Can you draw a dragon?

Give it a shot! The only requirement is to turn your blank page into something dragon-like.

Done?

Wonderful! Keep the drawing, it will be helpful at the end of the course.

Whether from a reference image or from memory, most people draw by copying a dragon.

The problem with copying

In copying, one reference == one drawing.
To make another drawing, you need another reference.

A chubby feathered dragon will require a chubby feathered reference, and a city scene will require a lamppost reference, a car reference, ...

Reference, reference, reference.

A solution

To escape this cycle, we have to find a pattern.
What do all dragons, spaceships and lampposts have in common?

What if I told you dragons and lampposts are made of the same thing?

Form

Form is what everything is made of.

Think of it as a sort of clay.
Like a sculptor turns marble into different sculptures or a chef turns dough into different pastries, you can push and pull on form, knead and twist it into any object imaginable.

The goal is not to replace your reference, but to use it more efficiently.
And yes, draw a few dragons along the way.

Summary

• There are two main approaches to drawing
  • Observational - Draw the object directly
  • Constructive - Draw the object's form (also called "analytical" drawing)
• All real world objects have form and...
  ...Drawing forms is easier than drawing objects.