Dragons' Domain

Gr 7 Up—Here is a book for those dragon lovers who are bored with beginner drawing books. Eggleton starts with a thorough discussion of materials and some basic drawing and painting techniques. Then he spends an entire page on each of several key dragon body parts, such as feet, wings, frills, and tails. After some insightful discussion of finding inspiration and references from nature and fantasy pop culture, the artist demonstrates how to create a handful of different types of dragons. He takes readers from the first conceptual stages through sketching, drawing, painting, and finishing touches. Each project takes a dozen or more pages to demonstrate. Eggleton assumes that his audience has a certain level of skill. He says things like, "Starting with the head and working down, really get the fine detail into the piece," without explaining exactly how to do that. Beginners may be frustrated by this brevity, but those who have been drawing dragons on their school notebooks for years will understand what to do from the illustrations. The book is full of Eggleton's own work in progressive stages of completion, photographed in color and attractively placed on backgrounds with fantasy-themed borders. This book is likely to be a high-use item in any teen section.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT