Lately, my daughter has been asking us to tell her stories. After several stories about princess Allie, I introduced the character of the dragon. Now she always asks for dragon stories. I've been having so much fun telling the stories, that I really wanted to illustrate some for her. However my human drawing skills have never been great; animals are my thing. But I decided that I should try because the worst that can happen is I draw something really ugly. Here's a peak at how my sketches have been growing and evolving. (Please excuse the poor quality of these images- I took them with my cell phone)
Here is the first person I drew out. She looks about the quality that my daughter would draw. Okay, maybe a little better. Her people look like scribbles.
I realized I needed to shift the eyes down a bit and work on proportions. Better, but still kind of goofy looking (and not in a good way). Here is my second try.
Third time was the charm. She looks pretty cute at this point.
Now I moved from my little sketch pad and tried to recreate my drawing on my watercolor paper. This is typically what I create my final pieces on.
Finally, I added in a dragon. He ended up looking a bit like a pet dragon, so I drew his tongue hanging out and made him look like he's staring at that ice cream cone.
So that's a peak into my process. The image is still in pencil so I may do a few edits/additions before I add paint and ink.
What do you guys think? It's mostly just for fun and to show my daughter, but I do want to do it well. The one thing that is troubling me now is that in the stories, the dragon is more of a friend than a pet. But I thought this could be similar to a Mickey/Pluto kind of relationship. Thoughts?
How fun to see your process. I think both your princess and dragon look great. Your daughter is sure to love custom piece that goes along with her stories :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm thinking I will work on finishing a pretty piece and then give it to her for Christmas.
DeleteWhat a cute princess she turned out to be! And the dragon isn't scary at all :)
ReplyDeleteI did some fashion illustration back in the day, but haven't picked up a pencil since.
Thank you! It's really stretching to try to draw human characters.
DeletePets can be friends, too! I think the dragon will end up fine, whichever way the storyline takes him.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I really just want my illustration to match all the stories we've told.
DeleteI love seeing the creative process! I agree with Natasha, pets can be friends, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun sharing the creative process! Yes, pets can be friends. But in the stories, the dragon seemed more like a peer and talks. So I'm thinking about it :)
DeleteHow fun!
ReplyDeleteIf the dragon in the story is more of a friend, you could anthropomorphize him a bit by making his haunches larger and more bipedal with his arms front facing, just without shoulders. This could prove easier for you to illustrate him participating in activities within the story that you come up with, too.
Either way you choose to go, it's a fantastically sweet project that you're working on with her! What a creative and interactive bonding experience. <3
Thanks for the tips! I might try sketching a few more dragons and see how it goes.
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