I discovered an email in my inbox the other day
from someone calling himself "Broccoli Soup" requesting that I draw their pet dove,
who they've accurately named, "Dragon,"
with an exterior that matches his fiery personality.
I thought this was a sensible request seeing as I am
DrawingWiffWaffles-
-I'm known the Internet over for my accurate depiction of
𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙮
𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚
𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙩-𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚
𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔…
So....
here you go Dragon,
this one's for you.
*♪ music ♪*
If sarcasm's lost on you or if you're new to the channel, I don't draw dragons, I never have.
So I thought this would be a very fun challenge seeing as the first time I read this email I was like,
"okay…?"
And then I thought about it for a few minutes and I was like,
"𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚!!"
So, here we go.
We're going to be turning this little dove, named Dragon, into a full-fledged dragon.
So the first thing I'm doing here is I've duplicated the...
body a couple times, moving it down to elongate that body and then
I'm coloring in around the edges to kind of hone that shape and change that dove body type...
Into like closer to that dragon body type.
At the beginning here, I'm working on like the basic shapes.
I'm not worried too much about any detail.
Now, from what I remember of dragons,
I think the eyes are bigger so I'm gonna grow that a bit--oh, that is creepy, isn't it? Haha.
And then I want the nose to be more like a snout and a little bit less like a beak.
So I'll just grow that.
Umm, I'm not sure where it goes...
Now even though I want this face to look like a dragon, I don't want to lose too much of...
Dragon the Dove's, you know, features.
I don't want to stray too far from like the reference material.
So, we'll have to see what happens about that, haha.
I honestly don't really know what I'm doing,
but either my success or my failure will be broadcast over the Internet.
So, all in all I think good things are happening.
Although, it looks--let's let's try teeth...
Okay, no teeth, no teeth!
Haha.
I'm gonna try using the smudge tool and creating horns, so I just grab and pull.
Mmmmm?
I think two of them would look better.
What have I done to you, Dragon?
I'm gonna start coloring over some of these sections creating some simple painty-ness-
-try and find the shape I'm looking for.
From a lot of these references that I'm looking at [for] dragons,
it looks like the snout comes out really high on the skull,
so I'm gonna have to pull that up. Maybe if I just move it all up.
Why am I getting platypus vibes?
*nose laugh*
It's probably the color of the beak, I think it's distracting too much.
I'm probably gonna end up changing the color of that later, but for now, I'm gonna leave it
until I just can't stand it anymore, which we're getting close [to].
All right,
so, I'm gonna come back to the face later, but I just want to work on the foot because I think it'd be kinda cool...
to use those birdee feet, but like make them the shape of a dragon foot. So I'm gonna grow it,
then I'm gonna just draw over it here and kind of imagine what the bird foot would look like.
Ooh, haha.
I want to like cover over a lot of this background.
[I'm] not entirely sure what I'm gonna do with that yet.
Here we've got a leg--I'm just blocking out the shape.
I'm not entirely sure
what a dragon's leg looks like so I'm just gonna have to play with this--ok, back leg.
Eeh, that looks like a frog.
I'll just put one of these down there too--gotta use what's available to me, haha.
Do the leg on the other side.
Take a look at this..
Where do I want to do next? Let's just move this back...
because I feel like dragons have a longer body than this.
Then I could just paint over some of these bits--make it blend in a bit better.
So we don't need those other legs do we--or feet?
Now I want a tail.
Probably can just go off the canvas a bit, but maybe we'll be in "this-y shape.
We're gettin' somewhere. It needs wings,
but I kinda want to figure out the legs first.
Aright, the face is freaking me out. Let me try something here.
I think the weird beak nostril's messing this up,
so let me give it like more dragon like nostrils.
That looks like a pig doesn't it? I'll figure this out! Haha.
Just give me a second.
All right, so I've been playing around with the legs a bit more adding some like a...
really smudgy soft liner to kind of figure out where the legs are inside of the big blobs.
I think I'm getting somewhere, I'm not
like upset about the way the rear end looks here.
I think it's time to get rid of this background, haha.
This weird mythical creature doesn't really fit here,
so I'm just gonna block out some of these colors--just grabbing whatever colors are already in the picture,
I'm not coming up with new colors--and just blending them out a bit using a very soft low opacity brush.
Kind of make it look cloudy, you know?
Now this side I think I want to take this green color from the plaid blanket...
and add that to the picture because I really like the way that turquoise looks with the yellow.
That way it looks like he's kind of sitting on a rock.
ʸᵃʸᵎ
Haha.
I've decided that the fleshy beak color has gotta go.
I think it's too distracting.
I'm just gonna play around with this face shape because I think that's really important for this to look good.
♪ Figure out where the little nostrils go. ♪
Just gonna shorten this all a bit; I feel like it's still too long.
Although now I'm getting wolf vibes but...
What can you do?
What I need is that more reptilian... facial shape.
Ooh! That really helped. What did I do--I did like a little divot, ha.
I'm gonna shorten this even more. Haha, it's just gonna get--by the time I'm done he's gonna like a bear.
