It's Not Always What You Think

So from the initial sketch to where it's at currently, you can really tell how much of the original is mostly concept where the details are left to be fleshed out digitally. Had I done the original drawing to completion you can see how different it might have been, and what improvements are possible when you give it more time to bloom.

More attention was given to the dragon on this pass, making adjustments to horns for better contour, adding larger eyes, and pushing the front leg back (even though it might not stay there either). All of the horns are on their own layers which is how we get the overlapping on the human figure. This adds dimension which was otherwise not present.

I do have a confession to make with this image. Nothing progressed from the last blog image until I addressed the human face. Once I did the first pass, it was "alright" and I cleaned the line further for the garments and his hand. But later I felt here was something skewed about his face that I couldn't figure out. First of all it was far more "pose" and less "emotion" than the original sketch. It was missing that angle, the sharp lines. So staying true to the line work, which I liked, I warped each individual feature until it made more physical sense.

You can see from this image my first and second attempts at his face. Though they don't seem that much different, the most subtle curve of a line can suggest radically different angles of a shape. This can be seen easier if you click on the image for a larger version. At first he's looking nearly straight on, the 3/4 perspective a little forced by the shape of the nose, and the mouth feels borderline too big, same with the forehead. It would drive me crazy if I had not tried to fix it first even though I did try to move on and completed the dragon eyes, but promptly after that the annoying human face had to be addressed. The curve of the lines on the left side of his face had to be sharper as they were wrapping around the head and curling up. Foreshortening can be tricky, even on something like faces.

Once that was done I was able to take on the horns and shorten and reshape them as I saw fit. The main horns still aren't quite 100% of my intended twist and turn, but it's close enough where I could either leave them alone or take another pass at them and either way I would be happy.

So far the dragon is really starting to take on more of the oriental feel with its larger eyes and the like. Once more attention is given to the snout and other tendrils I think it will all fall together nicely.

It may be a length of time before my next entry as I'll be going on 4th of July vacation and job hunting soon after, so I will do my best to keep up with Naephos! I hope everyone is learning a little something or is inspired in some way. I can only hope. :)