Make your dragons ~unique~
Hey guys! I figured I’d make a little post talking to you guys about various aspects of your dragon’s you can change to give them a more unique design. All too often I see artists here drawing each breed the same way each time, but it doesn’t have to be so! There’s nothing wrong with taking liberties and experimenting with features. I only focus on heads here, but each tip can easily be taken into consideration when drawing the rest of the body too!
First up, face shapes
This is an easy one. Simply changing the proportions and lines around the face/head can give you very different looks. The spiral on the left has a noticeable change from the head to the snout, giving them more of a muzzle. The spiral on the right has a much straighter snout, and a longer face too. Changing face shapes can help with personality, too.
For example, a grumpy war-veteran would have a more angular face, with downcast eyes and straight edges. A friendly, bubbly baker might have more rounded feathers, with large eyes and expressive ears.
Mane type
This does of course only apply to those with manes! Straight, loose, wavy, curly. It’s just like human hair! Even a two dragons with very short mane could have very different types. The left pearlcatcher has smooth, flowing mane, whilst the left pearlcatcher is more unkempt and wild. Manes can also be used to enforce ideas about a dragon’s personality.
Hairstyles
Here’s a good one! Hairstyles can totally change the appearance of a dragon. Shaved mane, braids, ponytails, or a mix of them all. These really make your dragon unique, and also gives them personality! The imperial likes to keep his mane braided and out of the way because he’s a firecaster mage, and the tundra keeps her mane tied back because she’s a cook! Hairstyles give the viewer on idea on the dragon’s personality and job/role.
Changing typical features
Now we’re getting into the fun stuff. I loves experimenting with these anytime I want to design a dragon. Take a normal aspect of the dragon and make it different in some way. Horns are a good one in particular. While I don’t go into detail on it in this post, there’s a LOT you can do with horns to make them unique. There’s so many different shapes they can take on! This lovely tundra lady has front-facing horns. It’s not just changing shape, but structure too. Instead of the usual stiff fins, this mirror has something more akin to webbing, though it still serves the same purpose. You can have a lot of fun with changing features already present on the dragon.
Using genes
Why not take another thing already present on a dragon and use that too? Genes are great because there’s so many, and theres a lot you can do with them. Tertiary genes are the more fun ones to experiment with, but you can still use primary and secondary genes to change a dragon’s appearance beyond just markings/patterns. This ridgeback has the spines gene, which has manifested with a far greater number of spines all over their body. The coatl has the python gene, which has lead to them having a scaled hide instead of soft feathers.
Using apparel
This is yet another thing which there is a wide variety of that can make your dragon more unique. Making certain pieces of apparel actual physical parts of their body can totally change their appearance. Exaggerating the aspects of some apparel pieces also does this. If you have a fae with veteran’s scars, why not go that extra mile and make them even more rugged and battle-worn? Or, maybe your skydancer has one of the wolf capes? What if it wasn’t a cape, but their actual face?
Breed changes
A dragon that has undergone a breed change could wind up keeping some of the features present in it’s past form! Whether you actually applied a breed change to them or not, giving dragons a few features from other breeds is great fun. A snapper who was once an imperial, with some rather lovely whiskers. A guardian who used to be a mirror, who still has his heat-sensitive eyes, much to his dismay, and far stiffer webbing. Or maybe a coatl turned nocturne, who luckily kept the feathered crest she was so fond of.
Just have fun!
Do whatever! Go crazy! Change this, change that. Model their face shape after a real world animal, give them 14 eyes and 5 tongues, and heck, throw in an extra pair of horns! Maybe she has a turtle beak, maybe he’s part demon! If you have an idea, try it out and have fun!
Sincerely, I love making my dragons weird <3
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