How to Draw a Duck

Алхам алхмаар

1. Алхам 1

   Draw one oval for the whole body of the duck.

   Nearly every bird is one egg-shaped mass with everything else attached to it. Draw the egg in one motion and let its tilt say what the bird is doing.

   Ажиллах Building the body from several small arcs.

   шалгах The body should be one smooth closed shape.

2. Алхам 2

   Put the head in as a circle, set forward.

   Bird heads are smaller relative to the body than beginners expect - usually about a quarter of the body length. Measure against the egg before you commit.

   Ажиллах An oversized head, which turns the bird into a cartoon.

   шалгах About four head-widths should fit along the body.

3. Алхам 3

   Run two lines from the head down into the body.

   Even a short-necked bird has a neck: two curves joining head to body, front and back. Without them the head floats and the bird reads as a snowman.

   Ажиллах Leaving the head disconnected from the body.

   шалгах Both neck curves should touch head and body.

4. Алхам 4

   Add the beak, which is what makes it a duck.

   The beak grows out of the skull rather than sitting on its surface, and its angle continues the line of the head. Shape and size are the strongest species cues on the whole bird.

   Ажиллах Sticking the beak flat onto the front of the circle.

   шалгах The top edge of the beak should line up with the skull.

5. Алхам 5

   Add the eye high on the head.

   A bird's eye sits high and close to the beak. Small, dark, with one highlight - and its position matters far more than its rendering.

   Ажиллах Placing the eye centrally, which deadens the whole face.

   шалгах The eye should be nearer the beak than the back of the head.

6. Алхам 6

   Draw the near wing.

   The folded wing lies ON the body, crossing its outline. That overlap is what attaches it - a wing drawn inside the body outline reads as a pattern, not a limb.

   Ажиллах Drawing the wing floating inside the silhouette.

   шалгах The wing should cross the body outline somewhere.

7. Алхам 7

   Suggest the feather layers.

   Feathers come in groups, and the groups are what you draw - two or three curved rows, not individual feathers. The eye supplies the rest reliably.

   Ажиллах Drawing every feather, which turns the wing into a fence.

   шалгах You should count feather GROUPS, not feathers.

8. Алхам 8

   Put the legs on, and check where they attach.

   Legs attach much further back than they appear to, because the visible leg is really the bird's foot and ankle. Get the attachment point right and the balance follows.

   Ажиллах Legs planted centrally, which makes the bird tip forward.

   шалгах The legs should attach behind the middle of the egg.

9. Алхам 9

   Add the tail and its angle.

   The tail continues the body's line rather than being stuck on the end. Draw it as one shape - separate feathers come last if at all.

   Ажиллах A tail at war with the angle of the body.

   шалгах The tail's top edge should flow from the back line.

10. Алхам 10

    Add the front of the body.

    The breast is the fullest curve on the bird and it carries the pose. Round it generously - a flat chest makes any bird look deflated.

    Ажиллах A flat front, which loses the bird's volume.

    шалгах The chest should be the roundest curve on the drawing.

11. Алхам 11

    Put in the duck colouring.

    Markings follow the body's form - they curve as the body curves. Flat pattern drawn over a round form cancels all the volume you just built.

    Ажиллах Drawing the pattern flat, ignoring the curve underneath.

    шалгах Any stripe or patch should bend with the body.

12. Алхам 12

    Suggest the breast feathers - three or four V-marks.

    Three or four short V-marks down the breast, each curving with the chest rather than sitting flat, and the whole bird reads as feathered. They also confirm the body's roundness - marks on a form must bend with it, which is the same rule as every stripe and patch on the site.

    Ажиллах Covering the breast evenly, which turns the bird into a pinecone.

    шалгах The marks should bend the same way as the chest outline.

13. Алхам 13

    Add ground and shadow so it stops floating.

    One line under the feet and one flattened shadow arc beneath the body, darkest between the legs. A bird with no ground floats in white space no matter how well it is built - and the shadow also confirms where the legs actually are, which birds hide well.

    Ажиллах Skipping it and leaving the bird hovering.

    шалгах The shadow should sit directly below the body's widest point.

14. Алхам 14

    Firm up the keepers, remove the guides.

    Weight the silhouette and the beak, keep the feather marks light, erase the construction. The contrast in line weight is what separates finished from traced.

    Ажиллах Uniform line weight over the whole bird.

    шалгах Silhouette darker than interior - check by squinting.