Introduction: How to Draw Dragons

About: So, hi, I'm Keith-Kid. Who the hell are you? I am one of the regulars here at instructables. I am a tried-and-true jack of no trades with absolutely no experience in any category. Still, I'm fun. My Top Ten: …
This is my entry for Life's Burning Questions on How to Draw Dragons

In this Instructable, I will show you how to draw two types of dragons

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This instructable is a beginners guide for drawing dragons. For a More In-Depth and advanced Instructable about drawing dragons, check out This Instructable by RocketScientist2015

Hope you like it!

Step 1: Know Your Dragons

You may not know this, but there's two types of dragons.

  • The European Dragon is the most common dragon. They're the ones you find on Disney movies, or the one on Shrek . They're big and very strong, and usually evil.
  • The Chinese Dragon is a more rare type to see. They're long and snake-like with small extremities. Usually they're involved with magic and good luck.

Source: Nickelodeon Magazine (Deal with it!)

On this instructable I will show you the basics for both types

Step 2: EuroDragon Step 1

For the Euro dragon, start by drawing its head. Its kinda like a T-Rex head.

Next draw its neck. Its basically two very long lines. Make one curved line and then another one in which you'll change the curve slightly.


Keep in Mind that part of this long neck will be the belly so you should considerate how big or skinny the dragon will be.

Step 3: EuroDragon Step 2

Now for the legs. The legs are divided into three sections. The first section is its thigh, which are usually quite big because they have to hold the weight of the dragon. The second section is the "leg". The third section is the feet. Its your decision how many finger it has, but almost it's almost always four. Remember to put some scary claws.

It's usually easier to draw one front leg and hide the other one.

Step 4: EuroDragon Step 3

European dragons don't always have wings, but its usually the most interesting trait.

To draw the wings, we must know how wings work. They're basically extra arms with long flaps of feathers, or in this case skin.

So to make the wings we must first make the bones. Basically you have to draw the branch of a tree. You have to considerate what shape you want the wing to be and how it will move.

Then simply fill the shape. Make half a circle from the tip of the wing's bones. Then make a line from the end of the half circle to the beginning of the bone. You could make any patter you like, I made a couple of curves, but you can make triangles or simply a straight line.

Please excuse the pictures I made this instructable on Christmas eve at 9:00pm so it was very dark.

Step 5: EuroDrag Step 4

OK Now. Let's finish up the body of the dragon. First We're gonna make the hind legs. Make a small circle under the wing, this will be the thigh.

This is very Important- The hind leg's thighs are very big because they hold most of the weight. The hind legs are also bigger than the front legs. But the feet are basically the same size. For the other leg simply draw half a leg, just like when you made the the front legs.


Next We're gonna make a Tail. The Tail is usually very long. It's a good idea to take a pencil that writes very lightly and trace the shape of the dragon through the wings, this way the tail will be in the right position.

Add a few spikes to the tail, gives a nice effect.

Step 6: Finishing Up the EuroDrag

Now make a line inside the neck that follows the curves. This line will go until the front leg, then continue it between the front leg and the hind leg.

Now make another line between the center line of the neck and the edge of the neck, remember to follow the curves. Now make V shapes between the center line and the left edge of the neck. This is the dragon's belly. You could also make U shapes instead of V shapes.

Step 7: The EuroDragon

Add some finishing details like spikes on the neck and a couple of nice horns. Make v shape in the snout as a nostril. The eye can be a decent eye or simply just a check mark. There You have an EuroDragon!

Step 8: The ChinaDragon

The chinese dragon is very different from the eurodrag. The Chinese Dragons NEVER! have wings. They can fly by pure magic. This is very important

It's body is basically a long tail. To Start this dragon make a basic tail shape.

The Legs of this dragon are very small. They're basically chicken feet. Make sure to give it bird-like talons

Also very important when making this dragon, it moves very fluidly, so remember to make a lot of curves when making its body

Step 9: ChinaDrag Step 2

The head of this dragon has a lot of decorations but the basic shape is tho doves looking in opposite directions (if you look at it sideways).Make a little nose too.

Remember to finish corner with sharp points.

The Back of the head is basically a lot of spikes. Try to make then facing diffrent directions so it doesn't end up looking like a wolf head.

Now Make another wall of spikes inside the head, kinda like cheeks. You could add a little tongue to add to the effect.

Step 10: ChinaDrag Step 3

Add a line of spikes along the dragon. Its a good idea to make them go a little inside the dragon, that way it'll look like it has more perspectives, this adds a LOT of effect and makes it look great.

Also make a little fire-like shape at the end of the tail, try to align it with the line of spikes, so they look connected.

Step 11: ChinaDrag Step 4

Now let's add a little belly so it looks even more fluid.

Make a line from the head to the front leg, following the curve! Fill the space between the line and the edge of the neck with U or V lines. In this case I used U shapes because I used V shapes in the eurodrag.

Finish it up by putting a couple of spikes in the legs for even more effect. You could also fill the empty spaces with a couple of lines for scales.



Hope this Helped! Merry Christmas!

Step 12: Painting the EuroDrag

The belly and the wings are usually a cream or yellow color. The bones of the wings have the same color as the skin.

The European dragon's color says a lot about it.

Black dragons are the toughest. They're the supreme dragons, and usually much bigger than others. Bigger wings, longer horns, these guys are the worst.

Red dragons signify strength. Usually they're stronger than other dragons, or can sustain tougher conditions.

Purple dragons signify that they're special. They have a quality that only they posses. Examples of these dragons are Spyro, a little dragon who always beats the bigger ones. Or the one from Shrek, ( I mean she fell in love with a donkey, you don't see that in a lot of movies)

Yellow aren't very common. They signify that they're much fiercer than other dragons. Usually they have many more horns than others.

Green dragons are the most common. They're usually the weakest and smallest.

Personally I like to press the pencil when coloring them to give them a tough scaly look

With the help of some photoshop, I was able to paint the dragon a diffrent color.

Step 13: Painting the ChinaDragon

Its a good idea to paint the "Chicken" part of their legs with a brown color. The belly is usually a white or cream color.

The spikes are ALMOST ALWAYS a red or orange color.

The China dragon is usually painted in 3 colors

Yellow or Gold dragons signify divinity, they're ultra superpowerful!! (They're my favorite)

Green dragons are the more common. They represent magic and luck

Blue dragons are guardians. Usually tey have more features like chains ans stuff. They also differ from the other dragons, in the color of their spikes. They have dark blue spikes to ignify that they're different.

There is a legend that says the guardian of the east is the blue dragon, which is why you see these in chinese culture around building and stuff.