Mighty, Majestic Dragons

Dragons have always held a strange fascination for me. Of all the mighty, majestic, magical, mythological creatures, dragons are my favourite. If there's a book about dragons in our library, chances are that I have read it.

Recently, Charlotte borrowed a book on drawing dragons and other mythological creatures from the library. After eagerly reading it, she declared that I had to read it, it was just so good. So, I picked up the book and buried my head in it.

Although I am definitely not an artist, I like to read drawing books. This one reached out and grabbed me, filling my head with images of the dragons I could create, would create. I was hooked. By the time I reached the last page I knew that I had to at least attempt a picture.

I grabbed the book, a blank sheet of paper, and my pencil, and settled down for an evening of drawing. Carefully I sketched the simple shapes that made up the body. Then I rubbed them out and drew them again. They still weren't right. Several sheets of paper later, I had had enough.

"I told you I can't draw," I told Charlotte crossly. She was sitting nearby, blissfully creating a hairy dragon of her own. It was so infuriating to see her so easily drawing on her own what I couldn't even draw with a step by step instruction book.

I threw my failed pictures out and vowed never to try drawing dragons again. But I reckoned without Charlotte.
"You should really try drawing another dragon," she encouraged me. "You could design all the separate parts before you try drawing the whole dragon."

"Maybe I'll try," I said uncertainly. She fetched me a fresh, clean sheet of paper. I sat at my desk with a sharp pencil in my hand and tried to decide what I would draw. After much thought, and even more flicking through the book for inspiration, I finally decided to draw a dragon's head in 3/4 view. Five minutes later it was a profile shot.

All through the afternoon I worked on my dragon, and on into the evening. Finally, it was finished. The best dragon's head I had ever drawn (not to mention the only one) was sitting in front of me, coloured and all.

I know I will never be an artist. I'm not sure I really want to be. Writing is more my thing. But I do know that if I persevere, I can actually draw something that looks almost right, even if a trained artist might faint at the sight of my picture.