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RWyvern

Wyvern do the artie

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Nothing much to say... pretty much you got good art that you make in a traditional way. Though the borders around might be constricting what's inside, I believe as a portrait in a room it would look pretty interesting and eye-catching to see framed.

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I was aiming to do these in the style of those tiny little framed portraits =3

 

user posted image

 

Commission for fangtail528

 

Please PM me regarding commssions, I might start taking small ones.

 

aaaaaaaaand

 

Not quite a step-by-step of how I draw the things, it's kinda inbetween and doesn't cover colouring and shading, but a demonstration as to how I create these characters I've been drawing! The last four I've done, Rethete, Medeus, Gowdali and Blood Stained Blades, they've all been very easy for me to design since I already knew how they were gonna look.

 

But I aim to do twenty overall. So here's how I created Marlana and Valizel.

 

The first step was brainstorming. I wanted something unique. I have plans for a Chrono Xenowyrm strategist who uses his power over time magic to slow his passage of time to check out the opposition, as well as a Fever Wyvern assassin making use of her deadly spines.

 

I came across the idea of having a disabled dragon, and settled on her lacking a wing. After all, flight is one of the most recognizable traits a dragon has. Then I though "what if she had an assist dragon to help her fly?"

 

Now I ride horses and have always loved seeing depictions of beasts being ridden, and it suddenly occurred to me - let's make this dragon a Pygmy... and drakes aren't the smartest out there... I consider them on par with horses...

 

PERFECT

 

I eventually settled on a standard Pygmy and Greater Spotted Drake. Drake selection was done (far too) carefully. This is a drake that needed to be able to work in the midst of warfare. Day Glories were too curious and delicate, Night Glories too shy. Glaucus need water. Ochredrakes had a wyvern's physiology (mind you, I almost chose them). Greaters were much closer to a horse all around and I've got a soft spot for their unimpressive appearance.

 

SO THEN I SKECTHEd

 

user posted image

 

lol my handwriting so gud

 

All of Marlana and Valizel's first sketches are to the right. I meant to keep assassin Drilacy a secret but i couldn't be bothered to crop her out.

 

The first one I did was a full-body of Valizel, and the basics of her armour (I did a lot of research into barding for this). This involved the criniere on the neck, including chain mail, the peytral, and the champron. I left the croupiere out for a number of reasons. I also planned to have reins, but their design and function needed to be changed up a bit...

 

The next sketch was a closeup of Valizel's head. When I design stuff my dragons wear, I try to think of everything in as realistic a manner as possible, which you'll see come into many of these designs. Designing the champron included questions like: How does this thing stay on? How can it come off? What if a dragon was impaled on it, and so on and so forth. Prettying these things up comes last, functionality first.

 

The third sketch shows Marlana for the first time. I began planning out a saddle design that would befit both drake and pygmy. I decided eventually to have Marlana hold onto a bar in front of the saddle with one paw, hold her sword in the other and command Valizel through telepathy, with reins hooked nearby for drastic interventions. I had Marlana's right paw protected from harm, and her hind paws protected from wear when riding. I also updated Valizel's armour.

 

user posted image

 

NEARLY COMPLETE DESIGN OF DRILACY

 

The point of focus here is work on Marlana's design. A dragon that is capable of flight (or assisted flight) should have minimal armour, or none at all. She has a little armour. Most of this sketch was done figuring out how to attach this stuff to a dragon. I figured it out.

 

Gave her a cape because cool

 

(somebody insert a gif of Edna Mode here plz)

 

You may also notice that I'm drawing four legged dragons so their foreleg anatomy's a hybrid between human and feline. Just so they can manipulate thing the same way we do. And both dragons and wyverns have specific ways of unsheathing their swords. I can explain them if you want. Told you I worked everything out.

 

Wire frame's just there as a quick referencing point for later on.

 

user posted image

 

[[random wing intensifies]]

 

With designs to a satisfactory point, I began work on what'd end up as the final product. I sketched around Rethete (longest possible, 12 cm) and Medeus (tallest possible, 7.5 cm) and scribbled in the wire frame to fit, referencing the one I made in the last image. I'd noticed Valizel's initial drawing was most perfect for this!

