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Skysealer — Kauzikeranth Reference Sheet
Published: 2011-02-25 06:56:21 +0000 UTC; Views: 49439; Favourites: 1948; Downloads: 1686
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Description
May want to download if the image appears fuzzy or hard to read!A simple reference sheet for my DnD character, Kauzikeranth! For those of you who have watched me over the years, the name may (or may not) seem familiar -- she was originally a blue/silver hybrid that I never had the chance to use. Kaz is starting out as a wyrmling in our campaign, but I wanted to throw together a young adult form to see how she'd turn out in the end. I'm finally being able to use her for a DnD campaign that is actually being played out over Halo: Reach's forge, and my DM is our very own ~Shinju-the-Dragon ! Exciting! I get to run around as an elite with an energy sword and jetpack. XD
The style is my own little throwback to Todd Lockwood and the style sheets found in the Draconomicon. C:
Kaz is pretty lanky anatomy-wise, but that's more due to being a hybrid and having weird growth spurts.
This was also a HUGE painting experiment that I'm very happy with since I'll be using it for my two big commissions. I painted over the sketch, so this is actually 100% lineless!
Paper texture by ~struckdumb !
Tools - Photoshop CS
Time - Many hours over the course of a week
Kauzikeranth ©
Red and Silver dragons © Wizards of the Coast
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Comments: 273
Go for it! ^0^ It already looks excellent, so it's hard to imagine this refined. ;D
Oh okay lol well I managed to read it anyway. xD I don't usually have a hard time with calligraphy but this was a bit challenging for some reason. <3
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The sheer amount of detail in this is staggering! It's the most beautiful ref sheet I've ever seen. o_o
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Awesome, I love it. 
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I did the same thing, buying the Draconomicon before playing D&D! I loved reading through the biology and other lore that went into the dragons, fascinating stuff -- I perused through it all over again just a few nights ago to brush up for my upcoming campaign. As far as wings go, I like to add a touch of reality to my fantasy beasts, and that includes huge pectoralis major muscles and wings to go right along with it! Puny wings bug me to all get out, haha.
Thank you very much for the comment! c:
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And I was just thinking how I missed some GOOD dragon Artwork!
Thnx for sharing
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Awesome character! You come up with such unique names. Love 'em! ;D
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Thank you very much! <3
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She's pretty cool.
You are lucky your DM lets you play as a dragon. I've been trying to convience mine to let me for almost 4 years now.
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Thank you very much! Yeah, dragons are pretty complicated to fit into a player group, I have personally thrown a lot of the usual dragon traits out the window to keep her on the same field as the rest. If I didn't, she'd be way overpowered! D:
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Very true. I tried doing the same but came to the realization that unless the whole group had monster like beings as characters we couldn't do it. And it just isn't safe to let one of the group do monster characters, tried that and it did not end well.
Still your character is quite impressive looking and I am totally jealous of your mad drawing skills!
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It's definitely possible to have a dragon as a character for a standard race group, it's detailed in the Draconomicon as well. Just have to nerf it a lot, and most cases are that dragon characters will always start out as a wyrmling. Thank you for your comment as well!
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Yeah, I am trying to see if we can do one quick game where everyone can be a wrymling or perhaps I could be a wrmyling but start at a lower level than the other players to maybe help even it out. Even if I don't get the chance it still fun to play the regular races.
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Stunning!
The colors are so unique - I've never seen another dragon like this! Looks so warm, kind of autumny. :>
And the pattern on the wings is awesome. It kind of reminds me of cobblestone or water reflections.
Also, you draw muscles and anatomy so well! I'm especially in love with those feet and arms(I always have trouble with drawing from the shoulder or ankle down). What do you find you derive from most when figuring out the anatomy for your characters, if you do?
Aaaalso; DAMN those scales are awesome! I love the rough yet shiny texture on the scales (especially on the neck!) and all the itty-bitty details you put into all your work; like in this one, you even drew out the tiny little scales on the wing digits, even though they're a tad difficult to see unless you click Download - such dedication!
You are truly one of my biggest idols, Sky. Think you could share a bit of your epicness with me? ;>
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Whoa, epic comment of epic proportions! Let's see, where to start...
