Dracopedia: A Guide to Drawing the Dragons of the World
$11.99
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Fantasy artists can now breathe easier thanks to this less perilous alternative to drawing dragons from life. Dracopedia offers you safe, easy access to the world’s most prominent dragon species, from tiny, innocuous feydragons to the ferocious wyvern.
For years, artist William O’Connor has traveled the globe, studying dragons in their natural environments. His findings, field notes and sketches have been compiled for the first time into this single, beautifully illustrated compendium–a natural and cultural history of the beasts as well as a step-by-step drawing workshop.
• Details of the anatomy, behavior, habitats and legends of 13 major dragon families
• Heavily illustrated with field sketches, anatomical studies and gesture drawings
• Shows the start-to-finish creation of 13 striking paintings, illustrating key concepts that apply to every medium
• Dragon demonstrations include: amphiptere, Arctic dragon, Asian dragon, basilisk, coatyl, dragon, dragonette, drake, feydragon, hydra, sea orc, wyrm, wyvern
Dragons have terrorized and delighted humans for centuries–continue the tradition with Dracopedia. It’s packed with inspiration for putting “fierce” into your fantasy art, as well as the facts to keep your dragons true to life.
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Brian Fuelleman –
This book was a surprising find for me, I was looking for different artists interpretations of dragons, and in this book I found not only that, but a wide variety of dragons and their relatives, their histories and habitats, and hints at illustrating them using both conventional and digital tools.
Most dragon artists tend to fall into a rut when it comes to drawing the heads and bodies,. Most of the dragons tend to end up looking like clones or copies that may have been repositioned. The author of this book shows us a wide variety of head, body, and scale types, and an equally wide variety of poses and backgrounds.
The author not only covers the basics in the drawing aspect, but also shows two or three examples of each creature. Though I could wish for some more of the basic structural aspects of the dragons for some of my students, I can understand that the book would have had to be many times it’s current size.
The illustrations are in full color and the book is beautifully printed and bound. It covers Asian style dragons, dragons of Central Europe, South America, North America, the desert, the seas, and more.
The inclusion of the history, origins, and characteristics of the dragons helps keep this from being to dry.
This is one of a few books that I think should be included in any dragon artist’s library.
I would also include John Howe’s Forging Dragons, and some books on reptiles, dinosaurs, and bats or birds for those that wish to have winged dragons.
I liked this book so much that I ended up buying 3 copies to give to friends and fellow artists.
Chey –
This book was what I was looking for. It had a huge amount of varying dragons, not just the usual typical, and had lots of detail. My favorite part is that it also had information for computer painting, which most books leave out. The dragon designs were also very interesting and believable.
The only downside is the corny “these are what real dragons look like” deal. The slight history to it was interesting, but saying that the dragons are real might throw some readers imaginations off by making them believe that the dragons in the book alone are the only types you can draw. I would have also loved a few pages of just pure reference material for the readers own dragon building, such as drawings of horns, teeth, claws, eyes, and so on.
If you are looking for a guide to drawing more realistic dragons, this might help you.
Edilson –
Ótimo livro, recomendo muito
Lumen_Lunae –
Ganz tolles Buch für Drachenfans mit vielen schönen Illustrationen. Es ist ein Nachschlagewerk mit Biografie zu den einzelnen Drachenarten. Der Autor hat sich viel Mühe gemacht. Das Buch ist grafisch sehr ansprechend. Wer eine Zeichenanleitung sucht dem sei gesagt, der Autor zeichnet mit Bleistift vor und digitalisiert dann die Colo am PC. Trotzdem sind die Zeichnungen auch eine tolle Anregung für traditioneller Künstler wie mich.
Marsanik Lapp –
The author was fantastic in capturing how step by step to draw the dragons. I was very impressed he did the “KILIN” since it is hard to find and my totem animal. Also in the book of unicorns and that too is an excellent book series as the figurines in the front cover are placed inside it. This book of dragons however, he also does in photoshop and gives you clues to steps. You can recreate them in oil paint just the same as he unfolds the development stages of drawing quite well. I just ordered another for my 15 yr old nephew as well who also hopes to become like myself a professional artist and/or teacher. It has many examples or different dragons with great sketches. It will make a fine example to use for adults and kids in classes as the material is interesting enough and appropriate for ALL ages. This artist is NOT a beginner. (he is not Robert Bateman either but then again that is a superior master of our day we all hope to aspire to.) He could be a bit like John Howe though as he chose to be about this painter’s skill, and John Howe is certainly worth buying also. It was worth every penny I spent and got the 2 books all for under five dollars for this order.
Lumen_Lunae –
William O’Connor is one of the greatest fantasy artists in the world, and the dracopedia books are a good proof of it.
PC –
The Dracopedia is beautifully detailed in both its art and its design, made to look like a tome with page design that adds to the feeling of the book without being distracting. It is well laid out and a great read.
Agreeing with what a previous reviewer wrote, this is not a how to draw book and would likely be most useful for those who are past that stage and would like to learn more about more advanced stages, such as coloring, shading, and backgrounds, along with extra information about the dragons themselves. Therefore, the book has much more potential for reuse and reference, rather than being tossed to the side when people are past the “okay, I can draw circles, lines, and other shapes now” (stick frame) stage.
That also makes it great for the non-artist dragon lovers!
More about the content and the organization of it:
Each chapter begins with larger art of the final piece and specifications of the type of dragon. It then goes into biology and the various other genera and species within that category. Though the book may cover 13 dragons in more detail, there are countless other pieces, such as four other hydras and five other sea orcs, so it has much more content than the product description would lead people to believe.
It then goes into behavior and history before the demonstration, which includes various different tips in each section to help an artist along his/her way.
The actual detail within each chapter differs for each type of dragon, which makes things much more interesting. There’s information ranging from an artist’s note mini section about finding inspiration for the basilisk to the skeleton and musculature of the Great Red Welsh Dragon.
A last thing worth mentioning, along with a nice index, is that the book has a foldout color poster at the end that compares all of the demonstrated dragons side-by-side (mostly profile view) and includes a size comparison at the bottom.
Very well done!
Tina –
Every fantasy artist should have this book in their resources. Full stop.
Okay, I’ll say a few more words. This book deserves a full thesis written about it, but we’ll have to settle for an Amazon review.
In these pages are invaluable insights to creating a fully illustrated dragon, from concept all the way to finished artwork. For every beast, there are little imaginative backgrounds that describe the dragon like it’s a real creature, with talks about habitat, history, behavior, and sometimes you’ll even get a picture of an egg. There are sections about drawing digitally, and even some talk of dragon anatomy that is helpful. In the back, there is an Index and even a poster you can remove, if you’re careful.
The whole thing is captured in a sturdy hardcover with glossy print embellishments where it needs to add pop to the presentation. The book cover and back attempts to make the resource look like a binding of old times where steel trappings were used. Very good look for the subject matter.
If you’re an artist or dragon lover, you should have this book. Go get it.
ドラゴン大好きマン –
さまざまな、ドラゴンが掲載されています。
そして、各ドラゴンのスケッチやタマゴなどもあるのが、気に入りました。本も大きくて、全体的
にボリュームがあり、見ごたえがありました。