 

Marlana here is an entire step ahead, so we'll come back to her in a minute...

 

user posted image

 

I drew Valizel over the wire frame, and meshed her and Marlana together. Wire frame Marlana wasn't in an ideal pose, and I drew her over Valizel twice on a separate sheet, finishing up details and whatnot in the previous image. I eventually drew her directly onto Valizel here.

 

Valizel had her armour detailed, including the champron and most importantly, the peytral, which was made to imitate a set of wings (it's symbolic because she helps her rider fly lawwwl). The saddle's design was finalized.

 

And this is at the stage where the final lineart is next...

 

user posted image

 

hhahaha you thought the wing in that other image had nothing to do with this didnt you

 

IVE NEVER DONE SO MUCH DETAIL IN SOMETHING THIS SIZE BEFORE

 

Here I finalized all the little details and made some small adjustments, chose the direction of the lighting (that's the slanted line) and picked out my colour palette including the gradient for the background. For something that barely fit into the 12cm limit, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

Shading this thing is gonna be nightmare.

 

I'm always happy to talk about character designing so shoot me a PM if you wanna ask anything or stuff along those lines! Or if you think there's something I overlooked.

 

I'll do a sketch to finished product thingie one day!

Edited by rampaging wyvern

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Lemme comment on this

SO BEAUTIFUL

It's always a good thing when you got DC spriters commenting on your work. All of them are super talented, so if they're saying your art is good, your art is hot dang

 

;-;

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I am always ready to talk about character design, RW. Too ready. (Do you have a skype?) I found the whole brainstorming process you listed fascinating, and the idea of hybrid hands such a good idea that I might borrow it for myself.

 

I think about dragon clothes and armor all the time before i go to bed, in part for a comic project I have in the works, in part just because. Everything works out handy-dandy, except dragons can't have anything that hugs their abdomen or hips because of that pesky wing membrane in the way. How are the belts and things attached without piercing or otherwise restricting the wing? (and oh this just brought up a new idea of ritual piercing for military and/or religious purposes and…). It doesn't seem like you've addressed the problem directly on Valizel's saddle, but I may be wrong.

 

In my modern dragon AU, capes are a fashion statement because it's one of the only garments a dragon is physically capable of wearing. xd.png

 

user posted image

 

 

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Lemme comment on this

SO BEAUTIFUL

It's always a good thing when you got DC spriters commenting on your work. All of them are super talented, so if they're saying your art is good, your art is hot dang

 

;-;

Whenever a spriter likes my stuff it makes my whole day because daaang I admire them already (I can't pixel art lel) /v\

 

It makes my whole day whenever somebody comments on my stuff really.

 

 

I am always ready to talk about character design, RW. Too ready. (Do you have a skype?) I found the whole brainstorming process you listed fascinating, and the idea of hybrid hands such a good idea that I might borrow it for myself.

 

I think about dragon clothes and armor all the time before i go to bed, in part for a comic project I have in the works, in part just because. Everything works out handy-dandy, except dragons can't have anything that hugs their abdomen or hips because of that pesky wing membrane in the way. How are the belts and things attached without piercing or otherwise restricting the wing? (and oh this just brought up a new idea of ritual piercing for military and/or religious purposes and…). It doesn't seem like you've addressed the problem directly on Valizel's saddle, but I may be wrong.

 

In my modern dragon AU, capes are a fashion statement because it's one of the only garments a dragon is physically capable of wearing. xd.png

 

user posted image

 

THANK YOU FOR THE GIF

 

Yes, I do have a Skype! It's been a little dodgy for the past few weeks for some people though, taking hours to send and receive stuff. Just an advance notice! I think it's a problem on my end.

 

You also have a comic project??

great minds think alike

 

For a dragon to wear a belt the wing is indeed pierced, or rather slit, right at the point the patagium meets the body. To me, it takes a little liberty in the way of flat out making it so the membranes on a dragon's wing are tough enough to handle it without further damage. It's a stupidly simple workaround. Got the potential for interesting strategies being developed on the battlefield - how to exploit the inevitable weaknesses?? Take a look at Gowdali, and that huge tear in his wing. Speaks for itself.

