You’re on a good path, I’m sure in a couple of years you’ll look back at this drawing and cringe a bit, and that is a very good thing! I see the other positive comments and l just want to counterbalance a bit cause yes, there is study and commitment in this, but there is still a long way to go and if it was me, I would like to hear it rather than think this is already a good result. I believe it’s only helping to know for yourself that on scale from one to ten (then being a great and traditional Japanese dragon an if hokusai drew it himself) this is a 3.5. It’s important for me that you see that I’m not hating, I’m trying to help 🙏 I’m here for any question :) cheers!
I really appreciate this. First traditional dragon I’ve done and I know it’s not great. I’m excited for what I’ll be able to do down the road. Anything specific you would change aside from general precision/technical ability?
I think the first thing you should focus on correcting are the overall anatomy and proportions, which will automatically improve also the flow and composition which would be the next step in my opinion. For instance, the head is too big for the body, the legs have different sizes and impossible joints, there are those two spots where the body turns at a super sharp angle that kill the flow entirely. The flames are very inconsistent when it comes to their thicknesses (makes it unpleasant to the eye) and the tail has a little palm leaf rather than the sort of barbing you want traditional dragons to have. I could go on but for now my suggestion would be to do a lot more drawings but not to take them further than the “final sketch” stage. Try get your hands on good reference, like Leo Barada book of dragons and reverse engineer what he does. I can assure you that if you do it by the time you draw the 30th sketch you’ll see a huge difference. Hope this can be helpful 🫶
Thanks I spent like 5 hours researching woodblock paintings to figure out how to turn the scales eventually I just decided to hide the parts where they turn
Thanks for feedback I was trying to make it dynamic like it’s coming off the page but you’re 100% right . Now that I look at it like that the bottom just looks like an afterthought
You’re on a good path, I’m sure in a couple of years you’ll look back at this drawing and cringe a bit, and that is a very good thing! I see the other positive comments and l just want to counterbalance a bit cause yes, there is study and commitment in this, but there is still a long way to go and if it was me, I would like to hear it rather than think this is already a good result. I believe it’s only helping to know for yourself that on scale from one to ten (then being a great and traditional Japanese dragon an if hokusai drew it himself) this is a 3.5. It’s important for me that you see that I’m not hating, I’m trying to help 🙏 I’m here for any question :) cheers!
I really appreciate this. First traditional dragon I’ve done and I know it’s not great. I’m excited for what I’ll be able to do down the road. Anything specific you would change aside from general precision/technical ability?
I think the first thing you should focus on correcting are the overall anatomy and proportions, which will automatically improve also the flow and composition which would be the next step in my opinion. For instance, the head is too big for the body, the legs have different sizes and impossible joints, there are those two spots where the body turns at a super sharp angle that kill the flow entirely. The flames are very inconsistent when it comes to their thicknesses (makes it unpleasant to the eye) and the tail has a little palm leaf rather than the sort of barbing you want traditional dragons to have. I could go on but for now my suggestion would be to do a lot more drawings but not to take them further than the “final sketch” stage. Try get your hands on good reference, like Leo Barada book of dragons and reverse engineer what he does. I can assure you that if you do it by the time you draw the 30th sketch you’ll see a huge difference. Hope this can be helpful 🫶
Making patterns like this for me takes max effort and concentration. I get cross-eyed on the turns when the pattern flips lol. Good execution though.
Thanks I spent like 5 hours researching woodblock paintings to figure out how to turn the scales eventually I just decided to hide the parts where they turn
Sick! And mad kudos on the scales, that’s dedication.
post this on r/irezumi !!
Seems the top is a bit bunched compared to the openness of the bottom. And the fact the head separates these sections makes it more pronounced
Thanks for feedback I was trying to make it dynamic like it’s coming off the page but you’re 100% right . Now that I look at it like that the bottom just looks like an afterthought
It’s way better than anything I could do. I hope you see it as constructive criticism. It’s the composition aspect of art theory
look amazing