#chow helps

[chow0w]

Please sir *rattling a bean can full of pennies* any tips you can spare for drawing dragonets as opposed to regular adults/angsty teens

Yes! Behold my diagram.

Also see:

[chow0w]

I beg of thy, paw tutorial please

Talons and Paws - The tutorial

Hi guys! The talon dragon will be administering this tutorial.

We’re going to talk a little bit about different tricks/references you can use to make nice paws and talons, as well as discussing the anatomical differences between them. This isn't a step-by-step tutorial, but it does include useful examples and quick poses for you to reference in a time of need.

Before we get into the details of the tutorial, remember two things: first of all, even the talon dragon isn’t the best anatomy expert ever. Secondly, dragons aren’t real and you can do whatever you want. Now, without further ado..

Let's get one thing straight: I (the talon dragon) draw appendages which anatomically fall somewhere in between human-like and cat-like, as seen in the chart above. While these sketches might look like they all use the same anatomy, they don't: and the ratio of human to cat is slightly different per design.

Those of you who love speculative biology might be crashing out about this, but inconsistency = practicality in the case of talons. Sometimes a pose needs opposable thumbs, sometimes it doesn't... as the artist, you can make your life easier by being flexible and swapping these features out at your discretion (I do this a lot with my artwork, since I have a tight turnaround for posts and don't want to fuck around drawing talons all day.)

I shall show you two ways of drawing talons: human-like and cat-like. That way you guys can learn how to do them with and without pronounced opposable thumbs.

Human-like talons are notably seen (kind of) in the graphic novels. Compared to a normal hand, they have shorter fingers, longer palms and large finger pads. You can even smack some paw pads on the bottom if you want to!

Instead of following a step-by-step tutorial, I recommend using the 'liquify' tool (can be found on most digital drawing apps) and trying to twist some human hands into a more draconic shape. This will help you familiarize yourself with the differences between talon and hand. I've tried it myself in the image above, alongside some annotations and a traced sketch of the final result which you can reference if you're struggling.

Feel free to play around with the length, width and stubbiness of your talons - squashing them brings out a paw-like shape, while stretching them creates a more traditional 'talon.' The paw pads also make a big difference on how your dragon's limbs are perceived.

Speaking of paw pads - you can also use cat/dog paws as references for your talons! Making these look draconic is a lot easier - I tend to over-pronounce the lumbrical muscles (those lines above the toes) and call it a day. Paws are much easier to simplify, and very handy when it comes to fullbodies/poses that don't require any specific talon-to-object interaction.

Although they save time, paws still have their own set of disadvantages - they lack room for accessories and tend to take away from the lizardness of the dragon. If you're looking to adhere to more reptilian proportions, paws are not for you.

Drawing talons is one thing - posing them is another! Most beginner artists tend to struggle more with where to put their talons, given how awkward a dragon's stance really is when looked at in plain view. These bent-lightning-bolt shapes have served me well over the years, creating dynamic movement while still being easy to draw.

And of course - if you don't like drawing talons, you don't HAVE to! (At least, not every single time.) While I recommend facing your problems (talons) head on, even I cheat sometimes.

Good luck dragon artists! Sincerely, The talon dragon.

[chow0w]

please do a tutorial on how you draw dragon faces! there’s something so alive to them

of course - Thank you so much!

Is this you? Even if it isn't, pretend it is.

Is this you again, trying to put some soul into those draconic eyes?

if so, fear not - drawing dragon expressions is a simple, painless process as soon as you learn these three foundational rules!

1 - Humanize

Like other animals, dragons do not possess the same facial muscles as humans and have trouble making expressive faces while still remaining within these constraints. This can make drawing emotive dragons difficult, and so the most important rule of making a good expression is to HUMANIZE! No matter what artstyle/realism level you use, translating human expressions onto dragon faces is the easiest way to make them emotive.

Humanizing a dragon's face is much easier than you might think, and it all starts with feature spotting. Here, I've annotated my doodle and labelled what I view as the most important shapes of the expression: The huge eyes, dramatic curves and tooth-shaped mouth. Since all of these important shapes have been applied to the dragon, their expression looks exactly like the one I was trying to copy!

In order to fully explain how you actually DO that, I'm going to use a live example. If you're trying to work on your dragon expressions, you may as well do this exercise with me! I've already annotated this expression to highlight the most important shapes.

First, I'm going to draw the angle of the dragon's head. If you don't like drawing dragon heads, this handy reference sheet I made might be of use.

Next, I added the eye. I kept it very close to the snout in order to mimic the angle a little better.

Finally, the smile! But wait, something isn't right...

After a second glance, I decided to pull the forehead out using the 'liquify' tool and redid the eye so it had hollow pupils. I didn't think coloring in the eye would've made such a big difference, but it did! Either way, we now have one beautiful expression full of life and character.

2 - Beware of the Micro-expressions

This is especially important when drawing your characters in a scene/with any context at all, but remember to focus on micro-expressions! Subtle changes to the same face can produce entirely different results: and even though micro-expressions often slip by unnoticed, they are CRUCIAL in building your character's 'vibe!' My two OCs Seigel and Bigfin handily happen to have the same emotion on their reference sheets, however both dragons present it in extremely different ways - all thanks to the use of a few subtle artistic choices, such as changing posture or head angle.

3 - Remember Your Poses

Although this post is about facial expressions, it's important to remember your dragon's head doesn't just exist in a void. Pose is equally as important to building a certain emotion in a character, and different poses can completely change the vibe of your character.