 

 

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I've probably said this before, but oh well, I'm gonna say it again

I'm consistently/constantly impressed by the huge amount of thought you put into designing and drawing your characters, and into the art itself. Your character/species design is always on point. Never change <3

 

 

Is there a danger of the slit wing healing? Or would it be treated similar to a piercing, where something is kept in place until the skin heals around it? I know bats are capable of repairing huge swathes of membrane, but they are significantly smaller/a different species.

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I was aiming to do these in the style of those tiny little framed portraits =3

 

user posted image

 

Commission for fangtail528

OMG SOOOOO CUTE! I LOVE IT! SO MUCH! IMA PUT IT IN MY SIGGY! :3

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Only now do I notice the tear in the Seragamma's wing. I don't have an eye for detail, lol.

 

We can chat about comic projects together, woo! (my skype is the same as my username here.)

 

And also, that mention of 3d printing on the last page makes me want to model a skeleton and do the thing on my school's printer (so much work, but I think it would be awesome!) Would you be interested in a collaborative project?

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I've probably said this before, but oh well, I'm gonna say it again

I'm consistently/constantly impressed by the huge amount of thought you put into designing and drawing your characters, and into the art itself. Your character/species design is always on point. Never change <3

 

 

Is there a danger of the slit wing healing? Or would it be treated similar to a piercing, where something is kept in place until the skin heals around it? I know bats are capable of repairing huge swathes of membrane, but they are significantly smaller/a different species.

I could say the same about your stuff <333 I still have much to learn about anatomy and sometimes I take a peek at your art and realise something I hadn't known.

 

Slitting is pretty much a 'rite of passage' a dragon sufficiently trained in the art of sword fighting would go through. The slit is about twice as wide as the belt will be, and once it's made a mock-up said belt is equipped to the dragon, which is also twice as wide and for the first couple weeks has metal plates on it (easier to clean of whatever blood comes from the wing as it heals). They're then removed so it's just leather and that remains for as long as it takes for the membrane to heal. Also wing exercises are a must, ensuring freedom of movement in all manners.

 

In veterans, older individuals and dragons who no longer use their equipment, the slit healing itself is not an uncommon sight.

 

//overly long description of simple process

 

OMG SOOOOO CUTE! I LOVE IT! SO MUCH! IMA PUT IT IN MY SIGGY! :3

I'm so happy you love it! ;v;

 

Only now do I notice the tear in the Seragamma's wing. I don't have an eye for detail, lol.

 

We can chat about comic projects together, woo! (my skype is the same as my username here.)

 

And also, that mention of 3d printing on the last page makes me want to model a skeleton and do the thing on my school's printer (so much work, but I think it would be awesome!) Would you be interested in a collaborative project?

I'll see if I can find you!

 

Ooooooooh yES. Skeletons are my thing!

 

That reminds me, I got my printed skeleton back in July and I still haven't taken any photos to put on here. Better do that

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I'm popping in to say that your art is stunning and berating myself for not noticing it before. Like WOW! Too bad you're not taking requests, I would give you so many OCs. Hah hah, not really, I feel bad overburdening people-But still, so much epic! Count me in your list of stalkers. xd.png

Edited by skwerl56767

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I'm popping in to say that your art is stunning and berating myself for not noticing it before. Like WOW! Too bad you're not taking requests, I would give you so many OCs. Hah hah, not really, I feel bad overburdening people-But still, so much epic! Count me in your list of stalkers. xd.png

Better late than never ;p

 

I actually did say somewhere last page and I'll say it again: I might start taking small commissions! Shoot me a PM if ya wanna discuss stuff~

 

i is stalking even moar now...

Good, the more stalkers the better!

 

~

 

And here's Marlana and Valizel from the last page, now fully finished! Simple frame this time, since there's a ton of details in the subjects themselves, especially Valizel.

 

user posted image

 

I changed the colour and style of the background at the last second for something more gritty and that hopefully gets the action across. Also I was listening to the Mad Max: Fury Road soundtrack at the same time, and I tend to let music help me pin specific images down so...

