How to Draw a Dragonfly

Dingana amin'ny dingana

1. Endrika 1

   Begin at the back - the abdomen oval.

   Insects are drawn back to front: the abdomen is the biggest of the three segments and it sets the scale for everything, so it goes down first, in one motion, larger than instinct suggests.

   Mitandrema Starting at the head and running out of room behind.

   Jereo The abdomen should be the largest of your three ovals.

2. Endrika 2

   Add the second mass, the thorax, ahead of the first.

   The thorax is the machine room - every leg and every wing attaches to it and to nothing else. Draw it distinct from the abdomen, with a visible waist between the two on most species.

   Mitandrema Merging thorax and abdomen into one blob.

   Jereo You should see a pinch where thorax meets abdomen.

3. Endrika 3

   Add the head - the smallest of the three.

   Insect heads are small - usually the smallest of the three masses by far - and most of what you think of as the head is actually eyes. Keep it little and let the eyes dominate it.

   Mitandrema An oversized head, which turns the insect into a cartoon.

   Jereo The head should be clearly the smallest segment.

4. Endrika 4

   Draw both eyes on the sides of the head.

   Compound eyes wrap the sides of the head like a motorcycle helmet's visor - two big domes taking up most of the head's surface. Their size is the single most insect-like thing you will draw.

   Mitandrema Small forward-facing eyes, which mammalise the face.

   Jereo The two eyes together should cover most of the head.

5. Endrika 5

   Draw the two antennae from the front of the head.

   Two strokes, drawn fast and matching - the antennae are the insect's most delicate lines and they punish hesitation the way whiskers do. Draw the second by comparing it to the first.

   Mitandrema Wobbly antennae built from short careful passes.

   Jereo Both antennae should curve the same way, the same amount.

6. Endrika 6

   Draw the near legs - three, and every one from the thorax.

   All six legs come from the thorax - never the abdomen, which is the error that gives every beginner's insect away. Each leg is three straight segments with two visible joints.

   Mitandrema Legs sprouting from the abdomen.

   Jereo Every leg should trace back to the middle segment.

7. Endrika 7

   Draw the remaining three legs.

   The far legs are partly hidden by the body, so they are drawn shorter and interrupted - which is what puts the near side in front. Compare their angles to the near legs rather than inventing new ones.

   Mitandrema Far legs drawn full length, floating beside the body.

   Jereo The far legs should be visibly interrupted by the body.

8. Endrika 8

   Draw the wings from the thorax back.

   Wings lie ON the body, crossing its outline - the overlap is the attachment, exactly as it was for fins and bird wings. Draw each wing as one shape from its thorax root.

   Mitandrema Wings floating beside the body, touching nothing.

   Jereo Each wing should visibly cross the body outline.

9. Endrika 9

   Put in the main wing veins only.

   Two or three structural veins per wing are enough - the eye tiles the rest. A fully veined wing goes grey and reads as stained glass rather than membrane.

   Mitandrema Veining every cell of the wing.

   Jereo Most of each wing should still be empty.

10. Endrika 10

    Mark the body with the dragonfly pattern.

    Insect patterns follow the segments: stripes ring the abdomen, spots sit inside segment boundaries. Pattern that ignores the segmentation flattens the body instantly.

    Mitandrema Pattern drawn across segment boundaries as if on flat paper.

    Jereo Every stripe or spot should respect a segment edge.

11. Endrika 11

    Complete the dragonfly specifics.

    Whatever identifies the species goes on last - a sting, a spot count, a horn - placed exactly and stopped early. One correct identifying mark beats five approximate ones.

    Mitandrema Leading with the identifying detail before the build works.

    Jereo The insect should read as its species at arm's length.

12. Endrika 12

    Add a soft shadow pool beneath the legs.

    Two soft overlapping arcs under the legs are the whole ground - an insect is small enough that a full ground line overstates it. The shadow sits directly below the body's mass, slightly forward of the abdomen, and it is what makes six thin legs read as standing rather than dangling.

    Mitandrema A hard ground line, which reads as a table edge at this scale.

    Jereo The shadow should sit below the thorax and abdomen, not the head.

13. Endrika 13

    Go over the keepers and erase the guides.

    Weight the three segment outlines and the near legs, keep veins and far legs light, erase the guides. Depth in a drawing this small is mostly line-weight contrast.

    Mitandrema Equal weight on near and far legs.

    Jereo Near legs darker than far legs, everywhere.