I doodled this dragon with my trusty ball point pen during a TV commercial. The commercials and time limit provide enough distraction so I can ignore any inner critic. I find that I can get started on a few of my back burner projects this way. Helps me get more done without the burnout. This sketch then had to wait it's turn until I had time between assigned work to transfer to paper, ink and paint, but at least the sketch stage was done.
As this Dragon illustration usage was for my Year of the Dragon/Chinese New Year cards as well as a decorative motif on various products I chose not to draw/paint in a back ground. I could add these on with Photoshop, giving me more design options. Leave it plain for a decorative look -great on a T-shirt or a card. Add to the tail to make it longer to wrap around a mug for example. Plop it on a solid background for a card or even my painted starry moonlit scene for a more narrative look.
FYI the Dragon is supposed to be the luckiest of all the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. The Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days. 2 weeks plus 1 day for good luck. The 2012 Dragon Year is celebrated from Jan 23rd to Feb 5th.