J “NeonDragon” Peffer CINCINNATI, OHIO www.impact-books.com ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 11 55//11//0077 1111::2288::4488 AAMM ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 22 55//11//0077 1111::2299::1122 AAMM Fantastic Beings Incredible Creatures How to Draw and J “NeonDragon” Peffer ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 33 55//11//0077 1111::3300::2200 AAMM ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jessica “NeonDragon” Peffer graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design in 2005 with a degree in illustration. She is currently working as an illustrator and enjoys being able to draw dragons ripping people’s heads off for a living. This is her second book. DragonArt Fantasy Characters. Copyright © 2007 by Jessica Peffer. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by IMPACT Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition. Other fi ne IMPACT Books are available from your local bookstore, 4 art supply store or direct from the publisher. www.fwbookstore.com 11 10 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 1 Distributed in Canada by Fraser Direct 100 Armstrong Avenue Georgetown, ON, Canada L7G 5S4 Tel: (905) 877-4411 Distributed in the U.K. and Europe by David & Charles Brunel House, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 4PU, England Tel: (+44) 1626 323200, Fax: (+44) 1626 323319 Email: [email protected] Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link P.O. Box 704, S. Windsor NSW, 2756 Australia Tel: (02) 4577-3555 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peffer, Jessica. METRIC CONVERSION CHART Dragonart Fantasy Characters: How to Draw Fantastic Beings and Incredible Creatures / Jessica Peffer. -- 1st ed. p. cm. TO CONVERT TO MULTIPLY BY ISBN-10: 1-58180-852-6 ISBN-13: 978-1-58180-852-0 (pbk.) INCHES CENTIMETERS 2.54 ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-370-8 (EPUB) CENTIMETERS INCHES 0.4 1. Fantasy in art. 2. Drawing--Technique. I. Title. FEET CENTIMETERS 30.5 NC825.F25P44 2007 743’.87--d c22 2007001838 CENTIMETERS FEET 0.03 YARDS METERS 0.9 EDITED BY Kelly C. Messerly & Mary Burzlaff METERS YARDS 1.1 DESIGNED BY Jennifer Hoffman PRODUCTION COORDINATED BY Jennifer W. Menner & Matt Wagner ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 44 55//1155//0077 44::5511::5511 PPMM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’d like to use this 6" × 3" (15cm × 8cm) block of text to thank my family for all of their love, support and the bountiful supply of Coca-Cola. (This includes my two sisters, Megan and Shauna, who I forgot to mention in DragonArt. There! You happy now?) Many thanks go out to my editor, Kelly Messerly, for making me sound like I might have some vague idea what I’m talking about, and to Jennifer Hoffman, for making the chaos of illustrations I threw at her into the neat, orderly glory you see before you. 5 ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 55 55//11//0077 1111::3322::2277 AAMM Table of Contents Introduction 8 › ‹ How to Use This Book 10 › ‹ PART ONE THINGS PREFACE DRAWING OF FAIRY 6 HUMANS TALE 12 32 › ‹ › ‹ Even though you can draw fantasy creatures Fairy tales and folklore infl uence our however you wish, it helps to know how to literature, movies and games. It’s easy draw basic human forms so that the human to be infl uenced by these rich tradi- aspects of your creatures look believable. tions, but anything’s possible if you can Discover the basic techniques for mastering imagine it. Draw sprites fl itting near a the human parts of your fantasy races. magical pond or a hip, urban fairy. ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 66 55//11//0077 1111::3333::0066 AAMM PART TWO THINGS PART THREE OF THINGS PART FOUR 7 LEGEND THAT FASHION 62 › ‹ GO BUMP CENTRAL 106 IN THE › ‹ Myths and legends are epic tales mingled with histories full of exciting creatures. NIGHT Drawing on these legends is a great You can tell a story without having 86 way to fi ll out your fantasy universe. › ‹ to use any words at all. Costuming is a fantastic tool that will enable you to make your visual stories all that more interesting, and your fantasy Fantasy isn’t all fairies and dragons, and world all the more diverse! not all myths and legends have happy endings. Learn how to draw that some- thing that’s quietly lurking in the corner, in your closet or under your bed. Index 126 › ‹ ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 77 55//11//0077 1111::3344::2255 AAMM Introduction Fantasy is one of the most exciting genres to draw for. There are no rules and anything is possible. You can stick to the established conventions already out there, or let your imagination run wild. Fantasy worlds aren’t just populated with sensational monsters. They’re full of equally fantastical races of people. Heroes, villains, and the everyday person can be anything and everything you can imagine. Your fantasy world can be a realm of medieval mayhem, 8 wayward peasants fi ghting evil sorcerers to save that elusive princess. Maybe you don’t want to stick to a preestablished convention; your fantasy world could be a mix of modern technology and magical creatures. Maybe your world is full of bits and pieces of several different myths, combined with something uniquely your own. With all the variety in characters, costumes, monsters and environments, fantasy is a genre that can keep you interested with enough new and exciting things to imagine and create for a lifetime! ZZ00005555 ii 11--1111 FFRRNNTTMMTTRR..iinndddd 88 55//11//0077 1111::3344::5544 AAMM