I first want to say Thank You! for all the compliments, I'm glad you think her colors are unique and that the dark patches on the wing resemble cobblestone. I was sort of going for that effect, so I find your comment exciting!
Muscles! Delicious muscles! I borrow a LOT from a combination of horse and dog anatomy when it comes to forelegs. Horses for the round and robust qualities in the chest, I've always loved how they've had such bulky muscular proportions (clearly evident in my quadruped dragons/creatures) and dogs for putting the musculature arranged in such a way that meshes well with the rest of the body. From the wrist down I sometimes keep with the dog anatomy, or I go off on a more humanoid tangent to bring about a familiarity aspect. I sometimes use references of my very own horses and dogs through the photos I've taken of them too.
This site is a must-see if you haven't been to it already, it's GREAT for anatomy references: [link]
Eee scales! I swear, I had more fun painting scales than I should have for a normal person on this image. It was amazing to see how the scales sort of shaped themselves as I went about, some even turned out completely different than what I had originally sketched. I'm thankful for the variation, it's taught me a great lesson today in keeping scales feeling 'organic' rather than 'mechanically processed' like they seem to appear in my other works.
If you have any other questions, feel free to keep'em coming!
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Ah, I have somewhat noticed the similarities before, but wasn't entirely sure if that's where your anatomy techniques were coming from. And I suppose having animals such as those would help significantly with anatomy for anyone. Especially horses. None of my whopping 11 animals have any kind of noticeably difinitive body structure because they're either fully covered in fur or feathers, or are too small. I wonder if they sell anatomically correct models of animals that bend at the joints and flex the way real muscles would anywhere... do you know? Those would definitely be awesome and very helpful for people with limited resources such as myself.
Oh - I own the book those illustrations came from on that site. It had a long name, but I'm pretty sure it's "An atlas of animal anatomy for artists" by... A lot of people. :V
Well, you definitely did make them look organic - especially with the texturing. I'm sure it must've taken a lot of patience to finish them all - patience I don't have, which is why a lot of my dragons are a bit... Plastic-looking.
Thanks very much for the swift reply, and for all of your answers. It's very warming to know that there are talented and friendly artists out there like you - I've come across far too many that would sooner snuff out your curiosity than take time out to reply. So, thank you for that. C:
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Fur can be pretty difficult to work with in terms of anatomy, I agree. As for your question on anatomical musculature props, I honestly have no idea. I've learned all I know through books, courses, publications, conversation, and nature journals. If YOU ever find such a model with such defined joint systems and interactive muscle display, please let me know! xD
Best bet right now though is to go into a lab and dissect an animal, play with the ligaments and tendons to move the muscle yourself.
And sure thing! I'm always happy to answer questions such as yours, they're fun to answer.
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Oh... I could never dissect anything.
I think I'll just stick to referencing from photographs for now. :>
And I'm glad you weren't put out by my questions. I've heard from others that, sometimes, when I'm praising someone I idolize, I can come off as sounding like a suck-up or just plain annoying (I don't mean to, I swear! XD), so I try to ask many legit questions pertaining to their art as I see fit without smothering it in so much unessecary kiss-ass. :>
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I -LOVE- comments, so the more the better! And if they're rife with questions, even more exciting -- I love being able to interact and converse with people, far better than giving someone a mere 'thanks'. You don't have to worry about any sort of flack from me! C:
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Bizarre combination, but the final art is amazing
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A mind boggling pairing, no doubt. And thanks!
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Uwaaa! Why do you have to make dragon feet look so wonderful?
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;o; I don't know! It's just a weird habit I have I guess
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But they are still so pretty!
They actually... look a bit like fat gecko feet. Hrm...
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I was thinking more along the lines of a theropod foot, but okay
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This is just amazing o3o the level of detail is crazy XD I am way too lazy to pull anything like that off so I'm mesmerized by your dedication! The texture on the wings - did you draw that manually? o-o
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Yep, I drew the little dark patches on the wings manually -- it took a while, but I like the result. C:
And thank you very much for the comment!
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*-* you have the patience of.. of someone really damned patient! D:
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I really liked it. It was a lot of detail for my mind to process all at once.
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wow that sounds fun- and seems like it's be cool to watch C:
beautiful dragon!
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