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Tim Ferguson's KJC Chopper
The Classic How-Tos: Fire Dragon | Snakes, Skulls and Tears | Topless Party | Mr. Wizard

FIRE DRAGON Follow the development of a mural of a fire breathing dragon!
Layout and Composition
	The first step is to layout the design. This picture barely shows the design but also emphasizes that the layout is done very lightly so that the pencil lines do not interfere as I develop the artwork. For this particular mural, I had some things floating around in my head and did not use any references.
	Once the design is sketched out, I start with white. It is helpful to use the white as a sort of rough guide as well. Allow the pencil lines to be covered. It isn't necessary at this point to be committed to the pencil layout , but you need to have the design worked out in this stage to avoid making a muddy mess later on down the road.
	Here is what the design will look like with all the values of the white in place. Note how the white is very intense in the areas of focus; such as the flames coming out of the mouth and the sky. This provides contrast between the dragon and the background. The design here is something that I dreamed up in my head. I love doing designs for customers when I am given a lot of artistic freedom. There really aren't any references other than what my evil little mind will provide for me.
	I usually work with yellow as my first color. I have a habit of working from light to dark, then at the very end I will come back into the mural with some white to accentuate the brightest of the highlights. The yellow is relatively thin, allowing the white to do most of the contrast work.

The Color
	At this point the yellow is finished and I am getting ready to move onto the next color. Notice how the relative contrast has not changed from the "white stage." The yellow added color, but did not change the effects set by the white.
	The red is ready to rock and roll. I am using some loose hand masks that I cut out of spray out cards. Spray cards are handy for several reasons. They are readily available and the stiffness of these cards is perfect. Also, the paper used to make spray out cards is treated, so paint will not affect the stiffness of the card. This allows you to use the card over and over for different designs. As time moves on, you will have a collection of handy shapes for different types of designs.
	In this picture, most of the red has been sprayed. I use the red lightly in the skulls to give them the natural weathered look that skulls tend to have after being stepped on by fire breathing dragons. The sky takes on a deep red emphasizing contrast to the soon to be green toned dragon. Frank Frazetta is the master of this technique. Anyone not familiar with Frank's work should be. He is a god in my book.
	I have taken a washed down, transparent blue, and carefully gone over the yellows to produce a greenish tone in the Dragon. I have used the blue to enhance the shadows of the Dragon (primarily the wings and the belly area) to help get the volume of the shape down. Later the black will be applied to some of these same areas, but the blue adds a nice effect.

More Color and Black
	Now I am getting into the foreground with the Black. In this stage I use the heavier of the 2 black bottles to get the contrast into the immediate foreground. Then I go back over it with the washed out black to make the gradual changes that I am looking for.
	Again, the masks are handy to keep the black from contaminating the areas of color that you do not wish to make muddy.
	I am now approaching the final steps to complete the mural. Notice how the points of focus still hold their relative contrast in relationship to the rest of the design. This needs to beyour main objective when applying the white in the very beginning. The white should tell most of the story. I spend most of my time with the white and black bottles. Here you can see what a small amount of white is put back into the design. Just enough to create the impact.
	Just about wrapped up. I am using yellow to go back over the design, since most of the light source is provided by the fire itself. Highlights are done with great care to avoid making a everything a yellow mess.