My fondness for these magnificent scaly creatures started after I got my first pet snake when I was five years old. I began to obsess over reptiles of all kinds, including geckos, monitors, crocodilians, etc. But my favorite were the mythical winged beasts known as dragons. I can’t explain exactly why something make-believe caught my eye, but my age may have had something to do with it.

When I was in second grade, I began drawing with pencil. I wasn’t very good, as I was only seven years old, but I was determined to have a career as an artist. By then, I had three pet snakes and began to base most of my drawings off of them, drawing serpent-like creatures with tons of pointy teeth and crescent shaped wings. A year or so down the road I was really interested in horses so I would practice drawing dragons with horse-like bodies, giving them four legs and a long neck with a horned head on top. Sometimes I would even draw them with hooves instead of claws. It was all a learning experience I went through to get to the point I’m at today.

The wings. The dreaded wings. They have never been my strong suit, which is why, as shown in this photo, I usually try to avoid drawing them, while still making the dragon’s body detailed and scaly. In my elementary school years, the wings were simple. They were half moons with lines on them, all splaying out from a central point on top. In middle school, they got a bit more complicated, but sometimes my dragons didn’t even have wings. I had to try out different styles right? The wings I did draw were bat-like, with a thumb or claw at the top part of the wing and webbed fingers attached at that point. I still draw them like that, just with more details and attention to shape.

By the time I was in middle school, I was hooked. Dragons had influenced my art so much, and they helped my skill and technique so much over the years. I began positioning them differently, adding decorations, making the heads and horns different shapes and sizes, drawing detailed claws instead of stumps, and shading. My love for dragons didn’t only influence my drawings, though. They influenced all of my art. I made clay dragons and painted them, I carved dragons out of foam, I helped make a dragon costume one Halloween, and I even made some digital dragon art.

I play at least three games where dragons are present, one of which is a Steam game based on the “How to Train Your Dragon” movies. It’s called School of Dragons, and I highly recommend it to any other dragon lovers out there.

Dragons and reptiles have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I don’t think they’ll be leaving any time soon.