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Description
I designed this as a worksheet for school, but tis the season, so why not share.

HOW TO DRAW AN ASIAN DRAGON (Please don't feel patronised, I made this for 12-14 year-olds)

You should be able to follow this process with almost any drawing media, including working on the computer.
IF you are working in pencil it is VERY important that you work very lightly, pressing gently on the page.

Step 1.

This line represents the whole of your dragon's body, head to tail. If you're following this process, I'd recommend beginning about 3/4 the way up the page in the centre, and start by drawing UPWARDS, before looping back down. The rest of the line is up to you. You know what you want your dragon to look like
make sure you leave room above and below your line for later features

Step 2.

draw these two first circles to make up the head. One large circle that sits on the line, one smaller one which sits at the BEGINNING of the line

Step 3.

The body of your dragon is going to be 'built' from a series of circles which give it shape and form. Imagine this as a string of beads or pearls, they will be small at first, getting larger towards the main part of the body, and tapering away afterwards to make a long, thin tail.

Step 4.

Arms and legs. Draw these as large 'W' and 'M' shapes, with that original line down the middle. Thing about how you want to pose your arms and legs to make them look natural
Now you have you're basic 'skeleton'

Step 5.

Next we're going to start adding more shape. Being simply with hands and feet. Just add small circles for each, and similar circles at the elbows and knees of those lines you just drew

Step 6.

Arms and legs are next. Fill these out, taking time to think about the shapes those large muscles will have. You might want to make then long and thin, tapered at the ends. OR not

Step 7.

Begin adding some details. The hands and feet will have 4 or 5 claws so draw these lines in. Add eyes - simple circles that sit on the edge of the larger head-circle, where it meets the smaller snout-circle. I also added a line around the lower section of each eye to give the shape of a cheek bone. Long whiskers stretch out from the sides of the snout, sweeping away in whatever direction you like (I prefer them to go back, not sure why i did them going forwards here)

Step 8.

Long horns should sweep back from the head.
The other part of this stage is adding detail and shape to the talons or fingers/toes, which is a bit more complicated. For each 'finger' we drew in, I've drawn on two small circles. One circle at the end of the small line represents the fingertip, and about halfway down the line there is another circle, for a knuckle.

Step 9.

Start with your outlines now. (If working in pencil, this is when you can start pressing harder to give darker, more solid lines)
Go around the work you've done so far, thinking about the shapes you've built up. You can use your outline to add in details such as claws or talons.
Think carefully about how the arms and legs join the body on your dragon.

Step 10.

With the basic shape finished we can add more details.
This is the point where you need to make your own decisions about how your dragon will look. I have added a pig-like snout and a beard, thick, pointed eyebrows and some spines down his back. the last touch is a large, feathery tail.
It might help you to look at other people's drawings here on DA or some more traditional pieces to get some ideas (googling 'chinese dragon' and selecting images should bring up plenty of results).

Step 11.

In this final step I've just cleaned up the drawing. I've added a thick mane around the head and changed the tail a little.

And that's it

Hope that helps at least one person

Description
I designed this as a worksheet for school, but tis the season, so why not share.

HOW TO DRAW AN ASIAN DRAGON (Please don't feel patronised, I made this for 12-14 year-olds)

You should be able to follow this process with almost any drawing media, including working on the computer.
IF you are working in pencil it is VERY important that you work very lightly, pressing gently on the page.

Step 1.

This line represents the whole of your dragon's body, head to tail. If you're following this process, I'd recommend beginning about 3/4 the way up the page in the centre, and start by drawing UPWARDS, before looping back down. The rest of the line is up to you. You know what you want your dragon to look like
make sure you leave room above and below your line for later features

Step 2.

draw these two first circles to make up the head. One large circle that sits on the line, one smaller one which sits at the BEGINNING of the line

Step 3.

The body of your dragon is going to be 'built' from a series of circles which give it shape and form. Imagine this as a string of beads or pearls, they will be small at first, getting larger towards the main part of the body, and tapering away afterwards to make a long, thin tail.

Step 4.

Arms and legs. Draw these as large 'W' and 'M' shapes, with that original line down the middle. Thing about how you want to pose your arms and legs to make them look natural
Now you have you're basic 'skeleton'

Step 5.

Next we're going to start adding more shape. Being simply with hands and feet. Just add small circles for each, and similar circles at the elbows and knees of those lines you just drew

Step 6.

Arms and legs are next. Fill these out, taking time to think about the shapes those large muscles will have. You might want to make then long and thin, tapered at the ends. OR not

Step 7.

Begin adding some details. The hands and feet will have 4 or 5 claws so draw these lines in. Add eyes - simple circles that sit on the edge of the larger head-circle, where it meets the smaller snout-circle. I also added a line around the lower section of each eye to give the shape of a cheek bone. Long whiskers stretch out from the sides of the snout, sweeping away in whatever direction you like (I prefer them to go back, not sure why i did them going forwards here)

Step 8.

Long horns should sweep back from the head.
The other part of this stage is adding detail and shape to the talons or fingers/toes, which is a bit more complicated. For each 'finger' we drew in, I've drawn on two small circles. One circle at the end of the small line represents the fingertip, and about halfway down the line there is another circle, for a knuckle.

Step 9.

Start with your outlines now. (If working in pencil, this is when you can start pressing harder to give darker, more solid lines)
Go around the work you've done so far, thinking about the shapes you've built up. You can use your outline to add in details such as claws or talons.
Think carefully about how the arms and legs join the body on your dragon.

Step 10.

With the basic shape finished we can add more details.
This is the point where you need to make your own decisions about how your dragon will look. I have added a pig-like snout and a beard, thick, pointed eyebrows and some spines down his back. the last touch is a large, feathery tail.
It might help you to look at other people's drawings here on DA or some more traditional pieces to get some ideas (googling 'chinese dragon' and selecting images should bring up plenty of results).

Step 11.

In this final step I've just cleaned up the drawing. I've added a thick mane around the head and changed the tail a little.

And that's it

Hope that helps at least one person