Storm_Haven

of course - Thank you so much!

Is this you? Even if it isn't, pretend it is.

Is this you again, trying to put some soul into those draconic eyes?

if so, fear not - drawing dragon expressions is a simple, painless process as soon as you learn these three foundational rules!

1 - Humanize

Like other animals, dragons do not possess the same facial muscles as humans and have trouble making expressive faces while still remaining within these constraints. This can make drawing emotive dragons difficult, and so the most important rule of making a good expression is to HUMANIZE! No matter what artstyle/realism level you use, translating human expressions onto dragon faces is the easiest way to make them emotive.

Humanizing a dragon's face is much easier than you might think, and it all starts with feature spotting. Here, I've annotated my doodle and labelled what I view as the most important shapes of the expression: The huge eyes, dramatic curves and tooth-shaped mouth. Since all of these important shapes have been applied to the dragon, their expression looks exactly like the one I was trying to copy!

In order to fully explain how you actually DO that, I'm going to use a live example. If you're trying to work on your dragon expressions, you may as well do this exercise with me! I've already annotated this expression to highlight the most important shapes.

First, I'm going to draw the angle of the dragon's head. If you don't like drawing dragon heads, this handy reference sheet I made might be of use.

Next, I added the eye. I kept it very close to the snout in order to mimic the angle a little better.

Finally, the smile! But wait, something isn't right...

After a second glance, I decided to pull the forehead out using the 'liquify' tool and redid the eye so it had hollow pupils. I didn't think coloring in the eye would've made such a big difference, but it did! Either way, we now have one beautiful expression full of life and character.

2 - Beware of the Micro-expressions

This is especially important when drawing your characters in a scene/with any context at all, but remember to focus on micro-expressions! Subtle changes to the same face can produce entirely different results: and even though micro-expressions often slip by unnoticed, they are CRUCIAL in building your character's 'vibe!' My two OCs Seigel and Bigfin handily happen to have the same emotion on their reference sheets, however both dragons present it in extremely different ways - all thanks to the use of a few subtle artistic choices, such as changing posture or head angle.

3 - Remember Your Poses

Although this post is about facial expressions, it's important to remember your dragon's head doesn't just exist in a void. Pose is equally as important to building a certain emotion in a character, and different poses can completely change the vibe of your character.

Bounce light is something I didn't cover but I adore it!

Gamut Mask

(image via )

James Gurney is an absolute master and gives really good clarity on colour techniques. Yes, it is traditional paint focused, but the principles are the same. Yes it is informed by the environmental colour but as a painting technique it is achieved this way!

While it's not super important to know about the mathematical side of blend modes, I think it's worth knowing at least enough about how each of the categories of blend modes works and why they do what they do; if for no other reason than having a starting point when you start experimenting with them in your work.

An overview of the basic blend modes and how they work from Genevieve's Design Studio: Accessible with minimal color knowledge; practical and illustration focused. https://youtu.be/kMc87hQrJd0?si=TWCB365pKSfWS8p0. (16 minutes) This creator also has a ton of free resources you can download, including a Blend Modes cheatsheet, but fair warning: you have to create an account to get them!

Hmmm, hoped for something more… elegant

What if abilities changed the appearance of a Pokemon?

A master post of all the ability forms drawings I've done! It's been such a fun series to work on and it makes me so happy that it's brought you all so much joy!

I regret not starting the little additional descriptions earlier and I thought of fixing that but I desperately need a nap so nope.

I did fix the one that ruffled the most feathers though - quite literally! The Skarmory saga is finally complete!

Other Ability Forms posts!

because someone asked how cloaks would work and i had opinions

Dc x dp prompt soulmate body swap au

So you can use your character of choice but I’m gonna do Danny x Duke for this au for the sun and stars parallel.

So at any point in your life you will swap bodies with your soulmate for one hour.

When Danny turned 17 his entire world shifted and he was no longer listening to Mr Lancer drone on about the Scottish play, but instead he was sitting at an entirely different desk with a science test in front of him.

“Is everything all right Mr. Thomas?” Asked the annoyed teacher from the front of the class, several students snickering at him.

Danny glanced down at the name on the test and read the name Duke Thomas with a smile.

“Yes ma’am, just remembered something.” Danny answered, deciding to help his soulmate out a bit. He realized a few of his questions were wrong and quickly corrected them (this totally didn’t count as cheating, shut up Clockwork).

Danny did his best to make sure his swap wasn’t noticed for the next hour as he picked up little bits and pieces about his soulmate, certain his core would be purring if he was in his own body.

