LEARN TO DRAW A BEAUTIFUL LIFE-LIKE BIRD!

Step by Step progress!

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Hi there! I'm Bia.. also known as @biacrafts on Instagram and facebook..

I love working with different art mediums but currently i am loving

graphite pencils. I’ve always been intrigued by nature’s

intricate details. It’s this complexity — combined with the subtleties of mood and environment — that I attempt to capture in my drawings

I tend to travel to where my subjects live so I can observe their behaviors and interactions within their natural habitats. While on location, I also gather as much reference as possible, from photographs to actual specimens — fallen feathers, fur, grasses and the like.

Birds are my favorite creatures to draw so i decided to share with you the basic techniques and an easy way to draw a realistic birdie using pencils!

TIP: If you start to look at things in terms of basic shapes, whether your reference is three-dimensional (an object) or two-dimensional (a photo) or simply in your imagination, you’ll notice that replicating those simple shapes in either a larger or smaller size is an efficient way to begin a drawing.

MATERIALS:

HB or No. 2 pencil, (2B, 3B ,9B ,3H,4H, 8H) well-sharpened Sketchbook or drawing paper Eraser Blending stump or tortillon or Q-tips Reference photo of your favorite bird with normal contrast that clearly shows the head and the eye.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 1: DRAW AN OUTLINE OF THE BIRD’S HEAD --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first step is draw a simple outline of the shape of the bird’s head. No details just yet! Use your eraser to change your lines if you need to, until you arrive at a simple outline that captures the right shape of your reference birdie.

Then draw a line depicting where the eye sits, straight through the center of the beak. After you have your outline, erase any extra lines that you don’t need.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 2:SHAPE THE EYE AND THE BEAK ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Draw a circular shape for the eye, paying close attention to the shape of your bird’s eye in your reference. Mine was very round and sat right behind the break on the line that I had drawn.

Then, the line you drew before becomes the center of the beak. Again, pay close attention to your reference and draw the upper and lower beak using your original line as the center.

These are typically very simple shapes, but you need to pay close attention to get the outline just right.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 3: FOCUS ON THE EYE --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This area is usually the most important element in my pieces. It’s the place I aim to have the most detail, contrast and crispness, in an effort to help the viewer connect to the animal in the drawing. After drawing the eye’s basic shape, I blocked in the surrounding areas to ensure proper placement and proportions, using an HB pencil lead in a mechanical pencil. I used a 9B pencil to fill the pupil’s bottom half, which will be the darkest part of the bird. Next, in order to incorporate the reflection of the surrounding trees, I used HB lead in a technical pencil to push some of the graphite from the pupil area in order to suggest tree shapes. Finally, using 4H and HB leads, I pulled out radiating lines to fill in the iris.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 4:FILL IN THE FEATHERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now lighly rinder the body and begin to fill in the feathers using short feathery strokes in the direction you see them growing.

The aim is not to draw every feather, but a suggestion of feathery stories that imitate the direction the bird’s real feathers grow in. I started working on these areas by drawing short lines made with mechanical, technical and wood-cased pencils and using pencil grades in the middle range (3H–3B). I then added an overall coat to the bird’s body using 4H marks — without applying a lot of pressure — to indicate things like feather barbs, markings, toe scales and beak texture.

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TIP: At this stage, you should focus on the direction and length of each mark, and you should use curved strokes for the beak, toes and other features to suggest their form. For feathers — and fur and scales — always work from the tail toward the head so these elements appear to overlap as they do in nature. And don’t apply a lot of pressure when drawing, these unnecessary marks can easily be erased later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 5: ADD A DARKER LAYER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now fill in the bird’s beak. Using the tip of your pencil, lightly fill in the upper and lower beak, making note on your reference to where it is darkest and lightest. and then add the darks. Typically the upper beak becomes light toward the center line, and the lower beak is all dark.Finally, carefully fill in the upper half of the eye with tiny strokes, leaving little flecks of white paper. These flecks give the illusion of reflection and are what give your bird’s eye that spark it needs to look real. It’s so tiny, but take your time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STEP 6:COMPLETE THE FINISHING TOUCHES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before you use a blending stick to put the final touches on your bird, take a few moments to add in some of the darker areas you notice on your reference image..When you’re happy with your shading, lightly smooth over the drawing — except for the beak and the eye — with a blending stump or tortillon. Always use your blending tool in the same direction of form as you did your initial pencils marks. Use a very light touch to avoid embedding the graphite into the paper, and so that you can still see the feathery strokes through the blended graphite. Lastly erase the rest of all unnecessary initial pencil lines and you have a beautiful picture to add to your collection of bird drawings! 

I really hope you enjoyed this simple step by step tutorial on how to draw a realistic bird with pencil. If you have any questions or requests, let me know in the comments below! Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.