 

Go watch Fury Road right now, one of the best action movie I've ever seen, no joke. And like everything is practical effects. And brilliantly shot. Michael Bay, take notes.

Edited by rampaging wyvern

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Aaaaand here's Drilacy, an assassin Fever Wyvern!

 

user posted image

 

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SHINY

 

OR HOW TO CLOTH

 

Drilacy's on nobody's side in particular, working for whoever hires her. She works by night, with her spines being her weapon of choice. If things go in a different direction as expected and she needs to engage in physical combat, she carries a long dagger with a bone core that stores some kind of poison. But, thanks to her inadequate lifestyle, she's thinner, weaker, duller in colour with a near complete loss of said colour in her wings, and subsequently she will flee rather than fight for long. For what she lacks in strength, she makes up for it with an innate understanding of a dragon's habits, deducing when her target is at their most vunerable.

 

Lil' note: These are the most accurate wings I've drawn to date.

 

I really need to get back to work on my greyscale critter designs.

Edited by rampaging wyvern

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hhh yes! Assassin gal's finally here (should've guessed that fever wyvern would have been the breed)! <3 I now see what you mean by the batlike anatomy though I have one question: do wyverns usually use their feet for tasks -- such as putting on tail wraps and other clothing articles as well as fighting) that other dragons would use their front paws? I kind of assumed so from your Gowdali drawing, but I wanted to figure out their dexterity since they lack opposable feet-thumbs.

 

As usual, I love you attention to detail. @_@ I'm really appreciating the full-views and I can stare at those forever.

 

Edited by TehUltimateMage

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jellys of your skills

oops?

 

hhh yes! Assassin gal's finally here (should've guessed that fever wyvern would have been the breed)! <3 I now see what you mean by the batlike anatomy though I have one question: do wyverns usually use their feet for tasks -- such as putting on tail wraps and other clothing articles as well as fighting) that other dragons would use their front paws? I kind of assumed so from your Gowdali drawing, but I wanted to figure out their dexterity since they lack opposable feet-thumbs.

 

As usual, I love you attention to detail. @_@ I'm really appreciating the full-views and I can stare at those forever.

T'WAS SUCH THE OBVIOUS CHOICE

 

I envision wyverns having a similar level of dexterity as a raven, coupled with greater strength. Admittedly I cheat a little - and I do this on all dragons with three toed paws - by making the first digit closer to a thumb in terms of movement range (see Medeus). If I remember to, I usually draw it angled inwards slightly, unless they're putting excessive weight on it like Drilacy there. In a few other wyverns, such as Gowdali's case, he actually has a fairly developed dew claw to help him out. But while wyverns can manipulate objects very well, they're far more limited than other dragons. So they do absolutely require help when equipping themselves.

 

To put it simple, delicate work = no can do. Swinging a sword around = absolutely can do.

 

Well, good to know all that effort is being appreciated! =D I'll continue to provide those.

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what i imagine is that wyverns (and all my dragons) have kinda feet like chickens in the sense they have a back stabilizing toe and you can see this in my drawings, when the feet are up, they can uses those kinda like thumbs. i base this off my hand actually in the movements and positioning because i a many times have tested if it would stabilize and waddya know it helps me stabilize when im pretending to be a dragon

Edited by fangtail528

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I often use chicken feet as a starting point for quite a few of the dragon designs in my pet project! But IMO they cannot be compared to human hands. Chicken feet are anisodactyl, and that back toe completely lacks range of movement. It can only grasp pincer-style. Which is perfectly okay of course, for a bird that just needs to grip twigs, but not for my DC characters, who need to be able to handle objects very much like a human would!

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I often use chicken feet as a starting point for quite a few of the dragon designs in my pet project! But IMO they cannot be compared to human hands. Chicken feet are anisodactyl, and that back toe completely lacks range of movement. It can only grasp pincer-style. Which is perfectly okay of course, for a bird that just needs to grip twigs, but not for my DC characters, who need to be able to handle objects very much like a human would!

Honestly the only way I see a wyvern using a normal sword or sword-like weapon is by gripping it with it's mouth. Even if they could hold on to and swing a sword with their feet, it would make them horribly wobbly. Not a good quality to have if you want to fight properly.

