A common drake at rest.
Drake Habitat
Wedge-Shaped Head of the Common Drake
Front and side view of a common drake head. The wedge-shaped head allows for binocular vision when hunting. Powerful jaws and a dragon beak is used to kill its prey.
Drake Egg, 10" (25cm)
In the wild, drakes live in packs, which guard the nests from scavangers.
Drakes Are Valued for Their Speed
Drakes are revered for their swift running and ability to bring down powerful game.
Drake Skull
A drake’s skull has large areas for the attachment of jaw muscles and ligaments for their powerful bite.
HISTORY
Originally domesticated by Egyptian and Babylonian cultures, hundreds of drake breeds have been developed over the centuries, from small toy drakes no more than 12" (30cm) long, to the massive siege drake over 20' (6m) long.
Because of their common usage as guard animals, drakes in art routinely graced architecture from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Asia. During the Middle Ages the drake became such a symbol of protection and ferocity that their likeness was used on cathedrals and churches as downspouts and to help deter nesting pigeons. These “gurglers” became known as gargoyles, and today the term is synonmous with the drake in many parts of the world.
Drake Armor
For centuries, drakes have been used as hunting animals and as guards. Armor like this is still used today in many parts of the world.
Courtesy Dresden Museum of Natural History
Gargoyle
Used as waterspouts on gothic cathedrals in Europe, gargoyles depicted dragons of all types, but drakes are the most common.
Courtesy St. Margaret’s Cathedral, Carcas-sonne, France
DEMONSTRATION
COMMON DRAKE
Approaching a painting of a drake is, in many ways, similar to painting a large cat or dog. Work with references of tigers, bears and wolves to approximate a drake’s anatomy. The specific type of drake you design will have specific details that you’ll want to focus on such as:
• Powerful hunter
• Strong jaw
• Stocky, muscular body
• Grassy habitat
• Camouflage patterning
1 Complete a Thumbnail Sketch
Begin with several thumbnail sketches to work out the designs for your painting. Be sure to include the elements you’ve deemed important.
2 Do a Final Drawing
Do the final drawing with an HB pencil on bristol board. Get the anatomy right before you start adding scales and other details. Scan the drawing.
Underlying Structure Is Important
When working on a drawing of a dragon, always remember that there’s a moving skeleton inside the body. The internal structure supports and in many ways dictates the external design, so get the structure right before you worry too much about drawing surface details.
3 Establish the Underpainting
Create a new layer in Multiply mode. Use large transparent brushes and tan to establish the basic forms and colors.
4 Complete the Underpainting
Continuing in the same layer with the same colors, develop the details. Establish the shadows and highlights, following those in the drawing. With smaller brushes, add details to the face. The eyes and teeth should be the lightest color in the underpainting.
5 Refine the Color
As you can see in the concept design for the common drake, this creature has brown stripes as camouflage to help it blend into its surroundings. That means our painting will be relatively monochromatic. Since you can’t depend on color to distinguish one part of the body from the next, try using different brush textures on them instead.
Using smaller brushes, refine the details in the face, using reds and yellows to define the eyes and teeth.
COLOR AND TEXTURE
I created these textures using different brushes in Photoshop. Experiment with different brush shapes to make unique textures of your own. 1.
1. Smooth texture used for the patterns on the drake’s hide.
2. Mottled effect to add additional texture to the hide.
3. Multiple thin lines suggest the background grasses.
4. Pebbled effect to create the ground’s texture.
6 Add Details to the Hide
Add purple reflected light to illuminate the underside of the drake. This reflected light is created by the main light source bouncing off the rocks in the shadows and reflecting back onto the drake. This helps add a lot of dimension to your painting. Usually the reflected light is the complementary color of the main light (in this case, purple is the complement of yellow).
7 Add Detail to the Face
With your smallest brushes, add the finishing touches to the face. As you work, zoom in on the image so you can easily add details such as highlights on the teeth.
8 Add the Finishing Touches
With your smallest brushes, add opaque details and highlights.
FEYDRAGON
Draco dracimexidae
SPECIFICATIONS
Size: 6" to 9" (15cm to 23cm)
Wingspan: 10" to 14" (25cm to 36cm)
Recognition: Four brightly colored wings; wide variety of colors and patterns
Habitat: Temperate to tropical climates, forests and woods
Species: Queen Mab feydragon, monarch feydragon, swallowtail feydragon, cardinal feydragon, leafwing feydragon (jabberwocky)
Also known as: Faerie dragon, fairy dragon, fey dragon, pixie wyrm, jabberwocky
Monarch Feydragon
Dracimexus monarchus
Pencil and digital 14" × 22" (36cm × 56cm)
BIOLOGY
Anyone with a flower garden is familiar with the feydragon. Despite many misconceptions, and its Latin name, the feydragon is not an insect, but actually belongs in the dragonia class. Its forearms have evolved into a second set of wings, and the legs and feet have developed long digits for grappling with prey and holding onto small limbs.
