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Inkthinker — Dragon sketches
Published: 2005-02-08 10:30:58 +0000 UTC; Views: 9894; Favourites: 176; Downloads: 860
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Dragons...I likes dragons, but I get kinda particular about 'em when I have creative control over their design. For one, I never liked the whole six-limbed dragon thing. I mean, I can get behind it if we're going way over into "high fantasy", but then the perverse in me starts dropping other six-limbed creatures into the mix.
It's bad enough trying to conceptualize any sort of reasonable aerodynamic bullshit for a flying long-necked lizard to begin with, but designing a ribcage for one with two additional forelimbs... and speaking of the wings, that's another pet peeve of mine: people who can't draw bat-wings. For the love of lead, it's not that damn hard to look at a picture is it? A bat's wings are actually really easy to understand... they're just an arm and a hand with long, tretched fingers, and webbing that runs the length between the fingertips. Soooo easy.
But every so often I see someone draw the wing like a ladder with one side missing, or an old Fokker wing that curves. I just don't get it...
I don't like my dragons to talk, either. They're not wise, they're cunning. I likes 'em as vicious, nasty predators with nature's flamethrower up their throats. Reign of Fire might've been plotted like rice paper but it did present some intelligent biology for dragons, and for the most part I liked it. Most of the design concepts had been touched on by fiction writers before, but they really sold the design visually.
They're not the first to suggest that dragonfire is produced by different chemicals being sprayed out from glands that ignite when mixed together with oxygen, but it was probably the first really well done visual example of the concept so it's hard not to feel somehow reminiscent of that general design. For those unfamiliar, the creature somehow extracts various chemicals from its digestion into glands (in this design, as in others, those glands exist in the throat just behind the jaw) that can be contracted with great force, spewing pressurized liquids that blend together and ignite upon contact with air to form a napalm flamethrower. It's supposed that the fire can create risers of hot air to aid the creatures gliding flight (it sounds nice)
...or for some reason these dragons like their dinner really well done.
* * *
I've bounced back and forth on including these things in Bibliotech with the wavering notion that they migrate seasonally along the length of the wall, presenting a periodical danger of a ton of pebbly-leather-skinned, foot-long-fanged, flaming-vomit- spraying, razor-taloned carnivorous Death From Above. Plus in dragon season you'd totally have to watch out for giant dragon guano falling unexpectedly from the sky... worse than blue ice.
But I'm not sure that Dragons aren't too much of a traditional fantasy mainstay, and Btech is not traditional fantasy... and it's not as though I couldn't just save it for some other comic or animation project.
Anyhoodle, pencil on Bristol. The tone change next to the wing is from where I was too damn lazy to stitch this together sweetly. I might try and hunt down a good brush-stroke font and write some notational nonsense, and then shift the tones to give it that quick-n-sleazy parchment codex look, bump it up to Full Deviation... any suggestions for a good TrueType fantasy script font?
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Comments: 29
the one in the back breathing fire to me looks like the coolest of the dragons I have seen on this site so far
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Thank you! I still incorporate elements of these designs whenever I get the chance.
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awesome and your welcome
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a 6 limbed reptile is a dragon, a four limbed reptile similar to the ones drawn above are called Wyverns.
look it up in Mythology. Also a dragons wing span must be twice the size of its body each side in order to gain it flight. Something to help you next time. i spent a year studying them so thought it would prove useful to someone.
Im liking your wyvern thou. good muscle proportion.
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I'm pretty sure he knows that one, but he is basing this Dragon on Realism I'm sure, since Six Limbed Verterbrate is Impossible unless thru genetic altering
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Gorgeous wings! It's a pet peeve of mine when people make them too small, or without the logical biology. Over all, great job!
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Hey, someone with similar dragon taste. I agree with pretty much all of the stuff you said. I also like how in reign of fire, the dragons used their wings as an extra set of legs on which to walk. The best dragon design is one that is similar to bats, with large wings. Never understood why people put such tiny wings on their dragons.
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Heh... I wrote a really strident opinion piece there, huh? I've probably mellowed in my viewpoint some, but I still think realistic anatomical study serves as a superior design base.
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Please don't hate me ^^ I am terrible at using references. Sometimes I will use wings from the Harpy eagle and incorporate an almost feathered raptor-like feel to my dragons. And I must disagree with your view on these flying beasts...I like it when they are heroes who rescue their riders from sheer doom. Anyways, awesome work. Adding real biology into your sketches is admirable.
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S'nothing wrong with that. If there was only allowed to be one type of dragon in fantasy, it'd get boring quick.
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Love it! PErsonally- My dragons never really'speak' They speak through telepathy. I can relate to you with wings- Its not hard!