As he fought back a headache as he slowly figured out how to adjust the amount of light he was seeing, he couldn’t help but be in awe of his soulmate’s abilities, lamenting that he wouldn’t get to see what the stars looked like through Duke’s eyes as he watched the time tick by.

Luckily science seemed to be Duke’s last class of the day, and he apparently had friends? Family? That picked him up each day, though Danny hadn’t been expecting the limo.

He wouldn’t have even known the limo was for him if the Butler hadn’t approached him to ask if he was alright.

“Oh, sorry!” Danny said in a low whisper as he looked around “I’m actually not Duke right now,” Danny said with a sheepish grin. “I’m Danny, his soulmate. Don’t worry though, if my watch is right, you should have Duke back in about 5 minutes.”

The Butler gave him a fatherly smile, “Lovely to meet you Master Daniel, I hope I need not warn you of the consequences should any harm come to Master Duke.”

Danny gave the butler a huge grin, “not at all, do you mind hi in me his number though? I wanna call him after we swap back.”

Danny swiftly memorized the number right as the watch hit 1 hour and Danny braced himself for the reality shift that came with the swap…

A shift that never came…

Danny blinked down at the watch on Duke’s wrist, tapping it a bit before he looked at the butler with concern.

“I think…we may have a problem.”

—-

The first thing Danny did after he arrived at Wayne manor was take a nap. He had done his best to ignore the bone deep exhaustion he was feeling but after a the car ride with Alfred’s soothing choice of music…

Well, he learned it was best to heed Nocturne’s call a long time ago.

Besides, his soulmate clearly needed the sleep.

Meanwhile the Batfam are absolutely panicking over the fact that Danny and Duke didn’t swap back.

—-

Meanwhile…

“So…you are not Phantom?” Asked the… ‘Box ghost’ for the third time.

Duke groaned in annoyance before he felt something in his ribs start to vibrate…almost like a purr?

“No, I’m his soulmate.” Duke grumbled as he rubbed at his chest. The feeling was oddly comforting.

The floating blue man finally seemed to understand as he gasped before flying away in panic.

Duke sighed in relief as a hand fell on his shoulder.

He looked back to see a smirking goth girl and a boy with a red beret. “Nice going, half the realms will know by dinner.” She said as the boy snickered.

“Don’t worry dude, you’ll be fine.” Said the boy when he saw Duke’s worried face. “Besides, that’s a Danny problem, you should be swapping back soon, right?”

Duke nodded, “Any minute now.” He said as he checked the time on Danny’s phone. He had already put his phone number in the notes app as well as a message for Danny to reach out if he felt comfortable.

“I gotta ask, what’s it feel like being Danny? He’s terrible at describing it and I’m curious.” Asked the girl.

Duke smiled as he rubbed his chest right over that comforting feeling. “Cold, but also warm? Kinda like someone’s wrapped their arms around me and I just feel safe.”

The duo looked at each other in confusion. “That…isn’t at all how Danny described being…well…” the boy cleared his throat as the girl elbowed him.

“I think THAT is a conversation for Danny to have with him, don’t you think?” She asked with an arched brow.

“Uh, right..” the boy said, rubbing at his hurt arm. Duke wanted to question them, but his time was up. The minute changed and…. Nothing….

He still felt wrapped up in that safe embrace looking at Danny’s bickering friends.

“I think…something went wrong.” Duke said, trying to hide his Panic.

——

The Fenton household was chaos unleashed and Duke loved it. As soon as Danny’s parents found out who he was they wrapped him up in a big hug and welcomed him to the family.

They all seemed pretty shifty about something though…Duke couldn’t quite put his finger on it though-

Suddenly the basement door burst open as a massive black knight with flaming purple hair yell

“MY KING! CONGRATULATIONS ON FINDING YOUR QUEEN!!”

Yeah…it probably had something to do with that…

Basically a body swap au where a part of their souls swap places for 1 hour, but Danny’s core doesn’t want to let go because it recognizes its soulmate so they get stuck, so they spend the time getting to know each other and end up falling more and more in love with each other.

Bonus: all the ghosts treat Duke like actual royalty because they know Danny will destroy them if Duke gets even a scratch on him.

The Gotham rouges…are not having a good time.

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

pros: you get to feel clean. you get non greasy hair, non oily feeling skin, it just in general makes you feel better, more energised, refreshed.

Danny texting back: I think you have the wrong number, but I want to know how you got a cow and a seal lion. That must have been a story.

Jason: How do I know you aren't Damian pretending not to be Damian? You pulled this on me three times already.

