Obverse & Reverse Ch5 Page 5 (Patreon)

People have asked me if dragons are a single species that all look different or a bunch of different species all gathered under the "dragon" umbrella! The answer is kind of both! Western dragons all look very different from each other, but some look more alike than others. I base some off actual folkloric dragons, and some just on fun doodles. Pater, for instance, is a Vishap (and the stones that decorate his lair are vishapakars, which can be found in Armenia today). Bloodcarver's design is a classic red dragon look, and then you got weird little noodle dragons based off descriptions of wyrms and wyverns and drakes and such.

When in doubt, i'll base a dragon design off an actual one I've seen in folklore or mythology. Illuminated manuscripts are a great source for weird looking dragons, too.