SF&F Picture 8 out of 11 by Michael A. Rasmussen.

SciFi and Fantasy Art: Green Dragon

I say this picture was inspired by Tolkien because of a clip from the movie Return of the King, where the witch-king lands his fellbeast on a parapet of Minas Morgul to watch the orc army, and the fellbeast grabs a tower with its wingish hand. That's what started the idea, and I just went with it.
It's not the best dragon I can do, and some of the anatomy isn't right, but it still looks pretty neat, eh? ^_^
I was thinking of colors for the dragon, and decided green would be good with the fire and the castle and the roof. I was considering red for a while, but the fire wouldn't be as dramatic, I think. Although, green also does make him seem less fierce, so I have the backstory that he's on the defensive, fleeing something or other, landing on the castle tower, turning round and flaming to try to scare it away.
Maybe I'll do a follow-up sometime....
Oh yes, and the castle tower, especially the stones, was also pretty fun both to draw and to color.

I used a computer program to do some clean-up and fix the lighting. :)

Shared under Creative Commons - Some Rights Reserved. Click for details...


	Categories: [Dragons, Drakes, Wyverns, etc] Techniques: [Coloured Pencils] [Mechanical/Technical Pencils] Inspirations: [JRR Tolkien]

Date	Name	Comment
8 May 2007	C. Hessman	Loading... Nice! I like the pose and the fact that he uses his wing to hold on. Michael A. Rasmussen replies: "Thanks, Christopher. ^^Thanks for the first comment ever! "
15 Nov 2007	Christian Kindler	Loading... Whew, these claws are really mean... I pity his (or her?) manicurist ; ) The fire looks pretty cool! I like its pose - great job! Michael A. Rasmussen replies: "Hehe, thank you, Christian. Actually the pose gave me a bit of trouble, because I made the castle first and then put the dragon onto it, and so making the pose fit with the anatomy was tricky. "
6 Apr 2008	Jillian Christina Jones	Loading... I really love the pose, is there anyone inside that tower? If there is I feel sorry for them. Michael A. Rasmussen replies: "I didn’t think about that. Who knows? I wouldn’t be too worried about them, though. I think whoever is OUTSIDE the tower is in more danger! xD"
27 Apr 2008	Nathaniel S. Summers	Loading... I agree, the way it holds on with the wing is great. The way the neck curves is very well done and the fire has a real look of force and speed. The only criticism that I’ve got is the hind legs. They lack structure and generally look odd. Everything else is fantastic though. Great work Michael A. Rasmussen replies: "The secret to fire is to have some white in it somewhere. I’m very happy with how it came out in this picture, and I’m glad you noticed! I wanted it to feel like it was rushing through his whole neck and out his throat, like you said, with a lot of power. You’re right about the hind legs, of course. It happened that way because I drew the top of the dragon first and didn’t plan out with a skeleton before fleshing it out. Still, I can always say dragons come in all shapes. Thanks for the CC, Nathaniel! "

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