That's all from me! Happy drawing! ୧((#Φ益Φ#))୨

[chow0w]

Hi there! Huge huge fan of your art and style. Wondering if you’d give a rendering/coloring tutorial? Thank you so much! (:

thank you so much! I've been meaning to do this tutorial since so many people ask about it, so let's jump right in!

I'm not going to talk much about the definition of color/rendering, as I'm sure most of you have probably heard it all before from an art teacher or the internet. I'm also not going to give you a step-by-step tutorial, because it will do much more harm than good. We all draw differently: a decent tutorial should nurture that instead of trying to replace it!

When I talk about color and rendering, it will be through a functional sense. What are they for? How do you use them effectively?

The grass problem

A lot of artists like to view color as a static fact about the environment/character/object they are drawing. The grass is green, the rock is grey, the orange is orange etc... in these examples, color is just one way of describing the subject. Even if you argue some grass is yellow, you're still just telling me what it is! When we think about color like this, we limit ourselves a lot.

The truth about art is that grass does not have to be any color: we’re not ACTUALLY trying to make a 1:1 replica of real life (even when we are.)

(seen above: an illustration where the moon is green, Six-claws is 50 feet tall, and for some reason the sky is bright blue-purple at midnight)

in art, we try to illustrate what the human eye wants to see… and color is part of that. Color is a tool in which you can convey the emotions, tone or atmosphere of a piece. If you think about it like this, you’ll be more inclined to choose what works best with your composition instead of what you think is ‘real.’

How do I use it?

Here's an example of how I use color to tell you about my OC and beloved son Flicker.

I made this piece as the cover of his character doc - my main color scheme includes yellow, orange and red: which work together because they are all analogous.

Flicker's 'highlight' color (the one I use the least in his character design) is red, so all of the important information in this piece should also be red! This way, color is telling the viewer where to look and what is most significant about Flicker.

Color and Value are married

As much as color placement can direct the eye, it will ultimately bow to the power of value. (unless you're using two very high contrast colors, like bright red/blue.) Our eyes are much more accustomed to spotting value differences compared to color differences: this is because color is subjective, but value is not. A colorblind person still sees the same values as a non-colorblind person.

Because of this, it's important to consider value when you pick colors. Flicker's sweater being darker than his facial crest helps his sweater to stick out more. When I color, I like to frequently put my piece in greyscale so I can see if the values have enough contrast! You can easily do this by putting a saturation filter over your piece, which (I think) is a feature on most digital programs.

(To do this on procreate, take any grey you want and drop it on a blank layer above your art. toggle saturation, and boom!)

Next order of business: How you render?

Rendering is often regarded as the polish of any good art piece: a good render can take you from beginner to intermediate! However, a lot of artists see the open-ended nature of rendering as a little bit scary.

When I render, I am essentially trying to add the texture (and sometimes lighting) to the subjects in my piece. This also usually involves a lot of line cleanup for me, but a less-messy artist wouldn't have to worry about that.

You can render under or over your lineart layer: it's up to you! Just make sure you put it above any lighting filters you have.

Tips and Tricks

Ultimately, the way you render will be a natural product of your artistic style - instead of looking at chud tutorials like this one, you'll improve the most from doing real-life studies and experimenting with different brushes, strokes and techniques. Here are some things that helped me learn how I render!

Seriously, use different brushes. Textured brushes are the easiest way to make your piece look more detailed without having to put that much effort into them, which is a lifesaver if you don't want to spend 8 hours on one drawing!

I like to use smooth, firm brushes (like hard airbrush) for metal. For skin, I prefer more 'painterly' brushes - and I use a lot of grainy/weird shaped stuff for environments.

You can always add MORE lighting on top of your render! Sometimes, touching up bright spots with the airbrush is the finishing touch you need.

Zoom out frequently! Don't get lost in the details, especially if they don't matter/aren't even your focal point. You can usually get away with loosely rendering to add texture, and hyper-detailing everything tends to distract viewers from what matters.

If you want a good FREE procreate brushpack, I highly recommend the JJ exclusive brushpack! I have had these brushes since 2022 and they are seriously some of the best on the internet. Super versatile and easy for beginners to use! I still use the Acrylic JJ 1 for skin rendering to this day. Procreate also has some nice stuff built into the app: Ink bleed, salamanca and soft airbrush are a few favorites of mine.

In conclusion

I hope this tutorial was at least a little bit helpful, even if it turned out more like an assortment of different tips. At the very least, I have given you brushes. YAY!

color and rendering are difficult to learn… but not impossible! You got this!

[chow0w]

can you make reference angles of dragons pretty please ❤️ like the ones on pinterest when you search “head reference angles”

of course! Trying to do this lowkey made me realize i struggle with some of these angles so I might try and redo it later, but for now, take this sketch. Happy drawing!

[chow0w]

Hi Chow. I wasnt sure where i should send this so i thought your ask box was as good as anything. But a while ago I(anonymously) asked about doing a style study on you. I completed it. here is my work of art

ummm if this is the wrong place to put it then please let me know!!!

THANK YOU FOR DOING THE LOBSTER LMAOAOAOAOAOAOAOAA THIS IS AMAZING? HOLY SHIT?

You may have clipped some of my ugliest moments (blue eyed freak chow) but the study is a much better explanation than anything I can give. I’m going to post this because a lot of people ask about my art style and… well.. here you guys go. Say thanks to all 12 toads please.

[chow0w]

i know you’ve made a redesign tutorial, but can you go in depth on how you come up with patterns and/or designs for ocs and not make them basic?

I'm probably not a good person to ask about this because I make my ocs more basic than my redesigns so my life is easier.... bbbuut

simple tricks = detailed designs!

[chow0w]

can you draw some seawing fin, rainwing frill, and sandwing frill variations please 😖

of course!