#LITTLE LIZARD SCHOOL OF DRAGONS FULL#

I hope you enjoyed my first Wacom blog post. So here are my thoughts on how IвЂ™d design the same character envisioned in two ways: scary versus cute. Speckles of light break up the solid color on the scales and give the appearance of light coming through the thin wing membrane. I add some highlights on the scales that will make them look a little bumpy or bubbly. Like with the вЂњscaryвЂќ dragon, I add a light underbelly and dark accents. Despite being so scaly, he might be quite soft. I gave him a lot of nubby spikes for that classic dragon look, along with a random assortment of scaly patches.

I changed up the positioning of the leg and tail a bit at this point. Next I clean up the sketch and add the toes. I keep in mind what a water balloon might look like when adding mass to him and I give him big eyes and a cute little nose. Now our little lizard needs some meat on those bones. He wonвЂ™t be as long and wiry as my scary guy. HeвЂ™s a chunky little bugger in my imagination, so giving him a large head is key to making him cute.

#LITTLE LIZARD SCHOOL OF DRAGONS FULL#

Is it an animal or a sentient species, or perhaps is it a robot made to look like a fantasy creature? What planet and environment does it come from? What does it eat? How does it hunt? The natural world is full of inspiration. The pallet you choose for your dragon can inform how this creature may have developed or where it came from.ДЄ good thing to keep in mind when designing is вЂњbelievabilityвЂќ. You see dark socks on foxes and penguins with white underbellies. Next, I add a pattern to accent the detail: dark edges and a light underbelly is a fairly common patterning in the real world. (Think of naked mole rats, worms and the blob fish). I chose a desaturated red вЂ“ things close to fleshy tones give a feeling of being a little gross and creepy, in my opinion. At this stage, I also add sharp spines that look like plating to give it a feeling of pointy plate armor to make it feel a little dangerous. But for me, IвЂ™d like to make the eyes almost human in placement. When you think of a dragon, you probably think its eyes would go much further back along the head. Then I refine it a bit and add some anatomy, including a bony wrist and a rib cage and jutting shoulder blades to make it a little creepy.ДЄnother way to make the design a bit unnerving is to misplace some of the features.

Scary: features spaced further apart give us a feeling of maturity, and if exaggerated, might start becoming intimidating, cool or creepy.ДЇirst IвЂ™ll tackle scary: I sketch a long twisty S curve throughout the whole body, keeping in mind where the main masses will be with circles. HereвЂ™s her debut blog post: What makes something cute, versus scary?Д¬ute: condensed large features in compact spaces give us a feeling of tiny babies that need to be protected. A recent graduate of the San Diego Art Institute, Alexis asked how she could contribute to the Wacom blog and we challenged her with an assignment: what makes a character cute vs scary? Alexis pulled out her sketchbook and immediately began formulating some ideas. We met Alexis Patterson when she came to the Wacom booth at San Diego Comic Con and stopped by to try out the new Wacom gear, including the just-launched Wacom Cintiq 22, which she stationed herself at as she happily drew away.

Little lizard school of dragons