How does this look?
You know what? I think dragons have a longer mouth slit. Is that what you call it?
I think we're making some progress. Look at this. I mean just contrast that with the way it looked before.
*𝙎𝙃𝙐𝙉*
Look, I'm moving forward.
I think the color is not really doing the dragon-y-ness
any favors cuz it's a little fleshy and a little furry looking--very mammal.
I have to get this facial shape right, I think, to really convey that dragon idea.
So we went from platypus-
-well, actually we started at the dove, we went to platypus,
we saw wolf, and now I'm feeling Charizard which is so much closer to a dragon--I mean Charizard technically is a dragon.
This gives me like knockoff Charizard vibes and I cannot complain about that,
but I do want to add like the feathers because right now I still want to try and keep the feathers because...
Dragon the Dove has feathers I feel scales might be just too far of a stretch.
Oh my gosh. Look at this.
I think I want to make it bigger so that I can draw more of that tail. So I'm actually gonna change the canvas size
so that his head fits right in one of those thirds.
Then all that's left for me to do with the background is like sort of fill in some of this brown.
Try to elongate the canvas, basically.
♪ Like-a-so! ♪
As much as I want to keep as many bird
elements, like the dove elements, in the picture as much as possible, I do want to add some dragon stuff
so it looks like a dragon. I think what would really help is like those
front chest scales.
In a lot of dragons that I've seen I remember they have like very big
exaggerated scales that go from like his chin or their chin all the way down to like their waist,
so, I want to add that, and I can even add like a feathery texture if I want to keep that feather shape, but also
incorporate the dragon design.
I've been working on the horns, but now I really want to change this face color.
It's just too fleshy.
I just--I can't, so I'm gonna make it like match like more of his arms and leg color.
You know, just a little less pink--kind of try and match the body,
give him like a yellow dragon sort of look instead of a weird fleshy furry dragon.
*snort*
Oh, what the color balance tool can do.
Look at that. I really like the colors. Alright, but I think it's time to start working on these feet.
I want them to go a little more in the dragon direction, but I want to try and keep um,
like the texture of a birdy foot so...
I'm gonna just try and change the shape [to look like that] of a dragon foot,
but make sure I incorporate that texture.
Kind of looks like shrimp.
Yeah, I definitely think the toes need to be shorter and I need to add a thumb.
So I'll just try and draw that in myself and add the texture.
And actually just move it
Maybe stretch it a bit.
I'unno, just trying to make it look like it's wrapping around that rock.
I'd say this is definitely better.
Yeah, I--I--I like that foot, I think it looks pretty good.
So now I just need to do the same thing with this back foot:
so fill in part of that empty section--give it the dragon shape of a foot.
It's actually crazy how well that works--how similar a bird foot is to like a dragon's claw.
And can't forget the texture.
Bada-boom, haha.
Something's happening here that I didn't foresee. So you'll notice like those back feathers there-
-that's like the actual image of Dragon the Dove and here
I'm like imitating that feather shape a little bit higher up.
Now that I've gotten closer to this...
I can sort of like copy bits like notice that it's like darker underneath and then paint over it with a lighter--I didn't
think this would happen but this is really really cool. Like I don't know how it would have known but, haha.
So since there's part of like the photo in here, it's kind of like teaching me how to draw feathers.
--Or paint feathers, I guess.
This is kind of cool. Like I've got a ways to go but I have like the reference built in.
Very cool.
"You know her?"
"𝓥𝓮𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓬𝓸𝓸𝓸𝓵." 🕷️🕸️
So I blocked out some wings, but I don't like them.
So I'm just gonna let them sit there and like veg and I'll see what I think about them later.
Um, but I want to go back and work on the face.
So I'm actually gonna take the eye color and just draw a new mouth with that like extra little lip near the eye.
Because I'm seeing that in a lot of like dinosaurs and lizards [sort] of things.
And I like that.
I'll try to blend it more into the shape instead of being such a harsh line.
And I think this part actually juts out a bit.
So if I lighten that it'll look more 3d.
Oh, wow.
A little tiny bit made a big difference.
Maybe lighten up back here.
Yes, I approve. I like that better.
I'm really not...
too pleased with the way the horns are looking so I feel like they're gonna need some extra tweaking.
Especially like where they're connecting with the skull--I don't really like the way the flaps of skins look.
What I could try is like a more ryn--no not--no, a triceratops sort of connector, haha.
Do that to like both of them [and] see how I like that.
Mmm, I think that's too goat [like].
And if you haven't noticed I'm trying to go dragon! Haha.
Maybe if I add more horns?
I'm not sure where they'd go. Is that weird? Maybe--or maybe here?
And then one in the background--then I need skin connecting with that and add the texture.
All right, so that's what we've got so far.
Ehhh, something['s] weird about the horns.
I mean, maybe I should just go feathers like big
feathers on the back of the head like a cockatoo.
But it is a dove so maybe that's weird,
but it's also dragon, so I don't know what I'm trying to like compensate in my head with it.
So I ended up adding more horns. Just little tiny ones.
