How to Draw a Bird Realistic: From Basic Outlines to Fine Details

This week's bird still life group is a classroom exercise in adjusting the position and intensity of different objects.
Curious about the structure of the whole pigeon, looked up the information and found that the body skeleton is more complicated, leave it to be completed later.
In the second half, I organize the structure of the pigeon and how to draw, if you are interested to look down together, with the second picture is easier to understand.

Pigeon body composition.

1. Head:

The pigeon's head is small and round, the shape of the head skeleton is more rounded, the structure of the eye sockets and the skull, please refer to the small picture right below.

2. body proportions:

The body is streamlined, with a broad chest and a small abdomen, making it easy to fly.

3. Wing structure:

The wing extends gradually from the shoulder to the phalanges, with the major wing bones (humerus, ulna, radius).
These bones are responsible for supporting the forces of flight, as shown in the lower right-hand corner.

4. legs and feet:

Short feet, pigeon paws usually have four toes.

5. Tail:

The tail is short and fan-shaped to help control the direction of flight.

How do you draw a pigeon?

Step one:

Pay attention to the overall length and width ratio. The body of a pigeon can be summarized as a circle, triangle, or rectangle.
Simplifying into geometric shapes helps us to draw the proportions and poses of the body more easily.

Step two:

Gradually increase the weight of the line, paying attention to the relationship between the front and back of the line, as in the picture, the neck is blocking the back part of the body.

Step Three:

Add shadow markers to line up the dark side, and note that the shape of the shadows will change according to the body's muscular undulations during the painting process.

How to express the bird's three-dimensionality and the texture of its fur?

The following other birds as a demonstration, simply divided the green duck into two blocks, the head, body, two parts (head, body) and then subdivided into, subject to the light side, the dark side of the two blocks, if you are not clear about how to distinguish the light and dark, I recommend reading this article I wrote!How to dichotomize light and dark.

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The above is about how to draw bird sketching method introduction, you have encountered difficulties in drawing birds? Welcome to leave a comment and learn!

If you want to learn to draw, but don't know how to start, or are interested in understanding what drawing is all about.

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For more articles on Extended Drawing Methods.

How to Sketch a Pet Dog: A Practical Approach to Perspective and Proportion

How to draw a Koi in pencil: a lesson in fish sketching

Drawing a Dynamic Orangutan: How to Master Body Proportions and Dynamic Structures

Sketching Lions: Simplifying Head and Torso with Basic Shapes