How to Do a Dragon and Flames Paint Job

Dragons and flames have been displayed on cars, trucks and of course 1980's vans for years. A dragon is a fearsome beast and the flames incorporated in the paint job show to the viewer what the dragon can do. For the example in this article you will be learning how to do a paint job on the hood of a car with a Chinese dragon breathing flames. This will be an evocative and distinct approach to the subject matter. When you are done you will have a paint job that will stun onlookers.

Things You'll Need

• Enamel auto paint in green, white, red, yellow, and blue
• Soft graphite pencil
• Brown parchment paper
• Exacto knife
• Enamel sealer

Instructions

1. 

   Draw a a reversed "S" shape curve for the body of the dragon on the hood of the car with your soft graphite pencil. Add two curved lines on the right side of the body for the dragon's back legs. Draw the dragon's front legs with two curved lines coming out of the left side of the body. Attach three small curved lines to the end of each leg for claws.

2. Add the head with an oval at the left end of the body. Draw the mouth inside the head with a triangle. Add the horns with two diagonal lines coming out of the back of the head.

3. 

   Draw parallel curved lines around the entire body of the dragon and the legs. This will give the skeleton of the dragon some shape. Add hair coming off the right side of the dragon's face, the dragon's chin and the front of the dragon's nose. Do this with long thin triangles.

4. 

   Remove the reverse "S" shaped guideline and the guidelines for the legs with a damp rag. Place a 2 foot by 2 foot sheet of parchment paper over the graphite drawing of the dragon. Press the paper firmly onto the hood of the car. This will leave an imprint of the illustration on the paper. Turn the paper around and cut out the dragon from the paper with an Exacto knife. Lay this back down over the hood and tape it to the hood of the car. This will allow you to paint the dragon without having the paint run or splatter.

5. Paint the body of the dragon green. Let the paint dry and paint a line of yellow on the top of the dragon. Add a line on the bottom of the body of the dragon for the belly. Paint the horns of the dragon red. Add a tongue with a small curved red line coming from inside the mouth.

6. 

   Paint the claws white. Paint the teeth with two small white cones inside the mouth. Paint the eyes with two small blue circles. Remove the tape and the paper. Add four curved triangles with red paint for flames. Add slightly smaller yellow triangles inside the red flames. Let the paint dry and spray the paint job with sealer.

Tips & Warnings

• You can keep a blow dryer handy to speed up drying times. Keep the dryer at least 1-1/2 feet away from the hood of the car.

• Be sure to wear a paint mask when painting. Paint in a well ventilated area.

Resources

• A blog on customizing your car with rims, paint jobs and hardware replacements