question: How do you do a dragon gliding/flying?
(Like, hovering midair)
asked by: @amsthedefeater

so sorry for the late reply!

pop quiz time!
when you're drawing anything flying, what's the thing that'll attract your attention most?
the wings.
which of these look most realistic, ignoring art style?

(all from pinterest)
for me, it's a tie between the second and third. why? because they have elements of gravity and they flow. for me, the first dragon doesn't look realistic at all because it 1) doesn't flow and isn't aerodynamic 2) the wings don't look like they could support the body. for a creature as big as a dragon (even if it was the size of a cat!) it would need GIGANTIC wings!
this is a realistic pegasus:

(from The Science of Creature design by terryl whitlatch)
i mean, look at that! it's huge! and that's only a horse!
but for the sake of simplicity, i give my dragons wings a bit smaller than that, because that large of wings kinda looks a bit ridiculous :)

another important thing to think about when you're drawing anything is to add weight.
like in the comic chapter, adding weight to your dragon will make it much better!

start with a simple sketch to figure out your position:

then open another layer and start drawing the lineart (or the other sketch for me)

don't worry about the wings just yet. for now just make sure the body's position makes sense:

then open a new layer and start drawing the wings:

next, you can erase the parts of the body that the wings cover up, and if you want, you can add a faint outline of the bits you just erased.
you can also rethink your position a bit if it's confusing to look at. (i erased the left foot peeking out from under the wing- it was bugging me. this one was easy to fix, bc the leg could easily be tucked under the wing more.)
also, add any other body parts that you haven't already (for me it's the spines- i don't usually include those in my initial sketch)

shade it (if you shade at this stage)

add any accessories:

and you're all ready to color!

and there ya have it- a flying dragoon!

hope this helped,
- brie