So, I got this idea to make something cool for the “Rooster in the Year of the Dragon 2024” theme. I’m not a professional artist or anything, but I enjoy messing around with creative stuff.
First, I brainstormed. What did I even want to make? A painting? A digital drawing? A sculpture? I spent a good hour just scribbling down random ideas and looking at pictures of roosters and dragons online.
Getting Started
I decided to go with a digital drawing because, well, I don’t have a lot of art supplies lying around. I opened up the drawing program I usually use – it’s nothing fancy, just something simple I downloaded for free.
- I started with a basic sketch of a rooster. Just the general shape, you know? I’m not great at drawing from memory, so I had a reference photo pulled up on my phone.
- Then, I added some dragon elements. I thought about giving it fiery wings, or maybe some scales. I went with scales because, honestly, drawing fire seemed too hard.
- I played around with the colors. Roosters are usually pretty colorful, right? Reds, oranges, yellows. And then I added some greens and blues for the dragon scales, trying to make them look kinda iridescent.
Roadblocks and Fixes
It wasn’t smooth sailing. I messed up the proportions a bunch of times. The head was too big, then the legs were too short. I kept erasing and redrawing parts until it looked… okay. It definitely wasn’t perfect, but hey, I was learning!
Finishing Touches
After I was mostly happy with the drawing, I added a simple background. Just a gradient of colors, nothing too distracting. I played with some filters to make the colors pop a little more. And then, I called it done!
It’s not going to win any awards, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I learned a lot about working with the drawing program, and I pushed myself to try something new. Most importantly, I had fun doing it! Maybe next year I’ll try making a 3D model.