Danny: Did he? And you fell for it three times?Have you never texted before? Why not save his number into your phone so he can't trick you anymore???

Jason: I don't know how to do that. I am behind technology wise because of the years I missed while dead.

Danny: Is that slang for prison?

Jason: You ask a lot for questions. Is this Bruce?

Danny: No, my name is Danny. Sorry about all the questions. You just sound fascinating. Like a Mr. Darcy hiding on the side of the room but in the chat room instead of the ballroom.

Jason: Well, thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me.

Jason hours later texting the Batfam group chat: Catch you all later. Im going to meet a stranger I found on the Internet.

As they watch from the rooftops, one of them notices on the next roof over there are thtee individuals a goth, an guy an a laptop and a tall red headed woman with a basball bat

----

Cryptid Danny is only just a kid fighting ghosts and ghouls who are smarter than him and has been doing this for far, far longer. Cryptid Danny goes out to search for an older, wiser cryptid to mentor him into becoming a better, stronger cryptid who can take care of his territory better (Amity Park) and also protect his family and friends.

Bruce, who has this kid show up on his front porch, and asks him to mentor him. Bruce is confused at first, trying to play it off and see just how much this kid knows, and the kid just goes "I know you're batman."

It's like the Tim situation all over again. Except, Bruce doesn't realize at first that this kid very much isn't human. And Danny doesn't realize that Bruce *is* human.

— ( ≧∀≦)ノ / emoticon nonnie

OOOO thats such a fun angle. Could be a really good normal or 5+1 format fic.

Danny, hovering over Batman's shoulder with a pen and notepad: "How do you know where you need to be?"

Bruce, who spent last night preparing for Two-face's inevitable heist on the 2nd St bank on the 2nd of February: "A rogue's idiosyncrasies can make them predictable. Study your enemies and you will always be able to outmanoeuvre them."

Danny, nodding and noting down: Use ghost obsessions to predict them.

Bruce, thinking of the stakeout Phantom is technically crashing, tracking suspicious cargo shipments: "As for petty or unknown threats, try to track changes in the routines of the unsavoury elements in your town, as they can indicate larger threats on the horizon. This can be difficult to do alone, so you should find an ally with the right capabilities to assist you. I have Oracle, who has eyes everywhere."

Danny's notes: Find omnip omniscient? all-seeing ally (NOT OBSERVANTS! Clockwork maybe? Find out if Oracle might be willing to dedicate a couple of eyes to Amity)

Danny: "Uh huh, but how do you know how to stop new threats?"

Bruce, thinking of his painstaking detective process and excessive training: "Ideally, you would study your opponent in as much depth as possible before engaging, though that isn't always possible. In that case, engage cautiously and try to draw out the fight long enough to see your opponents strengths and weaknesses while having them underestimate your own. That way they will be unprepared when you counter them. Of course, this also requires you to have a complete understanding of your own strengths, skills and weaknesses. I spent years growing my skills and training under various mentors to master the absolute limits of my abilities. By seeking me out, you're already taking steps in the right direction."

Danny, beaming: "Thanks! Figuring out what I can do on the fly or from my enemies was kinda working, but also messy and people weren't thrilled about the property damage. So I really appreciate you taking the time to mentor me!"

Danny's notes: Learn all your powers, idiot! (get mentors to help figure them out before you actually need them), and remember them all (Ask Jazz tips on how to memorize long lists)

Bruce, internally: It's so nice that at least one young metahuman sees the value in studying the techniques of base-line human vigilantes to expand their skills

Okay, but does Bruce ever learn about what assumptions Danny's making or is this the sort of situation where his immense knowledge is getting in his way from realizing something's not normal about a situation?

I could totally see him being so used to the oddities of his own life that he thinks that Danny's just using different words to describe the same things as himself (especially because most of the time he's right about this though there are differences due to the supernatural element). Regardless, the Bat would definitely still like and mentor Danny once they realize what he thinks, they'd just be able to do more in depth training when they understand Danny more. (I think that the Bats would be low-key slightly irritated by the attitude most metas have to their abilities because they're able to do so much because they train extensively and so the only reason that they're scarily competent to anyone in the Justice League is because those people are comparably lazy when it comes to their own training.) Danny's issue is that he's young and untrained and so he struggles to keep in mind his wide variety of abilities but the reason that he's here in the first place is because he wants to be trained. Danny would also totally be down (and impressed) for learning at least some of their skills as a human because of their applications for his own life.

Tim, not looking up from his case file: Bold of you to assume I was ever held.