Though I do need to point one thing- nothign against you just a bit of advice I have come to find along the way as I have grown in drawing my wonderful little beasties of mass distortion- A dragon is a mythical creature right? So in that case- No one truly knows what they look like. So they could look like anything.. And we could all still be wrong! XD
I really like this though! The Description is very to the point! Hehe!
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You have very good and valid points about the wings and 6 limbs. Too true, i say, too true.
And yes, they do like their food well done :S
Bat wings are easy to understand, i agree. As you said, just like a hand with stretched skin between the fingers
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if dragon realy axisted they couldent hawe both front legs and wings, so i totaly agree whit your consept, and i adore you dragons, they are taking my breath when i look at them, lovely done!
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I'm hesitant to say "couldn't", 'cause dragons and their ilk are all about possiblities, but yeah... it's a difficult anatomy to design realistically.
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No clue as to a font, but you've sure as hell got my vote with your description of Death From Above there.
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Possibly one of the coolest dragons I've ever seen. Yeah I agree with the six-limbed problem. I never liked dragons like that, the only time I like six-limbed dragons are when they have arms like theropods. You're probably thinking why I am now just commenting on this, I just now found it. You should look at my dragons, thats what most of my gallery is made of.
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I know exactly what you mean with the wings! But I've always liked dragons with four legs and wings. Although it gets on my nerves when people ask about the wings looking like another arm. That drives me crazy!
But the design of the dragon is very well done, the proportions are correct and the body language is extremely realistic.
My only suggestion, if you will allow, is that it's left hind foot looks a little too far outstretched. Perhaps if it were more facing at the viewers angle it would look better. But I know that can be extremely hard to draw.
But these have to be one of my favorite dragons I've seen so far. If I ever get the chance to upload my own deviation, please feel free to comment
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Glad you dig it! For Fantasy Craft I did a couple dragons of the traditional four-legs-plus-wings variety, very classical, and I think they came out pretty cool-looking. I won't get to post them publicly for a few months, but keep an eye out!
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I definitely will!
And hopefully one day soon I'll finish this major project of a dragon that I'm working on, and hopefully I'll get to posting it as my first deviation! If you ever come across it bring your comments with you! I'd love to hear it. )
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your anatomy and proportions are amazing! i have to agree with your take on wings, but i have been thinking of ways to make a realistic six-limbed dragon. the wing wouldn't be attatched to the main shoulder blade, but a sort of bone extension.
a similar concept to this shoulder array: [link]
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It's important to note that wing muscles kinda have to merge with the pectoral muscles across the chest of whatever creature you're "winging", in order to have the muscular strength to flap powerfully. All birds are essentially four-limbed creatures just like mammals, but with the arms evolved into a wing structure which, skeletally at least, is still nearly identical to an arm but with some bones extended and some reduced to a vestigial state.
I'm having double fun with this right now, 'cause I gotta illustrate a hippogriff for one of these Crafty drawings... eagle (or falcon or hawk, basically any raptor will do) on the front half, horse on the back half, and so again we get six limbs, but I find it works out all right if I make the front half more-or-less just an eagle as I normally would (wing muscles across the chest, leg muscles behind and below), and then extend the horse part from where an eagle would normally taper down to a tail.
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These may be my favorite dragon(s) out of the ones I've yet seen. Beautiful work!
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I LOVE your dragons....because you draw them correctly like and a very few others do.
The wings look real...the neck, body...happy nad area...all that. This is more like Fantasy/SciFi to me simply because of the realistic-about-to-pop-off-the-paper anatomy. Kudos.
...and I like that dude that's hauling ass down there...niiiice touch. Yes, I'd so be running like that too...
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Yeah, it bugs me when people don't pay any attention to biology when they design their dragons, too.
A little reality injected into fantasy does wonders 
If you think that including dragons would be too on the fantasy side, you could just call them something else.
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Nice job. I thought Reign of Fire was a pretty good action flick. I liked how they went into the biology of dragons. Though, they could have done a better job, it was still interesting. I've always perfered four-limbed dragons (not including the wings). I was never one for the serpentine style either. I disagree with you on the intelligence of dragons, I think they should extreme intelligent. They've got to be real bastards too, whether they're good or evil. I can't wait to see this piece colored.
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heh, i agree about the wings, that really is best way to do it - half ladder wings sicken me. however, i don't agree about the 6 limbs.. i mean, yeah its complete fantasy, but its also REALLY awesome.. probably borders on fetish for me : ). reign of fire did do a good job of presenting a "realistic" dragon, but it kinda sucked as far as movies go.. thinking of which i probably can't explain why.. wierd. anyway, wonderful design on these even with just 4 limbs : P.
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