You might remember the leopard dragon I created last spring. It was the first time I had relied on a painted pattern to convey the majority of the design of a dragon. I had so much fun painting up the pattern, I knew I wanted to revisit it again in the future, this time as a pastel rainbow. It kinda reminds me of the Lisa Frank items I had growing up, only on a softer level. If bright colors (or the more traditional ones) are more your style, feel free to sub in paint colors as needed.
When it comes to painting, I can get by with basic blocks of color that aren’t too detailed. This is part of the reason I wanted to take on the leopard dragon. It would challenge me to paint extremely small lines. You do not need to be a pro with paint to create this look. I know I’m certainly not!
Supplies:
- The surface you want to paint (could pretty much be anything); I’m using polymer clay.
- Acrylic paint for the leopard spots in colors of your choosing. I mixed mine to be pastel.
- Acrylic paint in a dark accent color for the lines around the spots. I decided to use a metallic silver to 1) be a little less harsh against my white background and pastel spots, and 2) to create a bit of extra fun. We’re already painting rainbow spots, so why not add some metallic shine??
- Some kind of container to hold your paints. If you’re using paint straight out of the bottle, the lids make great containers!
- A teeny tiny brush. I wasn’t satisfied with a detailing brush until I found this brush (round, 12/0). I use it all the time.
- A sealant to protect the paint. I’m using water-based polyurethane for my polymer clay (not shown).
Step 1: Lay down the spots
I recommend looking at reference photos of leopards to help with the pattern. The spot part of the pattern is kind of an oval blob with varying shapes. It’s hard to describe, but essentially that’s the shape I paint. The video below will give a better idea.
Since I’m doing several colors, I decided I was going to lay down one color at a time so I didn’t have a bunch of mixed paint sitting in my palette drying up. I started with my pastel red and worked my way through the rainbow one color at a time.
If I need to, when I’m finished I will mix up some more paint (or if my palette isn’t dry, take from that) to fill in the gaps. I want to be mindful that I will have 5 other colors also needing space on my surface.
These spots are a combination of thick “u” or “c” shapes, a rounded diamond shape, and other splotchy shapes I felt like painting.
Disregard where I paint the foot. I got lost in finding places to put spots that I forgot my reference images usually show that spots start tapering off down the legs and up the neck into the face. Instead they turn into spots without the central color (in my case, silver). I’ll show that further down the tutorial.
Tip: I don’t know about you, but I didn’t know for the longest time that people recommend mixing a tiny bit of water in with your acrylics to help thin them out a bit. At some point I ended up doing this on my own but always felt like I was making a mistake or wasn’t good at handling my paint for needing water. You don’t want to use too much, but it can help if you see your paint is creating mounds on your surface.
Step 2: Let it dry
Once you’re happy with your spots, you’ll want to let the paint dry. Acrylic doesn’t take long to dry, but it will need to be completely dry for the next part. I’d leave it for an hour or so, but you can always check to see if the paint is still wet.
Step 3: Time to outline
Now you’re ready for your darker accent color. If you go back to your reference photos, you can see the outline doesn’t usually completely close around the spot. I decide to outline each spot with either one segment, two segments, or three segments (with the third segment usually resembling a dot). The most popular outline I paint is usually two segments, but that’s because I like how that one looks. Experiment and decide which one you like best :).
Painted spot with single segment
A painted spot with 2 segments
Painted spot with 3 segments
I alternate between these variations until all of my spots are outlined!
Step 4: Let it dry
Once again we need to make sure the paint dries all the way so that we don’t smear it in the next step.
Step 5: Add the tapering spots
You’ll notices I only put these spots on the tops of the thighs, up the neck (not on the head), and on the shoulders/upper arms of my dragon. I also kept them away from the underside of the dragon.
Instead of the rainbow spots, they transition into silver spots. This is done easily by starting to paint smaller spots either in line or below the rainbow spots, working down the leg. I will do a few of these before I start sizing them down again into groups of tiny dots.
For the face, I alternate between the smaller shapes and dots to cover the face, although they are not as tightly packed as the body spots.
Step 6: Seal your paint
When adding to the surface of your clay, whether it’s powder or paint, I highly recommended you seal your piece with glaze to help prevent your hard work from scratching or wearing off. If you’re working on another surface, it would also be best to seal as appropriate. I can’t speak for other mediums, so make sure to research online!
It’s as easy as that! A complicated looking pattern broken down into two processes, the spots and the outline. It makes me want to cover EVERYTHING with leopard print.
Here’s the finished dragon I created with this most recent round of leopard print. I am in love with how the silver looks against the background and the spots.
