mythical creatures which can be found woven throughout folklore, mythology and tales; unicorns, vampires and mermaids permeate the pages of stories across history, and they are typically accompanied by one particular creature: the might fire-breathing dragon.
The dragon is a well-known figure in cultures from Europe to China, and India to the Americas, and they have played prominent characters throughout much of history.
Texts and stories from ancient Greece describe enormous serpents which soared above the heads of the narrator, and up until the arrival of Christianity, dragons were given a status as harmful and dangerous at times, while still playing roles as protectors.
When Christianity tool hold, the symbol of the dragon took a darker interpretation, with followers denoting it as a representation of Satan – possibly thanks to a connection with the serpent which tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Bible is filled with stunning descriptions of fearsome creatures, which include flames, flashing light, and smoke billowing from nostrils.
The inclusion of dragons in the Bible means that the majority of inhabitants of medieval society would likely have considered dragons to be as real as the trees, rivers or mountains. The discovery of dinosaur bones only helped to confirm the realistic nature of dragons in their minds – without a knowledge of the scientific discoveries we have today, there was no way they could have known any differently.
Nowadays, dragons are still popular figures in films, books and video games – and they have a popularity which shows no sign of slowing.
