How many times have you fantasized about dragons and wished you could draw one? This article offers a step-by-step guide to help you make your creation believable, from choosing the right reference to learning how to give a realistic dragon drawing shape.

Dragon is a mythical creature. After having a basic idea from this tutorial, you can draw it out of your imagination. But you have to remember that your drawing must have a touch of realism.

Realistic Dragon Drawing – How to Start

Dragons may be imagined as a combination of various real animals. You can take the wing structure from bats. The ligaments in their wings seem like long slender fingers. You can take reference from cranes. Birds can become a very good reference for dragons, especially how their heads or necks meet. For general looks, texture and eye placement you can look at reptiles like snakes, turtles and lizards.

Construction of realistic dragon drawing

Well, there’s chance of being overwhelmed as you have plenty of references and you can free to imagine and create a realistic dragon drawing. Go for basic shapes of legs, muscles and joints. Connecting the head and the neck is extremely crucial. The skin folds and bone matter get hidden underneath the skin. You have to draw something substantial to keep its huge head up. The position of the head and neck can decide whether your dragon looks fierce. Think of real animals while sketching, you can even base it on human anatomy. Placing the neck on the top of a ribcage won’t be a bad idea.

The Limbs

Drawing the limbs that suit the animal is challenging but will look unique if you succeed. Drawing arms, legs and wings may require a different level of anatomic knowledge, you can just draw four limbs and a wing instead. You can create a multi-limbed monster looking like human, or you can experiment with your unique ideas. The dragon will need muscle and tendons to move the wing.

The Crown

A distinct trait in dragons in their horns. For a realistic dragon drawing you may put it as a part of the beast’s skull, a piece of bone extending past the skin, like their claws, nails and spines. Coming up with a crown, breaking the barriers of traditional two-pronged horns may be a wild, crazy idea. But there’s no harm, after all you are drawing from your imagination only! You can make them a part of your dragon’s chin too, to give the animal a bearded look.

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Putting it All Together

However, putting it all together and finally giving realistic dragon drawing a shape requires a lot of practice. You have to understand bone and muscle structures, movement of arms and legs. Combining your vision and imagination of designs with a realistic knowledge can create the magic. Think of what dragons can do, how many types of dragons are there and of various themes. Feel free to explore and take inspirations from the already drawn crazy or cool designs.