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Tiina ´Aarnia´ Aumala

"Dragon: Anatomical Study" by Tiina ´Aarnia´ Aumala

SciFi/Fantasy Picture 17 out of 76 by Tiina ´Aarnia´ Aumala
 
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SciFi and Fantasy Art Dragon: Anatomical Study by Tiina ´Aarnia´ Aumala
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Tag As FavoriteComment		Knowing the anatomy of whatever being you're trying to depict is important for an illustrator, so naturally dragons are a challenging subject. I have spent quite a lot of time trying to figure our what their anatomy might be like. I've used archosaurian (a group that includes crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and birds) anatomy as a basis as they seem to have most convergency with dragons from all Earth animals.

Since there have been so many questions concerning this image, here are some clarifications: The dragon depicted here is approximately three to four meters long, with a wingspan of seven to ten meters. The wing illustration depicts the alar bone structure and flight membrane and is not to scale. The pose imitates a dragon landing or taking off, as on land it would move on all fours or even all sixes (the wings can also support weight.)


DateNameComment 
10 Jul 200445 Majik
'The Flight of Dragons' is by Peter Dickinson (I think). The movie is a story based on his idea of how dragons could have existed as large flying reptiles.
21 Jul 200445 Anonymous
How big is this dragon anyway? If i was a hob (elf or goblin) would i have to worry about it?

14 Tiina 'Aarnia' Aumala replies: "Unless you were fireproof, you definitely should worry! Not that the dragon itself would be huge, as a rough estimate I'd say maybe 4 m long with a wingspan of 8-10 meters."
25 Jul 200445 Alyssa K. Creason
... I think it's wonderful. Does it matter if dragons could exist in real life? This is the artist's interpretation and she has done it very realistically. I especially like the way the muscles fit together, and if this were a documentation of a "real" animal, it would be worthy of a scientific journal.
3 Aug 200445 Marty
i love this picture and i keep coming back to it. so lets talk about it while everyone is on the subject. how big IS it anyway? im not sure if anything can fly after the 200 pound cut off, but any bigger could probably use a jumb/glyde for hunting... unless its a carion feeder, which it must be (am i correct) because the scull doesnt look like it could hold up, when it bit down on a moving animal. this is such an awsome picture!

12 Tiina 'Aarnia' Aumala replies: "An Ararenian dragon doesn't kill with its jaws or claws, and indeed why should it when it has been blessed with such a formidable weapon, which not only kills but also cooks the prey! Not that a dragon would turn down carrion either - few large predators would."
16 Aug 200445 Marty
youd be hard pressed to find someone who DIDNT like carrion!
4 Oct 200445 Martin l krieger
I recently read a childrens book about dragons... Some of them had striking mammalian features in the illustrations... Like distinct kinds of teeth, and fleshy noses/ears. Some of the euro-dragons even had hair, as well as the asiatic ones. Just a little tidbit. Ive been trying to add more mamalian features to my dragons. One i cant decide on is wether i should give it an arching back, or keep it stiff??? What do you think?

:-) Tiina 'Aarnia' Aumala replies: "Well, since you did ask me, I'd say a mobile arching back on a large flying animal is always a bad idea. Always. Might I also remind that hair-like integument is also found in pterosaurs and insects, so you can expect it to evolve convergently on flying animals. Differentiated teeth are also a trait found in some pterosaurs. But, as always, it's up to the artist to decide what he or she thinks is best."
25 Sep 200545 Erik
Nice pic, but I was wondering, what species is this Dragon?

:-) Tiina 'Aarnia' Aumala replies: "It's a fairly basic generic dragon. A kind of prototype for developing differentiated species."
5 Apr 200645 Fei
This nice, reptilian image is especially refreshing after many dragon sketches around the web involving anthropic thoraxes.
15 Jun 200645 Supreme Martian Overlord <Loading...
Good, very good, however as the two most important muscle groups in winged flight are the forward and down stroke and the backward and up stroke you might want to consider stronger muscle groups headed to sort of 'shoulder blades' in the back (Pterosaur skeletons/reconstructions could be of use) and onto the forward chest, perhaps curving over and in front of the forelimb shoulder joint?
21 Feb 200845 Xipe Totec
I like the skull-structure,it’s alot like that of the theropods.
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About 'Dragon: Anatomical Study':
 • Created by: :-) Tiina ´Aarnia´ Aumala
 • Copyright: ©Tiina ´Aarnia´ Aumala. All rights reserved!

 • Keywords: Dragon, Anatomy, Musculature, Muscles, Wing, Bones, Study
 • Categories: Body Study, Dragons, Drakes, Wyverns, etc
 • Techniques: Pencil/Graphite Pen, Computer-coloured Picture
 • Views: 1803
 • Resolution: 658x340


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