For clarity’s sake, in this series I will explain how I draw each part separately. In reality, the entire image is drawn step by step, and as a result, several parts and layers other than the explained parts may be explained out of order.

 

[1] Drawing the neck

(1) Same as the head, the neck is drawn with the [Oil paint flat brush] in the [Brush] tools.

As the neck changes its direction by curving, the neck’s lighting must be adjusted accordingly: the outer parts lighter, the inner parts darker, and so on.

 

(2) While the shading now looks more dynamic, the neck’s form is still a bit dull. To add more contrast, I emphasize the neck muscles.

To better contrast the materials of the organic skin and mechanic parts, details such as scales are crucial.

 

[2] Drawing the arm

(1) As the arm is the most noticeable feature after the head, I add a lot of contrast.

As with other parts, I used the [Oil paint flat brush] sub tool as the main brush. However, as the arm has many mechanical parts, I blended the smooth metallic surface with the [Hard] and [Soft] sub tools of the [Airbrush] tool.

 

(2) While drawing, I decided to change the arm’s pose as I felt it was uninspired.

Corrections don’t take much time as long as they’re done before adding details. When you find a better direction for a piece, don’t hesitate to change it on the fly.

 

(3)I divided the arm from the current layer to make editing easier.

The arm is selected with the [Marquee] tool → [Lasso] sub tool. The selected area is then copied & pasted using the [Edit] menu → [Copy] (shortcut: [Ctrl]+[C]) and [Edit] menu →[Paste] (shortcut: [Ctrl]+[V]). A new layer with the same data is created directly above the current one.

 

I painted a new rough sketch of the claw holding a truck.

 

[POINT]

When erasing unnecessary parts from layers, a drawing tool with [Transparent color] can also be used instead of the [Eraser] tool.

[Transparent color] can be selected from the [Color icon] at the bottom of the [Tool] palette, or switched to by pressing [C] when using a drawing tool.

 

(5) The shape is cleaned up and details are added. I added a crushed truck to the hand to express the dragon’s massive power.

 

(6) While drawing the truck, I added some details to the arm.

 

(7) To make the arm stand out, I increased the contrast by adding [Glow dodge] blending mode layers, which lighten colors that overlap with the colors below.

 

(8) Reflections of the surrounding environment are drawn in with the [Airbrush] tools, and the arm is finished.

 

[3] Drawing the torso

The torso is drawn with the same steps as the neck.

The scaly parts are drawn to appear rough, and the mechanical parts are drawn while being careful of the surrounding reflections.

 

With this, the head, neck, arm, and torso of the main monster are almost finished.

The next lesson will cover the legs, the tail and the wings.