Designing Dragons: An artist's guide to the legendary mythical creatures
By (Author) 3dtotal Publishing
Introduction by Stephen Oakley
Introduction by Alexander Ostrowski
3DTotal Publishing Ltd
3DTotal Publishing Ltd
10th September 2025
12th June 2025
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
Digital, video and new media arts
Fantasy
Paperback
288
Width 215mm, Height 279mm
Let your imagination take wing with Designing Dragons
, the must-have guide to bringing mythology's most iconic beast to life.
The brand-new artwork inside is created primarily with digital art software, such as Procreate, Photoshop, and Clip Studio Paint, with some traditional methods used for the early steps.
The in-depth introduction is written jointly by Stephen Oakley, Senior Concept Artist at Naughty Dog and designer of monsters for the award-winning God of War games, and Alexander Ostrowki, whose clients include game studios such as Wizards of the Coast. These two expert artists discuss the history and anatomy of the dragon, the techniques to create the colours and textures of these mighty creatures, and how to turn real-world inspiration into eye-catching fantasy. You will then find thirteen epic design projects to pore over, with professional artists taking a defined dragon from mythology, such as Hydra, Lindworm, Wyvern, and Jaculus, and sharing a step-by-step creative process as they transform it into a brand-new representation.
This is the ultimate dragon-design book for artists of any skill level and fantasy fans of all ages.
Stephen Oakley is a Senior Concept Artist at game-development studio Naughty Dog (Sony), working on games such as the hugely popular God of War Ragnarok. In 2023 he won an award for 'Excellence In Creature Concept Art' in the video-game category at the 2023 Concept Art Association Awards. He has over 63.1K followers on Instagram.
Alexander Ostrowski is a concept artist and illustrator from Germany, who specializes in creature design for the entertainment industry. His clients include respected IP developers SIXMOREVODKA and West Studio, and game studios including Eidos Montreal and Wizards of the Coast.