The feydragon flies like an insect or hummingbird, rather than like a dragon. Its wings flap so quickly, that it is able to hover in midair like a helicopter. Its four wings give it the ability to move in any direction.
A wide variety feydragons species exist throughout the world in an equally wide range of colors and shapes. This carnivorous creature primarily eats insects, but will also go after larger prey such as dragonflies and even hummingbirds.
Feydragon Tail
The prehensile tail of the feydragon is capable of wrapping around objects to give it better balance.
Feydragon Wings
The four wings of the feydragon act like the rotors of a helicopter, allowing the creature to hover and move in all directions. At rest the wings fold against the body like fans.
Leafwing Feydragon (Jabberwocky)
Dracimexus pennafoliumus, 10" (25cm) The jabberwocky (called so for its jabbering chit-ter) is found in many Northwestern European countries.
Feydragon Feet
The feet of the feydragon are long and slender so that it may perch on slim branches.
Feydragon Egg, ½" (12mm)
The feydragon can lay many eggs, which are no bigger than the size of a pea, at a time. However, many eggs will be eaten by predators and insects.
Monarch Feydragon
Dracimexus monarchus, 10" (25cm) Native to the Americas, the monarch feydragon is one of the most popular dragons.
Swallowtail Feydragon
Dracimexus furcaudus, 8" (20cm) Native to the African continent, the swallowtail is one of the most exotic-looking dragons.
Artist’s Note
With hundreds of recorded feydragons, and hundreds more that have never been discovered, it is possible to create a species of all different sizes, shapes and colors. The feydragon is open to as much creativity as you have. Go out into your yard or neighborhood park and explore the types of animals that live there, then decide what type of feydragon mi
ght fit in.
BEHAVIOR
Although the tiniest of the dragon species, feydragons have many of the same habits of their larger cousins. Hunting insects in the evening and early morning hours, feydragons will build nests in rocky overhangs or trees to lay their eggs, but prefer to live in the cool, dark woods. Northern breeds of feydragon will not migrate in the winter, but rather hibernate. Feydragons mate in flight, using their brightly colored wings and phosphorescent tails to lure a partner. Like their much larger cousins, the great dragons (see Dragon), the feydragon will steal small shiny objects to line its nest.
Feydragon Nest
Feydragons are capable of building intricately designed homes in which to lay their eggs, often finding suitable locations inside barns or under the eaves of roofs.
Feydragon Habitat
The feydragon is one of the few dragon families that can live in close proximity to humans without any fear of danger.
Feyhouse
Building feyhouses is a popular hobby for community garden clubs and Boy Scout troops. Feyhouses are best located in the shady areas of a garden.
Feydragon Trap
Although the feydragon is a protected animal in most western countries, in Asia and Africa it is trapped in baskets such as this one and sold as a delicacy.
HISTORY
The feydragon is considered to be the inspiration of almost all fairy and elf tales around the world. Will-o’-the-wisps, brownies, pixies and the like, are all attributed to the playful, colorful and mischievous feydragon. In almost every culture it is considered good luck to have a feydragon move into your garden, and many people leave out small offerings of shiny buttons or coins for the diminutive creatures to take. Historians assert that this traditional offering goes back to the pagan rites of making human sacrifices to the much larger true dragons.
Once believed to be a member of the Mantis family, it was later discovered that feydragons were actually in the Dragonia class and not Insectia. The praying mantis can be a fierce rival to the feydragon.
DEMONSTRATION
MONARCH FEYDRAGON
When approaching an image of the feydragon, it’s important to design a composition that will show the animal’s best qualities. Incorporating all of these aspects will make the illustration more interesting. Consider: Where does your feydragon live? How big is it? What color is it? Each of these aspects is important when coming up with a design. List these qualities so that you will not forget them, as I have done here:
• Small size
• Brightly colored
• Lives among the flowers
• Has four wings
• Collects shiny objects
1 Complete Preliminary Thumbnail Sketches
Draw quick thumbnail sketches like these to establish your layout and composition. As you can see here, I had initially thought to place the feydragon on a watering can before settling on the basket.
2 Do the Final Drawing
Using your thumbnail sketches as a reference, do the final drawing of the feydragon on bristol board with an HB pencil. For the garden setting, I used reference photos of foxgloves. Scan the drawing.
3 Establish the Underpainting
Create a new layer in Multiply mode. Block in the underpainting using different values of olive green. Establish the lighting and forms; save details for later.
Notice that I repositioned the end of the tail to rest in front of the upper area of the tail. This will help contrast the bright light of the end of the tail with the tail itself, making the end appear to glow.
