Elemental dragons are those that are related to the elemental spheres: fire, earth, air, and water. These dragons tend to personify their respective element. The fire dragon is the most unpredictable of the elementals. Often dwelling in dormant volcanoes, this dragon is red, orange, or yellow in color. Its body is thick and heavy, and its legs and tail are long and snakelike.
Step One I begin drawing the fire dragon using a 2H pencil and basic shapes. I start with an S shape for the body, adding a circle and a triangle for the head. Then I draw cylindrical legs and boxlike hands.
Step Two I add more cylindrical shapes to form the legs and arms. I rough in the feet and the wings, using long, tapered lines and circles. I add horizontal lines down the belly. Then I add horizontal and vertical facial guidelines to help me place the features.
Step Three Now I focus on the head. I add two curved horns and the wide ears, and I draw the sloping eyes and the birdlike beak, erasing guidelines as they’re no longer needed. Next I develop the reaching hand, converting the box shape from step one into the palm. I draw pointed fingers, complete with long nails. Notice that the hand is almost as big as the head—this is an example of foreshortening, in which the drawing is distorted to make certain areas of the drawing (in this case, the hand) appear to be closer to the viewer than other parts. Foreshortening helps create the appearance of depth.
Step Four Using my construction lines as a guide, I draw the muscular legs, the thin arm, the fingers on the dragon’s left hand, and the large, pointed toes. I also add a curve to each segment of the belly to make it look three-dimensional. I refine the wings. Then, with a blunt HB pencil, I define the creases and recesses of the face. I use a sharp 2B to add tone to the ears, horns, eyes, nose, and mouth; then I add dark spots on the head.
Step Five I move to the neck and belly, using a 2B pencil to shade with fine, horizontal strokes. To show that the light is coming from the left, I leave highlights along the dragon’s right side, gradually darkening the value toward its left side and underbelly.
Step Six Next I shade the wings, the back of the neck, the arms, and the hands. I draw spots on the neck and arms, and I add thin, branching lines for the veins on the inner wings. Then I make short strokes for the wrinkles on the hands.
Step Seven I continue shading the rest of the body with a 2B pencil. Then I add spots to the legs and the top of the dragon’s left foot. I remove any remaining underlying pencil lines with an art gum eraser, and then I reinforce the darkest areas with more shading, as shown.