How to Draw a Grasshopper

ก้าวต่อก้าว

1. ก้าว 1

   Start with the abdomen, the largest of the three masses.

   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.

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

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

2. ก้าว 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.

   ระวังตัวด้วย Merging thorax and abdomen into one blob.

   ตรวจสอบ You should see a pinch where thorax meets abdomen.

3. ก้าว 3

   Place the head at the front of the row.

   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.

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

   ตรวจสอบ The head should be clearly the smallest segment.

4. ก้าว 4

   Place the two dome eyes.

   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.

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

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

5. ก้าว 5

   Sweep the antennae out in single strokes.

   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.

   ระวังตัวด้วย Wobbly antennae built from short careful passes.

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

6. ก้าว 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.

   ระวังตัวด้วย Legs sprouting from the abdomen.

   ตรวจสอบ Every leg should trace back to the middle segment.

7. ก้าว 7

   Complete all six 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.

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

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

8. ก้าว 8

   Draw the wings so they cross the body outline.

   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.

   ระวังตัวด้วย Wings floating beside the body, touching nothing.

   ตรวจสอบ Each wing should visibly cross the body outline.

9. ก้าว 9

   Suggest the wing veins with a handful of lines.

   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.

   ระวังตัวด้วย Veining every cell of the wing.

   ตรวจสอบ Most of each wing should still be empty.

10. ก้าว 10

    Add the body pattern that says grasshopper.

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

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

    ตรวจสอบ Every stripe or spot should respect a segment edge.

11. ก้าว 11

    Draw whatever else a grasshopper carries.

    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.

    ระวังตัวด้วย Leading with the identifying detail before the build works.

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

12. ก้าว 12

    Anchor it with a shadow pool below.

    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.

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

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

13. ก้าว 13

    Firm up the outline, rub out 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.

    ระวังตัวด้วย Equal weight on near and far legs.

    ตรวจสอบ Near legs darker than far legs, everywhere.