Dragon Frontier Page 22
‘I need to go back,’ he said. ‘The Natives might be able to help me find that dragon, which could lead me to my family, and there’s Match to think about too.’
‘I know,’ said Garret, ‘but, whenever you need us, you’ll always have a home at the forge. We’ve talked about it, and we know you’ll be spending time at the settlement, and with Match if you’re going to grow up to be a rider.’
Jake breathed a sigh of relief.
‘They chose me,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what that means. I don’t know if I should grow up to be a rider, or what my pa or ma would say about it. What I do know is that if I ever want to see my family again, I need the Natives to help me.’
‘Yes,’ said Garret, ‘and I’ll help you and so will Mrs Garret, and the boys love you, and I think that Eliza does too. Your pa would want you to have an education, though, and he’d want you to have somewhere safe to come home to.’
‘The Native settlement feels like the safest place in the world,’ said Jake, ‘and right now doing sums and practising my handwriting doesn’t seem very important … I’m sure Miss Ballantine will lend me all the books I need. My pa would tell me to follow my heart. He’d tell me to be my own man. The Natives are wise, and I can learn a lot from them. Besides, I have to be with Match. I feel sure he and the Natives can help me find my family.’
Jake was more determined than he had ever been. He turned and looked out of the little window. Beyond, the vast red sun was setting across the great western plain. To Jake, it glimmered like the ruby in his mother’s brooch. He resolved that he would find his family, no matter what.
Acknowledgements
Dan would like to thank Shannon Cullen, Ileen Maisel and his trail-riding pardner Andy, and express his love and gratitude to Nik for her support, assistance and forbearance during the writing of this novel.
Andy would like to thank Shannon Cullen for seeing the potential of a scribbled drawing and a paragraph of ramblings, Ileen Maisel for matchmaking, and Dan for twenty fun-filled years of making things up. We really are very lucky indeed!
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First published 2013
Written by Dan Abnett
Story and concept by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Text copyright © Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, 2013
Chapter-head illustrations by Benjamin Hughes
Chapter-head illustrations copyright © Puffin Books, 2013
Cover Illustration by Angela Rinaldi
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
Typeset by Palimpsest Book Production Ltd, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
ISBN: 978-0-141-34297-9
How to Draw A Dragon
By Andy Lanning
Co-Creator of Dragon Frontier
ANDY LANNING is a veteran comic-book inker and has worked on almost every major superhero including Spiderman, Batman, The X-Men, Wonder Woman, The Fantastic Four, The Ultimate Avengers and Superman.
He has worked with DAN ABNETT, author of Dragon Frontier, for more than twenty years. In that time they have written some of the most famous superhero comics in the world, including Iron Man, Thor and The Punisher at Marvel, and Superman, Batman, The Justice League of America, and Wonder Woman at DC Comics.
Now Andy uses his inking skills to reveal how to draw a dragon – just like Match, Jake’s dragon in Dragon Frontier …
Share your dragon picture with other fans at
Facebook.com/DragonFrontier
(or ask an adult to do this if you’re not thirteen yet).
DRAGON FRONTIER
HOW TO DRAW A DRAGON
STEP 1:
A good starting point is to draw some basic shapes that form the framework for your dragon. The two lower rings form the body and the oval is the head.
STEP 2:
Continue with the framework by adding basic shapes for the neck, legs and wings. Always draw these bits in light pencil so they can be erased later. They are the basis for the details. In Dragon Frontier the dragons are four-legged (like horses) and are therefore easier to ride!
STEP 3:
Once you have the framework, you can begin to flesh out the dragon’s shape in detail. Start with the head and neck – you can design this to look any way you want. This is a young dragon, like Match from the story, and is lean and fast so its head is more like that of a bird, streamlined and sleek. Use the line you’ve drawn in the framework as a guide and fill out the neck with curved lines. The underside of the dragon is a different texture to the topside: it’s ridged and scaly, made up of tough thick skin to protect it.
STEP 4:
Next, add detail to the legs and body of the dragon. Again, use your guidelines and draw in curves. Notice that the dragon’s legs are bent like those of a dog: double-jointed with a claw-spur on the elbow joint. The fourth leg is not seen as it is hidden by the other leg and the body. You can add as many or as few toes as you decide. This dragon has three toes on each foot, two at the front, one at the rear.
STEP 5:
Flesh out the tail. Again, this is something you can add as much or as little detail to as you want, but start by getting the basic shape worked out by following the line of your framework. Notice this dragon has a ‘devil’s’ spiked tail but it could have another spike at the tip or even end in a feathery tuft.
STEP 6:
Finally draw the wing (we’ve hidden the second wing behind the first to keep things simple but you can always mirror the first wing behind it). Using your framework, draw a thicker ‘arm’ joint with a spiked elbow then follow that thick line down to the wing tip. Then join up the other wing joints with curved lines that make up the wing folds. These should look like the folds of an umbrella. curved lines that make up the wing folds. These should look like the folds of an umbrella.
STEP 7:
Now you have sketched out the basic shape of your dragon, the next step is really fun! You can add all sorts of details to customize your dragon to look like whatever you want. This dragon is one of the breed the Cloud People in Dragon Frontier ride. It has a feathered mane at the back of its head and down its neck. It also has feathers on the line of its wings and scales down its back and tail. It is also patterned with spots like an Appaloosa horse, which were traditionally ridden by Native Americans in the Bitterroot Mountains of the Pacific Northwest where the story takes place.
Now It’s Time to Hear from the Author of Dragon Frontier Himself, Dan Abnett
Q. Did you know a lot about the Wild West before you started writing Dragon Frontier?
A. As a kid I played cowboys and Indians, and my favourite TV western was The Virginian! I also liked to read about the Wild West. The West I imagined was probably quite different from the truth, but I have made sure that the West in this book is, at heart, very realistic.
Q. How did you research Dragon Frontier? It’s hard to find a dragon these days!
A. The Dragon Frontier is really easy to find … It’s right here in my imagination. That’s where I do most of my research when I’m dealing with things that are not from our world.
Q. Did you take inspiration from any other books or films?
A. Yes, the western TV shows I loved as a kid, and I still love monster movies. The best dragon stories are the oldest, in my opinion. The myths and legends from the ancient civilizations are hugely inspiring.
Q. Have you ever been flying, apart from in a big aeroplane? Would you like to ride a dragon?
A. I’ve been on planes of all sizes, including one almost the same size as the bigger dragons in my book. Of course I’d love to ride a dragon … Who wouldn’t?
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