 

One way I think swords could work for wyverns, is by modifying it to attach to the wing. Forgive me for putting my sketch on your thread, but I would think something like this. That way they could swing it around normally (sort of) without compromising their balance. Of course, I'm not as good at dragon anatomy or character design as you are, I'm terrible at both of those. But it's just something I thought of smile.gif

 

Edit: *Suddenly realises she forgot to draw the propatagium* Woops...eh, the straps that hold it onto the wing could just be adjusted I suppose...

Edited by GoldeenTrix

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YOUR AVATAR IM

 

My wyverns fight strictly in the air. It's a tactic to try and force a wyvern to the ground, where it absolutely does not want to be. Unsheathing is done with the mouth (convenient they have flexible necks, huh?) - if done on the ground, a wing's used to shield themselves before taking off, if done in the air it's basically a race to see who can get the first hit in. Once off the ground, the weapon's transferred to their dominant limb.

 

I have actually played around with the bladed wing idea before, but it's pretty much only for the earthbound. Once in the air, flight patterns takes priority and the blade'd be all but useless.

 

BUT that gave me the idea of something a flight-impaired wyvern could make use of, with a couple of tweaks! I should focus on it more now.

 

Speaking of unsheathing weapons, know how my dragons handle theirs? Unlike a human they can't reach across with their dominant arm, so they go for a reverse-grip unsheath on their non-dominant side, and simultaneously defensively swing and pass their weapon to their dominant side.

 

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YOUR AVATAR IM

 

My wyverns fight strictly in the air. It's a tactic to try and force a wyvern to the ground, where it absolutely does not want to be. Unsheathing is done with the mouth (convenient they have flexible necks, huh?) - if done on the ground, a wing's used to shield themselves before taking off, if done in the air it's basically a race to see who can get the first hit in. Once off the ground, the weapon's transferred to their dominant limb.

 

I have actually played around with the bladed wing idea before, but it's pretty much only for the earthbound. Once in the air, flight patterns takes priority and the blade'd be all but useless.

 

BUT that gave me the idea of something a flight-impaired wyvern could make use of, with a couple of tweaks! I should focus on it more now.

 

Speaking of unsheathing weapons, know how my dragons handle theirs? Unlike a human they can't reach across with their dominant arm, so they go for a reverse-grip unsheath on their non-dominant side, and simultaneously defensively swing and pass their weapon to their dominant side.

Oh! I was thinking of fighting on the ground more, since I have trouble picturing how swordfighting would go in the air. But the way you pictured it does sort of render wing blades obselete. Seriously, wow, so much thought is put into your designs it's insane. I hope I don't sound very stupid to you right now lol.

 

But, maybe instead of swinging it around in the air, it could be some sort of permanent attachment? A sharpened piece of armor if you will. Could be useful if one is above their opponent, a well placed dive bomb with the blade aimed at the tail could take it clean off. It could also rip up the wings pretty badly if aimed there, but I don't think diving directly at flapping wings is a good idea. So if used when aiming to the side of the wings would probably take off a chunk of wing membrane.

Edited by GoldeenTrix

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That's what I was thinking, as something like 'offensive defensive' =D I'm not sure if there'll be physical consequences, such as flight inhibition, but if not (or if they inconsequential) then ooooh boy have I got some designs to play around with! Just as well the three wyverns I have designed intentionally avoid armour (well, one you can't even get close enough to), so I've not been missing out on anything. Or maybe Gowdali used to have a pair, that he since removed for... personal reasons. You can't see all of his wings in my drawing, after all.

 

I'm telling you, I'm SO making a flightless wyvern that uses these.

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*Reads through topic*

*Squints at Lady Wyv*

Why do you not possess a Pooty?!

 

Also, since this is technically product placement I expect some compensation, Trix. XP

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*Reads through topic*

*Squints at Lady Wyv*

Why do you not possess a Pooty?!

 

Also, since this is technically product placement I expect some compensation, Trix. XP

She does Dorchadas, her Pooty is Castell, the forever salty flying fox tongue.gif

 

*Throws compensation at you*

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