4 Add Color
Block in the basic colors on a new semiopaque layer in Normal mode. Begin with the background elements before moving onto the dragon itself. This garden scene will create crucial backdrop for the painting, producing a green textured “curtain” that will contrast against the oranges of the feydragon. The details in the background do not need to be precise; just creating the impression of flowers in the background are all that’s needed here.
5 Refine the Colors
Create a new semiopaque layer. Establish the basic color palette of the feydragon in broad strokes using semitransparent brushes. Precision here is not important; working from the general to the specific is going to make changes at these important stages easier now than later in the painting.
6 Add Details
Add final colors and details on a series of new layers. This is the time-consuming part, but it’s worth it. Use small brushes, opaque paint and brighter colors to flesh out the details that will make this feydragon come to life. Add light golden areas to parts of the wing where the light shines through it. This will make the wing look transparent.
The Middle Ground
1. Use hard, transparent brushes to establish the grass.
2. With smaller brushes and a darker color, refine the grass’s shadows.
3. Using a semiopaque green, add some brighter color for interest and depth. Add some yellow to indicate the ground.
4. With small, opaque brushes, add the flowers.
5. Refine the details with your smallest brushes.
7 Add the Finishing Touches
With small opaque brushes, make any final adjustments to the painting such as the deep shadows in the basket and the highlights on the wings.
HYDRA
Draco hydridae
SPECIFICATIONS
Size: 30' (9m)
Wingspan: None
Recognition: Serpentine body with multiple heads; markings vary by species
Habitat: Temperate to tropical climate, waterways and wetlands
Known species: European bull hydra (Rhone hydra), Lernaen hydra, Japanese hydra (Yamata-no-orochi), naga (Indian hydra), Northern bull hydra, cerebrus hydra, medusan hydra, winged hydra
European Bull Hydra
Pencil and digital
14" × 22" (36cm × 56cm)
BIOLOGY
By far the most unusual family in the Dragonia class, the hydra is an order of dragon consisting of families and species that possess multiple serpentine necks and heads known as Hydradraciformes. The hydra is born with only two heads, and as the creature grows in size, it sprouts new heads that allow it to feed more effectively. If heads are damaged or destroyed, new heads are capable of growing back. The image of heads sprouting back like magic is an exaggeration; rather, a new hydra head usually takes one year to grow in. The hydra’s habitat is located around bodies of water, where its many heads are used to hunt fish and small game.
The Lernaen hydra is much smaller, only 10' to 20' (3m to 6m), and has no legs, a serpentine body and is often referred to as a wyrm (see Wyrm), but is actually in the Hydridae family.
Yamata-no-orochi, or Japanese hydra, along with the Indian hydra, or naga, live by the sea, hunting shellfish in saltwater tidal flats and up rivers.
The cerebrus hydra is a smaller species, usually confused with a drake (see Drake) or even a canine, but is, in fact, a hydra. It hunts small game in open grasslands, and is often captured to be used as a guard animal. Tethered near a portal or gate, its three heads are always alert, and unlike the other hydra species, it is able to growl and bark like a hound to alert the inhabitants. The cerebrus is unique in that it is born with three heads and is unable to grow in new ones.
The aero hydra, or winged hydra, has never been documented and it is considered unlikely that such an ungainly creature as the hydra would ever function in the air. Yet, hydra specialists are constantly on the lookout for the elusive winged hydra.
Hydra Egg, 10" (25cm)
Hydra do not care for their young. They lay a small clutch of eggs and abandon them to their fate. Hydra hatchlings will often kill one another looking for food. This harsh parenting and childhood accounts for the scarcity of hydra.
European Bull Hydra
Hydrus rhonus, 30' (9m)
The Heads of the Hydra
The hydra lives in deep murky swamps and has terrible eyesight. Often hunting at night in order to catch its prey,
the head is equipped with long tendril-like whiskers that it uses to sense the environment around it.
Hydra Feet
The soft muddy ground of the hydra’s habitat requires a broad, flat webbed foot to support the bulky creature’s massive weight. Its sturdy claws are used to overturn logs and rocks, looking for shellfish and small animal burrows.
ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE
HYDRA FAMILY
The hydra family is one of the most unusual and diverse memebers of the Dragonia class.
Lernaen Hydra
Hydrus lernaeus, 20' (6m) The Learnaen hydra lives in the boughs of trees, allowing its heads to drape down catching small rodents, fish and birds.
Medusan Hydra
Hydrus medusus, 10' (3m) The medusan hydra lives in swamps and tidal basins where it burrows itself into the mud, concealing its large body. The heads enable it to catch eel, crawfish and small animals as they pass by.
Cerebrus Hydra
Hydrus cerebrus, 10' (3m) Although sometimes believed to be in the drake family, the cerebrus hydra has a history, going back to classical antiquity. Born with three heads and never growing more, the cerebrus is an agile hunter. Since one of its heads is always awake, the cerebrus is often domesticated as a guard or a ratter.
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