Today, I am sharing a bit more about my painting process and taking you along on a fun, whimsical painting of a lovely dragon. I enjoy my daily art practice, but lately I have been challenging myself to paint things that are a bit outside of my comfort zone of flowers and serene landscapes. Over the past few weeks, I painted several food items, from sourdough bread and baguettes to a strawberry jam jar and pancakes. I ended up creating a lovely mini collection of pattern designs that is perfect for quilting fabric and lots of homeware products.
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However, in today’s short DIY, I show you how to paint a whimsical dragon. I am using my sketchbook and some of my favorite gouache paint.
I am using the ShinHan Professional Gouache paint. I love the consistency, the vibrancy of the colors, and how easy it is to blend colors. It is probably becoming my favorite professional-grade gouache paint to use, not only for how wonderful it is to use but also because of its affordability compared to other professional-grade brands.
I really like this brand of gouache paint and will be using it more often in my artwork.
For a fun painting afternoon, gather your materials, and let’s paint a whimsical dragon.
Materials used:
- Gouache Paint – I am using the ShinHan Professional Grade Gouache Paint
- Palette – I am using a small square ceramic plate I purchased at World Market
- Your Favorite Brushes – I love using the Princeton Velvetouch brushes
- Watercolor Paper or your favorite sketchbook – I have this Canson XL brand at hand, but decided to use my sketchbook for this lovely whimsical golden dragon
The goal is not to be perfect, but to explore the colors, experiment with the design, and create something special. I am really well outside of my comfort zone, but I am super excited to paint more whimsical paintings and things that stretch me and help me grow as an artist.
Start by creating a simple sketch. A few lines to place key markers. I decided to keep it simple and paint only the face and some scales.
How to paint a whimsical dragon in your sketchbook
Paint the background. I decided to use some of my favorite blues, such as turquoise blue and sky blue, for the background. It may look like the dragon is in the ocean, but you can use greens if you prefer to put the dragon in a forest-type context.
Paint the first layer of the dragon using lemon yellow, permanent yellow, and permanent orange. Keep in mind areas of shadow and highlights.
Paint the eye, the nostril, and add shadow areas to define the face and neck of the whimsical dragon.
Add deeper shadows, highlights, and some scales to add more texture to the painting.
I decided to deepen the blue color in the background to bring the face forward just a bit more.
Finish by removing the tape if you decided to use it, and date and sign your artwork.
I hope you have a wonderful time painting this lovely, whimsical dragon. I know I had. I think she will look beautiful in a kids’ storybook. While I was painting this dragon, my mind was going everywhere with ideas to create her story in a short book. I’d better go write down all these ideas before I forget! Thank you so much for spending time following this short painting tutorial. I hope you have a lovely painting session. Stay creative!
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