Chinese new years dragon/lion - wtf? how the heck!

So I'm doing a Lunar new years festival and the organizer wants an example of the Chinese silk dragon/lion - he doesn't want a regular dragon - but a silk dragon..... here's a pic


my issue is how the heck do I do that??!
I've tried prolly 20 times and they all look horrid... they look more like a goblin or a weird lizard creature.... I honestly thought it would be easier because of all the colors... but dang!

does anyone happen to have an example of this type of design?

HELP!

hi,
This picture is not good. I'd be searching the internet for an image that has a square front on shot of it's face, and a side on shot.
The side on shot would be a good way to go.... you could have the 'body' of the dragon going down the cheek or up across the forhead with all the kids feet underneath.
If I get some time today i'll try and rough it out.
Are you painting this design for them on yourself??
Have you tried drawing it out on paper first?
Tash

yeah - I tried it on paper too, which didn't translate into face painting - from the side it looks really weird - that's why I was trying from the front.

It's for them - they said they wanted the silk dragon ( there is a dragon dance at the festival ) and the funny big-headed baby ( which was easy - it just looked like monkey really )

I honestly dont see kids asking for these but that's what the event cordinator is asking for.

I'll try to post a pic of what i'm doing to let you see

I saw one on the snazaroo gallery... Will have to try and find it.

Here it is. Looks past my level, but you might be able to do something with it.

goodness - there is no way i'm doing that!

okay I will do another one on my hand and show you my thought process - maybe that would help - maybe it's not as bad as i'm making it out to be...

Christina Davidson has a really cool one on her website. Maybe you can add some tweaks to make it more chinese



http://75.110.166.239:8888/pics/2009/FacePainting/11-03-09/gallery/pages/DSC04919.htm

Does it have to be a whole face?

Could you make the body "snake" around the face, and then paint the dragon on? I found a great black&white, you might even make a stencil out of if you thought you would have to do a lot of them.

http://sd-designs.deviantart.com/art/Tattoo-Flash-Mask-114642362

With that, you could do lots of different colors, do teardrops for streamers or fireworks of sorts... be very colorful. I'm picturing the face being on the lower cheek and the body winding up the side of the face, but the possibilities are endless.

You could also check out Lucie Brouillard, she's got some fantastic versions of different sorts of dragons on her web page. Some of them seem similiar to the kind your looking for.

In issue 15 of Brush Stroke magazine, there is a Chinese Lion step-by-step, not to complicated, by Cat Finlayson. Can't show it for copyright reasons and all that.

I just came back from New York City and my son bought this mask in Chinatown. They had many different masks. Hope this helps.

The dragon Krystal posted from the Snaz site was done by one of our very own.......the lovely Miss Shannon Fennell.
I heard she is away right now dealing with a family emergency (her mother has taken ill), but she may be able to offer you advise when she gets back online

wow yall - thanks for all the help.... I was definately thinking more on the lines of cheek art - there is no way I can do THAT many of those dragons for all those kids..... still haven't taken a picture of my try at it but I will as soon as I can.

funfacesforu - that's more of a chinese opera mask or a samari mask - BUT that's an awsome idea - I will prolly submit that as well to off set my terrible silk dragon - thanks!

You can do quick one stroke style Chinese Dragons that i think will do the trick for that event. Just make sure they have the "Catfish whiskers".
I'll try to find a photo of what i mean, but they are very quick to do.

Didn't find the one stroke one i was looking for, but ran across this cool step by step....use a one stroke technique for the body, and reduce the details, and you could have a very fast design.....you could even leave the scale details and legs off completely.
http://www.easy-drawings-and-sketches.com/dragon-drawing.html

So, I've been researching tattoo flash art to get ideas for more adult-oriented designs. I came across "tribal" dragons. You might be able to simplify one or two of them... tribal to me means: can be done with swirls and teardrops. Do them in green instead of black.

http://www.tribalshapes.com/categories/mithologic/1.html

modern magic ! I love you! I think that one would actually do the trick!!! Thank you so much!

awwwww it's good to be loved!!!!

Glad I could help

okay, here is my version - uck!


I think I will be submitting these, except I'm gonna re-do the mask in green so they are not both the same color: YAY!

lookin good!

awe thanks - if only you could see the 20 failed tried before that... my hand is still stained in that pic... you should see my stained face- mu-hahahha

yeah - I think that dragon will work out awsome - they pick a primary color and everything else is black a white - LOVE it for the speed

I think I just needed some guidance and another point of view - I was staring at bad pictures of silk dragons for toooo long!

In case you wanted more inspiration from the Peking opera.
(I like your dragon)

You might also want to learn the Chinese character for "dragon"
There are two different ways to write it:



and

Here are more Chinese Opera Mask ideas

I am doing a CNY theme design coming up in body paint. I live near the oldest, outside of china active chinese taos temple in the world. It is very special in that it honors several gods not just one. The main god here is Bok Kai a water dragon to protect us from the river and floods. We have Bok Kai parade every year and everyone around here knows what animal zodiac year it is and when CNY is.

I was there a few weeks back taking photos as reference - meant to post them on my facebook. I'll have to do that.

You could do a dragon face on the forehead centered and have the tail travel over one eye down and across the nose up to the tail meeting the head. A nice wrapping mask will work for either gender. The dragon can be done in red, yellow or green and a combo of all. Use gold to make it pop. Lions are a bit different but are dragon like. The posted photo is of lions not a dragon - but they look pretty much the same in the head on those parade puppets. Just find one that appeals to youand that fits your style of art and make it your own.

Don't forget CNY red lanterns, character lettering. The mask is from the opera and there are some cool designs on line from the operas.
Let me know if you need help I paint there annually and have lots of references.