Eldritch book, from sketch to finished product

I started out with a sketch in my notebook which turned out like this.

 

Thinking that it looked rather cool, I decided to scan it and rework it digitally in GIMP. 

I think the end product became rather satisfying.

 

In Eldritch Russia, book reads you.

 

Wizard castle in the mountains

My sister wanted a landscape picture for her birthday. So I drew her a castle in the mountains.

Muzafr drawing step by step

Here is a step by step post on how I made the dragon drawing. 

I used GIMP as a program. A lot of layers were used to make this image so this is a bit simplified.

 Step 1: 

Sketch out the idea with the things needed for the image. 

In this case the idea was: "Dragon on hill having defeated helicopter".

Drawing out limbs and joints.

I used a large airbrush to make this.

Step 2: 

Create a new layer and draw on top of the sketch.

 This time I used a smaller airbrush

Spent a lot more time focusing on anatomy this time.

 

Step 3:

A third layer, this using a pencil with a small size in an attempt to make it as clear as possible.

Step 4:

Add color. Be careful when using paint bucket.

 Step 5:

Copy the layer and make the new one all gray. 

Then you can go ahead and add shadow and light.

 Step 6:

I used shadow and light in two different layers, 

but here they are combined.

 Step 7:

Use the grayscale layer as overlay and see how it affects the color layer.

 Step 8:

Add background shadows and details.

 Step 9:

For the background I had several layers.

1. Create a gradient with blue/teal to create a background sky.

2. Airbrush with a white/gray color to make clouds.

3. A third layer to make the hill the dragon is standing on.

4. Magic marker the hill and use one of the special (clouds, grass, spots) brushes on a low opacity to get a sandy texture.

5. Add shadows and wreckage.

6. Add the sand that comes when the dragon flaps its wings.  Remember that sand in the air creates shade on the ground.

There you go guys. The steps for making a dragon on a hill picture.

Muzafredin, desert dragon

Originally I had planned to show a battle between a dragon and an apache helicopter, but the aftermath was a bit easier to imagine.

The character is Muzafredin and belongs to Twilightsaint.

A drawing for this contest:
http://twilightsaint.deviantart.com/journal/Draw-Muzafr-Contest-OPEN-Update-357679560

These tutorials were quite useful:
Scales:
http://twilightsaint.deviantart.com/art/Tutorial-Scales-Made-Simple-357777924?q=gallery%3Atwilightsaint%2F5183095&qo=0

Feet:
http://twilightsaint.deviantart.com/art/Tutorial-DRAGON-FEET-144306360?q=gallery%3Atwilightsaint%2F5183095&qo=2

General dragon anatomy.
http://kyriadori.deviantart.com/art/Dragon-Anatomy-RefSheet-v-02-142772030