Customer Reviews

Dragons: A Book of Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In my guise as a woodworker, I occasionally dream of covering panels with intricate carvings that will make the work even more exceptional. One of the problems for those like I, who have never quite managed the leap to freehand drawing, is finding images that can be translated into a design. If on your work there would be dragons, here are 120 graphic line drawings that will keep knife, or pen, or needle busy for some time.

For all that covers change over the years, Dover's many collection have changed little. They are clip art from the era before clip art had been invented.. Tall, thin, and of unexceptional quality, they make up for their flaws by being delightfully inexpensive. They are intended as inspiration and as sourcebooks, and as such they have succeed for a very long time.

These dont have color but I bought them for the patterns..to use parts of this one and parts of that one on tracing paper to come up with my own dragons..the pictures are very good quality..and for any dragon lover or artist.Its well worth adding to the library...B.W.

I ordered this book and a book called Dragons and Wizards. When I started to look through Dragons:A Book of Designs, I was sorely disappointed. Everything in this book is in the Dragons and Wizards CD-ROM and Book except the Wizards one had additional media in it. I feel like I paid twice for the same book. BEWARE, THIS IS A LESSER DUPLICATE!

I will not lie, this book has some interesting drawings but from the point of view of a graphic designer most drawings are lacking in graphism. They all are in black and white (with exception of those portrayed on the cover) which I have no problem with; but if you are thinking of reproducing them for logos, decoration, emblems, etc. you will find some dragons unusable since most are awfully complicatedly misdrawn: eyes are often off, lines are shabby, drawings seem childlike and not up to standards with other Dover books of design I have bought. The origin of the drawings is vague and sometimes unexistent, most only state which country they came from and dates are general to entire centuries, no record from where it was taken from or whom drew them, with exception to seven drawings in the whole book. Still if you only want them for looking at it or if you're willing to repair broken lines and seemingly unfinished drawings you should buy it.

Many kinds of lovely line drawing dragons. These are b/w line drawings, no colour, despite the cover. Still, very much worth the $$.

This book is what is says, nothing more, nothing less. It is a good thing that there are some samples in colour, in case your inspiration is not at its best. The degree of simplicity is variable, so you can choose the design according to your skills in the technique you plan to use.

For goldwork embroidery which uses large but simple designs, these dragons would need to be greatly enlarged and simplified further. But a useful source anyway and good price.

This is a good source for those with a need for dragon designs, or just an idea generator.

I was disapointed. Expected a wider range of patterns, not just the chinese dragon body style.
great if that is all you are looking for.