Use references photos of snakes, lizards, and other scaled animals. Look at how they change in a curve, twist, etc.

So I've been drawing some reptilian/dragon pieces recently, and I keep tripping up on the scales. They're so difficult! I can't get them to align well with whatever I'm drawing (like curve where there's a curve), so it looks unnatural, straight, and strange. Does anyone have tips on this? Would laying down each scale individually be worth it, or end up messy? (I make one scale then clone it to make a row, a square, etc.) How do you draw your scales? I tried warping and liquify, but I'm still struggling.

Ooof! I can see your problem. Scales are super hard for me too. I've tried doing each individual scale bit it does end up rather messy.

@Tauriel

I'd also advise not trying to do the whole animal in one sitting. For me, I get pretty tired and halfway through the scales stop looking quite as sharp and even and start getting a bit messy, so I like to take a break for a bit, resharpen my pencil (if that's what you're using), and then sit back down to work on it when I'm ready. c:

@Maraud

Sometimes I only draw some of the scales. Drawing all of them is too hard

@Black Swan