How to Draw a Dragon Head Step by Step (Easy Side View)

Dragon heads look complicated because there's so much going on: horns, spikes, fins, teeth, scales. Strip that away and you're left with a round skull and a long snout, which anyone can draw. Here I'll show you how to draw a dragon head step by step in side view, one feature at a time, so the scary-looking parts arrive only after the simple shapes are in place.

Follow the bright blue. Whatever you add in a step shows up blue, older lines turn gray, and the faint blue construction shapes stay until the inking step, when you rub them out.

Quick overview
⏱️ Time: around 40 minutes, coloring included
🎯 Level: easy to medium, good for kids about 8 and older
✏️ Steps: 12
🐉 You'll draw: a smiling green dragon head in side view with swept-back horns and a puff of smoke

Supplies for a Green Dragon Head

• A pencil you can press very gently
• A soft eraser for cleaning up the guides later
• A black fineliner or felt pen for the final lines
• Colored pencils or markers in the colors from the key: greens, cream, brown, orange, purple, gray
• A sheet of paper turned sideways, because the snout and horns stretch wide

If you only own one green, that's fine. Press harder with it for the shaded parts and you'll still get two shades.

How to Draw a Dragon Head Step by Step

Step 1: Sketch a skull circle and a snout box

Draw a big circle a little left of the middle of your page for the back of the skull. Touching its right side, add a long box that narrows toward the right, about one and a half times as long as the circle is wide. The taper keeps the snout from turning into a plank.

💡 Tip: Keep your pencil loose and barely touching the paper. These two shapes disappear at the end.

Step 2: Guide the jaw, then the neck and horns

Under the box, draw one gentle curve from the front corner back below the circle. That's the jaw line, set lower than the box so the lower jaw has depth. Two curved lines drop from the circle to the bottom left for the neck, and two more sweep back from the top of the circle for the horns.

💡 Tip: Bend the neck lines like a swan's neck. Straight lines make the dragon look stiff.

Step 3: Outline the head and the smiling mouth

Trace one smooth line around the circle and the box. Bump it up over the eye area for a brow, then slope it down the snout to a rounded nose with a small knob on top. Follow the jaw guide underneath. For the mouth, run a long line from the nose tip back toward the skull and curl its end up into a small smile.

💡 Tip: Stop the mouth line well before the circle. A mouth that runs too far back looks like a crocodile.

Step 4: Draw the neck and the cheek fin

Go over the neck guides with firmer lines and join them at the bottom with a soft curve. Right behind the jaw, draw a fan-shaped fin with three points pointing back, joined by curved scoops. I draw the fin together with the neck, because the fin hides part of the neck line.

💡 Tip: Make the top point of the fin the longest and the bottom one the shortest.

Step 5: Add the horns and nose spikes

Use the horn guides to draw two long horns that start wide on the skull and narrow to a point. The far horn sits a little higher and looks shorter because it's farther away. On top of the snout, add two small curved spikes. Those little spikes stop the head from reading as a lizard.

💡 Tip: Let both horns curve upward at the tips. Flat horns look like they're falling off.

Step 6: Draw the spiky ridge down the neck

Spikes come in two groups. Put three small ones on top of the skull between the brow and the horns. Then add a row of bigger spikes down the back of the neck, large near the head and smaller toward the bottom. Lean every spike slightly backward, as if wind is pushing them.

💡 Tip: Draw each spike as two short curves meeting at a point. It's quicker than one careful zigzag.

Step 7: Draw the eye under a heavy brow

Place an almond-shaped eye just under the brow bump, where the skull meets the snout. Inside it, draw a round iris and a tall, thin slit for the pupil. Over the top, add a thick curved brow ridge that overlaps the upper lid. The heavy brow makes the dragon look strong, and the round iris keeps it friendly.

💡 Tip: Angle the brow down toward the nose for a confident look. Tilt it up and the dragon looks worried.

Step 8: Add the nostril and fangs, then smoke

Draw a small tilted oval near the front of the nose and a short curve above it for the flared nostril. Hang two small pointed fangs from the mouth line, one near the front and one farther back. Above the nose, float two tiny circles and a small bumpy cloud with a curl inside.

💡 Tip: Two small fangs look playful. Fill the mouth with teeth and your dragon turns into a monster.

Step 9: Draw the fin spines and horn bands

Run three thin lines from the base of the cheek fin out to each of its points, like the ribs of a folding fan. Draw two curved bands across the near horn, then one more curve near the tip of each horn to mark off the darker end. Curving the bands makes the horns look round.

