How to Draw - Skin Details

Skin Details

Although putting in detailing sounds tedious, it only takes a few simple techniques to add dimension and realism to an otherwise flat line drawing. Detailing becomes more intense the larger your subject is. I'll go over each of the major skin types for the Territory's residents.

Scales- Dragon scales are one of the most complicated things to draw. It helps to reference other animals like lizards, dinosaurs, and birds, to get things accurate. Illustrated above are the four major scale types on a dragon's body. Don't forget that the scales on the back of the neck are important in illustrating emotion. They are frilled when a dragon is agitated, and flat when they are not. When your subject is too small to draw scales, textural elements that are described later can substitute.

Feathers- There are three major types of feathers, each with their distinctive appearance. Down is fine and fluffy, general purpose feathers have oval-shaped tips, and are flat. Flight feathers (and finger feathers for eagles) are located on the outer fringe of the wings, and are long and triangle-shaped. They also have very thick, strong shafts. Depending on emotion and other things like being windblown, feathers can be ruffled or flattened.

Fur- I find fur one of the easiest things to draw. A touch here and there really brings texture to the bordering lines of your subject. There are really only two types of fur found on lions: body fur and tail fur. Body fur is generally just a series of fine lines, which can grow into thicker triangles on the chest, elbows, and knees. Tail fur is longer and coarser, and has a shape like a plume or a candle flame. Like scales and feathers, fur can also be ruffled up, which entails adding more fur detail and lines to the picture. It also helps to add fur detail to prominent muscle and bone lines, like the hip muscles and shoulderblades.