August 2019 - Dragon Riders - WIPs

aw gosh you did some of the work, though!

Valence wrote:
I don't know what's going on with that shoulder/wing/thing!
Nor what direction that other wing is pointing!

I believe Daz Studio has a free dragon character you could use to work things out. Or as you have Blender, mock up a basic reference with simple primitives. Or, get some pieces of paper and some sticks...

Banj wrote:
Or as you have Blender, mock up a basic reference with simple primitives.

Yep, I sketched it out in basic polygons, subdivided a few times, did a bit of sculpting, put a basic armature in and did the necessary weight-painting. Then I posed it and... and... and...

Then I downloaded this free model of Smaug!

And it did really help understand how the wings are supposed to behave! Didn't help with that shoulder anatomy though. But bats!

Yes, the bat... is where it's at! I don't know why I didn't ever think of that before. There are some terrific references for bats in flight. So much better than trying to decide between different artists contradictory interpretations of what an imaginary creature's anatomy should look like.

I am now making a bit of progress. But not quite enough for an update.

Smaug looks smug.

and don't worry (too much). I haven't made any progress at all since my last post

Wyverns are a great deal simpler to cope with than the traditional western style dragon as they at least have sensible plausibly realistic anatomy, and you don't need to force multiple joints into the same place.

Well… who can resist a dragonrider??

At least a beginning shot.

I think Charlotte and myself are trying hard to resist!

That looks great. Love the expression on the dragon's face.

I did try a bit more today....



This is one of those pics where you draw for ages and then you look at it and it doesn't seem any different from last time!

Your dragon looks quite well developed already, Segujo! I think you solved the issue of arms + wings well, but the saddle must be an uncomfortable hindrance for the dragon when it flaps it's wings. Also if that's a quiver, you either need two riders or sitting by the neck will make arrows (or spears as they look large) hard to reach. Still, for a first wip it's looking good and has a good sense of shading/3D already

Hehe… yea Charlotte... Dragon sadles are a Little like too tight jeans in that way… they have to be a Little un-confy to do the job… xD

i tried to fix it a Little. Thanks!

there are some tests in separate layers that I didnt commit to yet…

Segujo, you might consider moving your rider a fraction to the right or left. Currently his forehead is touching the line of the Dragon's jaw.