How to paint a dragon

Being a budding fantasy artist I love nothing more than to sit at my easel with brush in hand or sit at the desk with my graphics tablet and laptop painting in Photoshop. Both methods have there particular feel and method of working likes and through my Hubpage you will see the hap- hazzard approach to some of my work. From traditional painting with acrylics, to digital painting and drawing using Photoshop.

This particular dragon art painting (see below) started life as a basic drawing in my sketch book and the step-by-steps below will show the process I took to create it.

Before I start, I wanted to highlight the importance of the sketch book. Everyone works in a different way and whatever works best for you, is the best way forward, but for me the sketch book is at the heart of much of my work.

I say this as all paintings need to start somewhere and my artwork start as a doodle and scribble in my sketch book. Some, just a gesture of an idea that then builds into a more established drawing. You never know when an idea will come to you or when you might see something that gives you that spark of inspiration for your painting. This is why I always carry a sketch book no matter where I go. Some of my best ideas come at the most odd moments. I might be waiting to pick the children up from school or waiting for an appointment, so having a small sketch book at hand means you can jot down your ideas and elaborate on them at a later stage. I have had some very basic sketches that I have gone back to many months later and which have formed the basis for some great drawings.

With all this in mind, a great piece of advice I can give to any budding artist, fantasy or not, is to carry a small sketch book and pencil as often as you can. It will suprise you how many ideas and sketches you can build up by just jotting and doodling down ideas when you get the chance. There have also been times when I get a complete mental block and nothing seems to go right. Looking at the ideas, scribbles and notes in my sketch book really does help to get the ideas flowing.

That aside, the dargon painting seen here is of a bizarre dragon that lives within the walls of ancient castles. We have all seen the films where armies try to scale the walls of anciant castles and I thought it would be a good idea to design some kind of built in castle defence, in the form of a dragon. Thia dragon would wait for the soldiers to scale the walls before striking out and killng all in reach.

If you want to know which PC Drawing Tablet I used to ceate the Dragon art below, and many more of my pieces take a look at www.drawingtabletreviews.com. Here you will find a review of the PC Drawing Tablet I used, information on drawing tablets and artwork. There will also be a growing number of reviews coming soon.

It' s at the stage I wanted to mention that the paintings I do can be a little hap-hazzard. I do jump from one area to the next, building up areas of the painting as I feel. There isn't really any pattern or logic to it, but it seems to come together. I think this comes from a need to move the painting to a stage where I feel satisfied with it. I really believe that whatever works for you is the best route to take.

Using the graphics tablet and painting in Photoshop gives you great freedom. Being able to have different layers which you can turn on and off, the ability to undo your mistakes (always a good thing) and the complete freedom to add and subtract different colours and textures. All with the ability to change, redo and tweak. Using the technology at hand and all its functionality is great, but it's only a tool like a paint brush and it's down to the artist to use those tools the best way possible. This leads me back to the sketch book, as all the technology in the world is useless without the user and their ideas.

I hope the step-by-steps above help to illustrate how I work on some of my paintings but if there are any questions just comment and let me know. All feedback is welcome and appreciated.

As I have mentioned, everyone's way of working is different and the best way for me might not be the best for you. The end result is the goal and how you get there is great fun and seeing your fantasy art painting take shape and then finish, is great.

Looking at other artists work is always good, as the more art you soak up the more inspiration you can draw on. I have put some Hubpages together based on some great fantasy art books I now have in my fantasy art book collection. They are recent books but really do show some good tips and advice for artists of all ages. I always refer back to them just to see how a certain artist has produced a certain effect, or just to get inspiration.

Take a look at my fantasy art book reviews here 1- How to draw and paint fantasy art Vampires and 2 - Draw and paint fantasy art Warriors and Heros , both books offer some great inspration and a host of step-by-step projects to help produce your own fantasy art.

I hope that the above step-by-steps give you some idea as to how I work. I tend to have a very erratic style and jump from one place to the next, from one colour to the next. Many will say that this is not ideal but whatever style you chose to work in and the method you chose, if it works for you then it's the correct way

There are a number of fantasy art book reviews which are always great for some inspiration, so take a look via the links below

• Bob Eggletons Dragons Domain fantasy art - book review
  
  How to paint Fantasy Heros and Warriors with Alan Lathwell - book review
• How to draw and paint Fantasy Art Vampires - book review

My blog is also taking shape so check it out here at unholyscribe fantasy art blog. Various content, including thoughts, artwork and general stuff I find on the net will be finding its way onto my blog and any feedback is welcome.

Take a look at my Deviant Art gallery filled with my scribbles, both traditional art and fantasy art created using various medium, pencil, pen, paint and digital.

As a digital artist I use a pc drawing tablet and if you are interested as to what one then take a look at my review here Adesso-cybertablet-m14-graphics-tablet. It's not an all singing dancing drawing tablet, but coupled with Photoshop it really does the trick.

There is plenty more of my art in my Deviant Art gallery, from landscapes to the bizzare and look out for many more art Hubpages to come.