Dragons are certainly among the most quintessential elements of the fantasy genre and their likenesses comprise one of the cornerstones of the art associated with it. A relatively new book, DragonArt: How to Draw Fantastic Dragons and Fantasy Creatures (Impact Books, 2005, ISBN 1581806574, 128 pages, $19.99), is both an enjoyable browse and a useful guide for anyone interested in creating their own dragons or other fantastic creatures with pencil and paper.

DragonArt is divided into three major parts, Fantastic Dragons, Unique Details, and Other Fantasy Creatures, along with an introduction, a section on how to use the book, and a brief guide to fantastic creatures.

Lessons in this book are progressive in nature, beginning with fundamentals and moving into increasingly advanced aspects of dragon design, all illustrated with step-by-step illustrations that are punctuated by helpful tips and tricks throughout. And author/artist Jessica “NeonDragon” Peffer has a clear, easy writing style that can be easily comprehended, absorbed, and acted upon, an example of which follows below.

“Okay, so we’re going to discuss the anatomy of a creature that exists nowhere but in our minds. Sounds kind of silly to say that something made from pure imagination does not look correct, but that will happen if your creature doesn’t look believable. To help make your dragon as real as possible, base its structure on real creatures,” she writes at one point (page 44). “The ideal dragon is likely a mix of cat, bird, and reptile body types. The trick is choosing which parts to keep and which ones to throw out. You want it to feel like a single creature.”

This advice, incidentally, is very reminiscent of that given by Leonardo Da Vinci in his notebooks for drawing creatures of this ilk, making Peffer well read or naturally very insightful, either of which speaks well for her. Under “How You Should Make an Imaginary Animal Look Natural,” the increasingly famous Renaissance man writes, “You know that you cannot invent animals without limbs, each of which, in itself, must resemble those of some other animal. Hence if you wish to make an animal, imagined by you, appear natural -- let us say a Dragon, take for its head that of a mastiff or hound, with the eyes of a cat, the ears of a porcupine, the nose of a greyhound, the brow of a lion, the temples of an old cock, the neck of a water tortoise.”

DragonArt also includes guidelines on drawing a number of other sorts of fantastic creatures, including basilisks, chimeras, gargoyles, and griffins.

For those interested in applying the guidelines presented in this book, a companion DragonArt Kit: How to Draw & Paint Fantastic Creatures that includes a compressed version of the book and some art supplies will also be available soon. Author Peffer is also the creator of the popular fantasy art Website NeonDragonArt.com, which can give anyone potentially interested in this book the opportunity to get a sense of the kinds of creatures they can learn to create themselves.