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Paperiapina — Dragon design bits UPDATED
Published: 2012-03-15 20:34:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 16827; Favourites: 588; Downloads: 140
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Description
Okay, I'm uploading this mainly because of completely personal reasons. You know, dragons are usually seen as six limbed monsters, they have two sets of front limbs, one of them being the wings, and the average hind limbs. For at least few years it has been my personal goal to figure out how to design a dragon that would use the hind limbs instead for the purpose of flying.So, for me personally, this kind of feels like a conquer. Like my creature design skills just took a level in badass.
Umh, I'm just gonna roll in this feeling for a while in this corner here. Just a little while. Just until this gets awkward.
(I kind of want to make a character out of this now.)
Kind of inspired by a real life prehistoric creature named Sharovipteryx (because real nature always knows how to go neener neener on me). I just made it a power flyer dragon instead of a glider.
EDIT:
Added another paper. Some fine tuning with the design since yesterday. Also seems like it mysteriously spawned itself a commentary, in Papermonkey style.
Stiff spine with virtually non-bendable torso. Tail bendable, but not prehensile (horizontal movement easier than vertical). Haven't decided on size yet, but will not be bigger than an average horse. Most probably not even that.
EDIT2: 20.3.
Continuing with two new pages worth of scribbles. The head was rather challenging to design, can you tell? I think I like it now. Just need to learn to draw it. (The horns are for display, not for poking others. They are probably brightly colored.)
FAAAAAAACE!
Looks like I'm dumping here the entire design process. Umh, bear with me?
EDIT3: 25.3.
Two new pages worth of ponderings! Stuff like feet (or hands, actually, as all the walking limbs are technically arms), body covering and other random.
I actually also tried to put together a scientific-ish name for the thing. It's hereby Alapes scarabaeos. Or actually Älapës scarabaeös, the umlauted letters are held longer when pronounced. It is kind of blocky, as far as I understand, but it should mean something like "beetle-faced footwing". (All Latin, äla=wing, pës=foot, scarabae|us=beetle, ös=face) Just browsed my dictionary and sticked together words -without bending them- that made some sense and didn't make terrible pronouncing monsters. I mean, just try to stick "scarabaeus" together with something like "caput" (head) and make it sound like a single word. (Psst, if anyone knows how to mash together the Latin name properly, I do appreciate help if any of you knows better. In case I failed hard.)
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Comments: 181
whats with the weird space in between the tail and hind legs
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the wings are made of what we would consider the hind quarters. the hind "legs" are actually a second set of arms/front paws. the space is there because the wings go up, not down.
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hm.. that's something I'll have to go research. thanks
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Sweet, you designed a foot wing that was neither like Microraptor's nor Sharoviptreryx's but still made it work!
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This is really awesome.
I've tried a (tetrapod) hind-leg-flier if you will, inspired by the silly-looking Sharovipteryx, but no matter how I tried, I could find no way to make them fly with their hind limbs, hold up the front body properly, and be able to be ridden (so you can sit there and even attach a saddle), at the same time.
But you seem to have actually solved it. 
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I totally have to agree. O_O
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I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. The process of designing a creature I never imagined to be so complicated. You put so much thought and creativity into this species, and the end result is just PHENOMENAL. I adore the wings and the anatomy. Great idea for the head design too! Wonderful work!
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Wow, your work is really detailed. Thanks for showing your progression!
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OMG! I just realized something! If what you say about the 'hind legs' being arms and thus the wings being the real hind legs then when it catches it's prey from the air what it's doing is giving it a struggle snuggle!
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Actually I hadn't realized it myself before, but it sure is hilarious!
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Omg Paper M this is soooo cute I love your little character, me and my buddy were "awww"ing over this. xD
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Fluffy =] Makes sense, though probably still restricted from real cold regions because of the wings, large skin surface area = high heat loss. This is what limits bat distribution. Birds cheat because feathers which make up the wing aren't flesh and thus don't transmit or lose heat so much. Possibly avoidable by internal physiological systems, such as blood flow control. At least the have an insulating covering which bats don't.
