How to Draw a Grasshopper

Bước một bước

1. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Starting at the head and running out of room behind.

   Kiểm tra The abdomen should be the largest of your three ovals.

2. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Merging thorax and abdomen into one blob.

   Kiểm tra You should see a pinch where thorax meets abdomen.

3. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! An oversized head, which turns the insect into a cartoon.

   Kiểm tra The head should be clearly the smallest segment.

4. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Small forward-facing eyes, which mammalise the face.

   Kiểm tra The two eyes together should cover most of the head.

5. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Wobbly antennae built from short careful passes.

   Kiểm tra Both antennae should curve the same way, the same amount.

6. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Legs sprouting from the abdomen.

   Kiểm tra Every leg should trace back to the middle segment.

7. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Far legs drawn full length, floating beside the body.

   Kiểm tra The far legs should be visibly interrupted by the body.

8. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Wings floating beside the body, touching nothing.

   Kiểm tra Each wing should visibly cross the body outline.

9. Bước 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.

   Cẩn thận! Veining every cell of the wing.

   Kiểm tra Most of each wing should still be empty.

10. Bước 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.

    Cẩn thận! Pattern drawn across segment boundaries as if on flat paper.

    Kiểm tra Every stripe or spot should respect a segment edge.

11. Bước 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.

    Cẩn thận! Leading with the identifying detail before the build works.

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

12. Bước 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.

    Cẩn thận! A hard ground line, which reads as a table edge at this scale.

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

13. Bước 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.

    Cẩn thận! Equal weight on near and far legs.

    Kiểm tra Near legs darker than far legs, everywhere.