How to Draw an Owl

Аткаруу

1. Аткаруу 1

   Block in the body as one egg shape.

   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.

   Эскертүү Building the body from several small arcs.

   Текшерүү The body should be one smooth closed shape.

2. Аткаруу 2

   Draw the skull as a small circle above the body.

   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.

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

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

3. Аткаруу 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.

   Эскертүү Leaving the head disconnected from the body.

   Текшерүү Both neck curves should touch head and body.

4. Аткаруу 4

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

   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.

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

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

5. Аткаруу 5

   Add the eye - small, and nearer the beak than the back.

   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.

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

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

6. Аткаруу 6

   Put the wing on so it crosses the body outline.

   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.

   Эскертүү Drawing the wing floating inside the silhouette.

   Текшерүү The wing should cross the body outline somewhere.

7. Аткаруу 7

   Sketch the feather groups on the wing.

   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.

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

   Текшерүү You should count feather GROUPS, not feathers.

8. Аткаруу 8

   Place the legs under the body, toward the rear.

   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.

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

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

9. Аткаруу 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.

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

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

10. Аткаруу 10

    Shape the chest and underside.

    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.

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

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

11. Аткаруу 11

    Add the identifying markings.

    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.

    Эскертүү Drawing the pattern flat, ignoring the curve underneath.

    Текшерүү Any stripe or patch should bend with the body.

12. Аткаруу 12

    Texture the breast lightly, curving with the body.

    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.

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

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

13. Аткаруу 13

    Anchor the bird: ground line, then shadow.

    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.

    Эскертүү Skipping it and leaving the bird hovering.

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

14. Аткаруу 14

    Go over the keepers and erase 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.

    Эскертүү Uniform line weight over the whole bird.

    Текшерүү Silhouette darker than interior - check by squinting.