I'm like trying to hide the problems with horns. I like it better. It gives me more of that like dinosaur-
-It doesn't look goat at all anymore
So yeah, I'll take it.
[I've been] avoiding the wings for a while here. Let me just kind of build up the shape a bit more.
I feel like they're too thin to like keep that body up, but I still want to keep the feathery soft look.
I think it just suits the rest of the little dragon here.
[Let me] look at it from like a really far distance.
For most of this I'm not talking, I'm just like:
*Heavy breathing*
I'm like trying to figure out what to draw or like how to make it look better.
But for the most part, I'm kinda just grabbing colors and blobbing them down if you want something specific, haha.
I'm just trying to make 'em look like wings and I don't have a lot of experience with wings, so... yeah.
I also have two other pictures of Dragon the Dove and I'm kind of trying to use those to draw the wings.
I think these are looking better.
So now that I've got the basic shapes of everything put down and some like simple shading,
now it's time to start adding some details here and there.
Like with the tail, I'm gonna try and experiment with feathers.
So like copy the way that top neck looks and apply it to down here where I'm working now.
And then on the back here, that's where a lot of work needs to be done.
So I'm going to try and add some more texture here, some more detail.
This is honestly
like my least favorite part of digital painting.
I really enjoy that big sketchy first couple processes when you like
really see something starting to come together and then there's that middle section
where it feels like you're putting in a lot of work, but nothing's happening.
That's kind of where this detail-y bit section is... in that process.
And I've just never really enjoyed it.
Some people say it's like calming which...
that's awesome! But for me, I don't know
I feel like I need to go-go-go and I like beginning new sketches and seeing something come to life,
but I don't like
sitting there and
Forcing it into life. I don't know.
Maybe that's just the way my weird brain works, but I'm liking the way this is looking, actually-
-like it's still not super detailed-
-like I know a lot of people are like, "MRRMM! ☝"
But, I don't know, [I'm] taking it in a direction that I don't usually go and it's kind of interesting, you know, fun!
I really want to make that one white feather kind of emphasized since that's part of...
Dragon the Dove.
Okay, I need to make one final comparison.
This drawing looks a lot like a therizinosaur. 🤓
If you know what those are.
Dinosaur buffs, do you get me?
I--like obviously there's some dragon bits in there, but like those little like birdie feet and the feathers-
-I mean, come on it's like a
weirdly looking therizinosaur.
All right, let's look back at the original reference photo here.
I'm actually noticing that Dragon the Dove is different from our...
Dragon the Dragon, haha,
he has a lot more like white near his belly.
So, I wonder if I can add some of that.
Maybe just like where it might be poking through.
Like down here. Just try to lighten it up a bit. Haha, I just keep looking back at the photo.
I also kind of want to turn his head down a bit.
I feel like that would help with the composition.
Maybe there, and then I just need to blend out some of these little
extra bits that came because I just grabbed it and turned it.
So I just need to blend that in a bit.
I actually really like that sort of like purple tone that's used to shade right there.
I think I got that color from the actual picture and that looks really nice.
Now, I'm not too crazy about the turned head, I'm not sure.
So now I feel like the neck needs to be curved more.
I can't stop playing with these horns, haha.
I'm just curving them up... maybe?
I kind of like that. I don't know, they all just look like they're coming out of the head at weird angles,
and I'm not entirely sure how to--it needs to make some like logical sense in a 3d space.
Yeah, I need to...
add some more detail to these wings. They're very like fluffy looking and while I want them to be fluffy
I feel like I need to add more detail because I've never really finished a digital painting-
-I always get to that like near ending point and I'm just like, "okay good enough!" Haha.
But I really want to try and add some more detail to this since I kind of know what I need to do
because I had that reference of Dragon the Dove
like right there and I can see what the feathers look like and I can kind of get an idea of what I need to
do to make this look more complete.
So I just brightened up that eye to kind of make it look like there's some fire festering
inside of the dragon and I kind of like the way that looks.
But yeah, here's, haha, 𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓈 Dragon the Dove as a dragon.
Yes. I got that right. I had that like in my head I was like, "how am I gonna say it, I gotta say it right!"
And I got it, okay, haha.
I hope you like it, 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓬𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓲 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓹, and I hope... Dragon the Dove does too.
Here's a picture of his innards, haha-
-how he is on the inside, I gave it my best shot.
I'm not a dragon artist and it's not photo realistic by any definition of the word, but...
I'm happy with it was a lot of fun.
It was just so weird and out of my comfort zone that I like
was able to like take a step back and just enjoy the process.
And I had a lot of fun. So thanks for suggesting it--it was like, um...
[an] interesting suggestion and I quite enjoyed it. I think it was a good one. Yeah, thanks!
I definitely took liberties on both the dragon side and the dove side,
but I kind of like the way they've merged together.
I do want to thank you guys for watching, those of you who've made it to the end of the video,
and I hope you all have a ♪ delicious evening full of 𝙬𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙨! ♪
Byeee!
*music*
*do*
*da da*
*de da*
[Okay, I don't got time for this.]
*music and cutlery noises*