💡 Tip: Use a lighter hand on these detail lines than on the outline. They should sit quietly in the background.

Step 10: Add the throat plates and a few scales

Draw a line just inside the bottom of the jaw and another down the front of the neck, then split both strips into short sections with little cross lines. These are the belly plates many dragon drawings carry from chin to tail. On the side of the neck, add three short rows of small U shapes for scales.

💡 Tip: A handful of scales is plenty. Cover the whole neck and the drawing gets busy and hard to color.

Step 11: Ink the lines and erase the guides

Trace every line you want to keep with the black pen. I start at the head and work out to the horns and spikes, then the neck, so my hand never rests on fresh ink. Skip the circle, the box and the curved guides. Once the ink is fully dry, erase all the pencil.

💡 Tip: Turn the paper as you ink the spikes so you're always pulling the pen toward you.

Step 12: Color your dragon head

Give the head and neck a medium green first. Add dark green to the brow, along the back of the neck and under the jaw. The throat plates get a light yellow-green. Color the horns, nose spikes and fangs cream with brown horn tips, then make the spikes and fin purple, the iris orange and the smoke gray.

💡 Tip: Leave a tiny white dot on the pupil. That single spot of light makes the eye look alive.

Why Dragon Heads Often Turn into Crocodiles

• A snout as tall as the skull. Taper the box so the nose end is clearly narrower than the back of the head.
• A mouth line that runs all the way back. End it about where the eye is and curl it up. That keeps the face friendly.
• Spikes that all point straight up. Tilt them back toward the tail and shrink them as they go down the neck.
• Too many teeth. One or two small fangs say "dragon". A full row of teeth says "shark".
• Scales drawn everywhere. A few rows on the neck are enough. The plain green does the rest.

Recolor and Restyle Your Dragon

Make it red with gold horns and swap the smoke for a small orange flame, or color it icy blue with white spikes. Dragons are mythical, so no color is wrong. Different cultures picture them differently, too: European dragons usually have horns and wings on a heavy head, while Chinese dragons are long and snake-like, with whiskers and antler-like horns. To draw the rest of the beast, the dragon drawing tutorial gives you a full body with bat wings, and this phoenix drawing step by step lesson makes a good next mythical creature.

Dragon Head Coloring Page and Printable Steps

The dragon head coloring page has a small colored example at the top beside a key that matches each color to a part, plus a large outline with room for clouds or a castle. The step-by-step PDF guide holds all 12 steps with pictures and tips. Both fit Letter and A4 paper.

📱 On a phone? Tap a download button, then open the file and choose Share → Save to Files or Print. On a computer, the PDF opens or saves straight to your Downloads folder.

A Tall Dragon Head Cheat Sheet

Dragon Head Finished? Try These Character Tutorials

Each of these is a full step-by-step tutorial with a picture for every stage, from cute characters to a Valentine card set.

• Hello Kitty Drawing: Draw her wide white head, red bow and blue overalls with this how to draw Hello Kitty step by step lesson.
• Love Drawing: Two teddy bears share a hug and a heart balloon in this love drawing tutorial.
• Valentine's Day Drawing: A heart card, a box of chocolates, a red rose and a tiny love bug fill this Valentine's Day drawing step by step guide.
• Chibi Drawing: Learn the two-head method on a tiny kid in a cat-ear hoodie holding boba in this chibi drawing tutorial.
• Music Note Drawing: A purple treble clef and a ribbon of bright notes follow the real music rules in this how to draw music notes lesson.
• Joker Drawing: A cheerful chibi Joker with green hair and a playing card takes 12 steps in this Joker drawing tutorial.
• Demon Slayer Drawing: Draw a small chibi Tanjiro in his checkered haori with this Demon Slayer drawing step by step lesson.

Dragon Head Drawing Questions, Answered

What is the easiest way to draw a dragon head?

Begin with a circle for the skull and a long, narrowing box for the snout. Draw the outline around those two shapes, and save the horns and the eye for after the head shape looks right.

Are dragons real animals?

No, dragons are mythical creatures from stories and legends. That's good news for artists, because you can choose any colors, horns or fins you like.

How do I make my dragon look friendly and not scary?

Keep the mouth closed with a small upturn at the corner, show only one or two little fangs, and give the eye a round iris under the heavy brow.

Can young kids draw this dragon head?

Kids around 8 and up usually manage it well. Younger artists can leave out the scales, horn bands and fin spines, and the dragon still looks complete.

Grab your green pencil and give your dragon its first puff of smoke. 🐉

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