STEP 1.

Let’s start doing the head and spine. Here I divided the spine in two segments, for the neck and back, and the tail. Between these segments is

the hip bone. The ‘tail’ is a bit more than the half of the total lenght of the body, and the ‘back’ is a little longer than the ‘neck’. The neck presents a soft ‘S’ shape, while the back is an arc. For the head, these simple shapes will be enough, but I always recommend to look carefully at a skull before drawing.  

STEP 2.

Draw an ellipse (or an open curve, if you want), that will shape the torso and more. It starts at the base of the neck and goes back to the base of the tail, passing the hips.

 

STEP 3.

Sticks and circles for the legs. The first circle is the hip joint. The stick under the hip is the femur, the thigh bone. The following circle represents the knee joint, and the stick under the knee is the lower leg. The next circle is the ankle joint (including the heel), and finally the lower bar is the foot, divided in two segments: the upper is the foot/metatarsals, and the lower segment are the toes/phalanges (mind you, the dinosaurs walked in their toe bones, just as the birds). The height from the hip to the ground is a bit less than 1/3 of the total spine lenght. The knees are placed aproximately at 1/2 of the height from the ground.

 

STEP 4.

We have already defined the parts of the leg, now let’s add the muscles. See how the bulky thigh muscles are attached to the hip and around the knee. The lower leg is more bulky near the knee joint (specially behind it) than in its lower section due to the presence of muscles. Outline the feet, too. Using the same rules of muscle-saping, draw the arms, and sketch the placement of the three fingers.  

STEP 5.

For the rest of the body, follow the curve of the spine and torso, adding muscles around it. Pay attention to the skull, too. Rather triangular, with two crests resembling little horns over the eyes.

 

STEP 6.

Now you have all the major muscular volumes chained, it is time to draw the outline. Just follow the shape of the muscles, softening the transitions.  

STEP 7.

Now the rest of the body... Now it's the time to add some details as the eye.  

STEP 8.

The lineart should look like this...

STEP 9.

Time to add some color! Here's a flat brownish base. I use to choose dull colors and camo-like patterns.  

STEP 10.Volumes. The illusion of volume in 2D drawings is made with lights and shadows. Let’s suppose that the light comes from above (example: sun). Then the surfaces in direct contact with that light will be lighter (Use a lighter color paint, or erase softly the pencil base). The surfaces hidden from the light will look darker (use a darker paint or more pressure on the pencil to make the shadows). If you are using pencils, you can use a cotton to blend the strokes.

 

STEP 11.

You can add some tecture or pattern. I didn't draw the scales one by one because of the size of the animal, in a small pic like this you couldn't see each one individually. A light background is always a nice touch. Thanks for reading!