One of the things I’m noticing is that I’ve had a very strong tendency to draw these dragons in a limited array of poses. On thinking about it, this probably stems from a couple of factors: I’m drawing a new type each time, so there’s a desire to show them in a fair amount of detail and not obscure anatomy with perspective or pose; I’m working in a limited time frame and skimping on drawing the backgrounds, which limits my options for poses as there’s no environment for the subject to interact with; and that my illustrations tend a little toward being diagrammatic unless I really focus on making them dynamic.
The first factor is the hardest for me, as I need to let go of the need to fill in detail and be explicit with the character designs. I need to let go of the notion that I’m designing characters, and just focus on the illustration’s intrinsic qualities. These aren’t diagrams, after all.
The third point is related to the first, and I think that dealing with it is part and parcel – I just need to let go and get a little more out there with my composition, and maybe think about it deliberately in those terms before I start drawing.
That second thing, though…maybe I should try some background-centric illustrations where the dragon is the afterthought rather than the focus? Something to consider, at least.