Dragon Riders

These are the real dragon riders of fantasy and fairy tales.

You are going to learn to draw tamers, charmers and all kinds of dragon magicians - for free

This drawing tutorial (really a practice and inspiration page) has a couple of levels of this particular heroic fairy and her beast.

Drawing of Girl Riding a Saddled Dragon

Just like in the movie Avatar each member of the warriors team can make a bond with their dragons, if they use their own particular magic as part of their training methods.

So, you can see how I think when I am trying to create a drawing.

You must get inside the head of your characters to a certain degree.

This way you can develop ideas of a story that goes with the illustration.

So let's go...

Dragon Rider - Saddled Girl Rider

This Young Girl Rider is aggressively riding to the rescue of a town in jeopardy.

Or is she in the mountains with her teammates as they pursue an evil creature who is out of control?

This is the fun you can have once you get your drawing going and let yourself go with the flow to create your own masterpiece.

If you sketch carefully, you can create a character on the back of a dragon just like this.

If you want to copy this dragon and rider start with a loose outline, and add the details of the character's head and body.

I would sketch each party very lightly - firming up the lines as you are sure that you have the right positioning.

Don't worry about the clothing etc., until you have the two characters outlined to almost perfection.

I always find that once I have the whole thing sketched out, then I feel secure enough to start adding shading and building in the details.

Don't feel tense - let your hand and your emotions just go with the flow.

I used to have a painting teacher who kept reminding me that "it is only paint".

Well, this is only pencil - stand ready with your eraser if you don't like the results.

I honestly want to encourage you not to erase too often, just let it happen and go with what you create.

If you are full of fear and erase too much - you just get frustrated and never finish anything.

That is why I talk about finishing things so much in my book.

The best kept secret of drawing is just to push through the doubt and fear.

Keep going and you will end up with something great.

This is a fairly complex drawing, but I know you can do it if you take your time. Notice she is dressed for perhaps the plains in Mongolia. She has definitely got this dragon well trained.

I like her warm fur and skin clothing and great boots.

Deciding on the clothing that your character is wearing can change the whole feel of the drawing or painting.

We will discuss clothing and present different ideas in another section - coming soon.

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You probably already draw, but if you need some instruction to get you started, check out my free lessons at how to draw, and if you need to sharpen your skills, in order to take advantage of all the free practice on this site, consider my drawing book

Now you are drawing fantasy!