Hollow 'hairs', like a polar bear, might offer superior insulation to normal fur. May be too efficient in any but the coldest climates though, polar bears do run risk of overheating. That might be because of other reasons though, as well as the bears having multiple thickness layers. Also, hollow means they would weigh less, which is pretty important. Apparently on flying birds, the feathers can total a mass greater than the skeleton!
Alternatively, maybe a single hair with smaller extensions, like a very simplified feather? That structure could then mean you have less total hairs, as the additional strands on each make up for it.
Don't know much about ptero-fuzz, but they flew, so maybe simpler fur will do fine. The climate was warmer back then though, so...?
Colour probably environment dependent, for raptors usually brownish, I suspect to camouflage nesting birds. Colour unlikely to make any difference while flying; even pale birds appear conspicuously black from underneath in the sky. Raptors tend to orientate themselves under the sun directly above prey so they are harder to see that way, but colour seems unimportant. So the colour only matters therefore for display or hiding nesting birds.
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haha 8D ihana toi vika piirros... dunno ;u; .. 
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I had this idea for a second that you were looking at a "real" dinosaur while drawing this.. It seems very possible for a thing like such to have lived!
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Nautin aina suuresti pienestä komediasta jonka liität tähän
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Oh my, that skull looks positively fabulous.
Loving this design!
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Fluff happened 
On kans hienoa, että saat tästä hauskan ja mielenkiintoisen samaan aikaan! 
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D'aww, he's cute. :3 The design is cool too, kind of want to try drawing it. Just to play around of course.
I think proto feathers are a good idea. Of course, depending on the environment they live in and how the foliage changes during the seasons should determine how camo works. Since males have the large horns, maybe they should be brightly coloured when they seek out a mate. Of course, a colourful plumage along the cheeks they can display might be interesting too. Since males are armed with the horns, maybe the females can have a pattern on the underside of their wings they can use to warn others of danger (if they live in groups) or scare off any threats. Just a thought.
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I vote for proto feathers, and maybe some display plumage or some nifty patterns ^^ if they are smaller animals perhaps a camo pattern, like butterflies with the false eyes
Just some more ideas to spin in your dizzy imagination. LOVES
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Impressive. Important to get the important details first, right?
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Maybe they should be grey! That'd suit them
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Oo! Question! What is their intelligence level? Purely animal, or more sentient?
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I love the process... but... in the third panel... you added the hexapod structure again. Was this on purpose or a matter of habit? Either way, I love how you bring originality into every facet of the design.
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I've been wondering, are you self-tought? All your drawings seem perfect when i looks at them, beautiful work. I love when artists put lots of effort in their drawings.
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And yet, something tells me that some dragon somewhere is going to use those horns for poking someone.
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Tosi jännä miten pystyt luomaan niin järkeviä olentoja omalla päälläsi. xD Itellä kestäis varmaan ihan sairaan pitkään.
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I'm amazed at how well you approach creature designing! I mean holy hell, you actually try to make the anatomy practical, possible, and efficient. Most people are just like "okay I'll just stick an extra pair of arms here, some horns here, seven eyes here... ok looks cool, guess I'm done". You actually put intelligence into your designs, and think of things like balance, structure, the creatures diet, I mean jeebus. I am so jelly right now.
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why are you so cool?! exhibits = inspiration = awesome sketching!
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This is so inspiring! I love observing your process! It's fascinating to me ^^
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I cannot even begin to decribe how much I love your progression through the stages of this creature. It's so much fun to watch and see how much time you put into making him. He's really really cool! If I could favorite each stage, I would most certainly do so.
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It's awesome ^^, reminds me somewhat of a wasp or dragonfly in the body shape.
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This is a magnificent design, and I'm loving every bit of it!
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i dont think ive ever known someone to put as much thought into designs as i do o.o i am greatly impressed by this.
atm im trying to make an vulture necked oppurtunistic acid spitter
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