How To Draw A Dragon Head

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  • Sketching/Drawing
  • Level: Intermediate
  • Subject: Dragon Head

Dragon Workshop: Head | Body | Scales | Wings | Limbs And Talons | Horns And Other Addons | More…

I have been doing some study sketches on dragons for a couple of weeks. In this write up, we will be basically looking at the designing of a dragon head, and also see how we can use few of those steps to construct different styles of dragon heads. This is not with respect to any software in particular, or even digital art. These designing/sketching techniques can be used for traditional medium too.

Dragons are mythical creatures of both the oriental as well as the occidental (medieval western) mythologies. These are reptilian creatures that are usually capable of flight. They represent both the good and the evil in different stories, and is a integral part of most fantasy worlds.

Since these are not real creatures, there is no right way to draw it. You can use your creativity to create almost any type of dragon. To draw a dragon head, it is advisable to study the anatomy of snake, crocodile or similar creatures, and base your creation on them.

Construction Lines

Lay out the basic construction lines before you get to the line art of a dragon head.

Medieval Dragon Head Construction Lines - Profile and Front

Above are the construction lines for both profile and front views of the dragon head. It basically is a rectangular box with the nose tip squeezed a bit. Draw few roughly circular lumps to show the volume of the chin and the eye ridge/forehead of the dragon.

Line Art

Using the construction lines as the reference, draw over it with definite lines to create the form of the dragon head.Medieval Dragon Head Construction Lines + Lineart - Profile and Front

Notice that I have drawn the construction lines faintly. You would need to draw this for some time until you get practice and can imagine these construction lines to use as guide when drawing line art.

Cleanup and more

Cleanup those construction lines, and you should have a neat looking line art of the dragon head.

Medieval Dragon Head Lineart - Profile and Front

Yes – it looks boring, but it is the basic form of a medieval dragon. There is more to drawing a ferocious dragon, which involves drawing horns, scales, and other embellishments. But if the form is not proper, no matter how good these ‘extras’ are, the artwork would not make an affect on the viewer.

So is that all? Well, not actually.

Style

You can explore different styles by changing the construction lines.

Chinese Dragon Head Construction Lines - Profile and Front

The change in the construction lines result in different forms.

Chinese Dragon Head Construction Lines + Lineart - Profile and Front

Here, I have explored the basic form of a chinese dragon head.

Chinese Dragon Head Lineart - Profile and Front

Keep practicing drawing the dragon head at different angles. Use the line art to practice painting techniques to get the feel of the form of the dragon head.

Medieval Dragon Head - Painted - Profile

As I said, it still looks a bit featureless because it is devoid of the scales, horns, fins and what not. I will be exploring these, but that would be after we explore couple of styles of the body form of a dragon. So, subscribe to KalaaLog feeds (or use the email subscription above) if you are not already subscribed.

If you find that you have a good sketch of a dragon, you can experiment by converting it to a vector art.

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  1. Pamee’s avatar

    nice easy drawing!!!! easy to pick up! cool!

    Reply

  2. Vyoma’s avatar

    Thanks Pamee – glad that you liked it. :)

    Reply

  3. Samara’s avatar

    Hmm, I use I slightly different method. I like how yours is rectangular, but I enjoy my method a bit more. Mine makes the head look a bit like a horse-head, only more dragon-like. I was looking for a new method, though, and I found it, thanks!

    Reply

  4. Vyoma’s avatar

    Samara, glad that you liked it!

    And as you said, there is no one way to draw dragons. Learn and invent different methods and develop your own style. :)

    Reply

  5. helen’s avatar

    no offense but looks like a dinosaur to me….

    Reply

  6. music101’s avatar

    does kind of look like a dinosaur, but i stink at dragon heads so anything will work for now.

    Reply

  7. Chris’s avatar

    I’ve been reading through the various tutorials you’ve posted, they’re very clear, easy to understand and well laid out. Thank you very much for sharing what you’ve learned. The dragon head tutorial was the first one that I tried, and it was very easy to follow.

    Quick concept sketch using the above tutorial: http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dragonhead1bg0.jpg

    Thanks for the tute! :D

    Reply

  8. Vyoma’s avatar

    Glad that you liked it, Chris. Your sketch looks great for a first try – keep practicing. ;)

    Reply

  9. Chris’s avatar

    Thank you so much for your excellent tutorials! They’re clear, easy to follow and understand, and very informative. What’s more they’re visually clean and pleasure to read through as well.

    This dragon workshop looks great, too. I worked through the tutorial and got this after half an hour or so: http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dragonhead1bg0.jpg

    Thanks again for the great tute. :)

    Reply

  10. Kelly’s avatar

    this is a dinosour, but it is cool anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

  11. Sanakura’s avatar

    i liked it. im not so good at drawing, so if anyone has any help for me please e-mail me at dpalphonse123@gmail.com. THX!! ^_^

    Reply

  12. ROI’s avatar

    thats no dragon…. thats just a plain wierd dinosour..
    no offence here but ye

    im pretty fluent at drawing so yer

    Reply

  13. ed’s avatar

    I agree it looks like a dinosour,
    You could put som more spines on the back of the head and along the neck.

    Reply

    1. john mabassa’s avatar

      Yeah!! it looks like a dino…… but I can easily manipulate it to look like a dragon……. this tut has given me a basic idea…. please draw more poses…..

      thanks a lot.

      Reply

  14. Marissa’s avatar

    Actually dragons are kinda like winged dinosaurs that breathe fire, so…. I actual used this to try and draw Saphira!

    Reply