Shape Bird
How to Draw Birds
Birds are very rewarding to draw, there is such variety in shape and size from the tiny wren to a magnificent golden eagle. Can you think of any other group of creatures that has such contrast, on the one hand you have the small plain and humble warbler and on the other a strutting glorious peacock! There is so much to draw here so much to observe and capture.
What’s different about birds?
Birds are different from other animals because there body and limbs are coveredby feathers. So when you come to draw them it will help to understand what’s under those feathers, to be blunt its quite a scrawny odd looking creature! They have a thin usually bent back necks and under those wing feathers are folded arms, if you hold your arms out to the side then this is just how a bird does it when flying, and when at rest its arms are folded back. Its legs are mostly under feathers, the part you see is actually the toes with the rest of the foot going up to the heel, the calf, knee and thigh are normally under the feathers. If you crouch with your legs bent and just the balls of your feet on the ground and your arms folded back by your sides that is how a bird normally stands. All this will help you to know what’s happening when you see birds moving about and flying.
Whatever you attempt to draw the principles are the same and it definitely applies to the subject of how to draw birds.
Before you start drawing just relax and have a good look at it, if you have enough time before it flies off ! Its challenging but once you know how to draw birds there’s nothing like it.
Familiarizing yourself with the subject
Familiarize yourself with it, follow the outlines, see where they meet each other. Look at the size of each part in relation to other parts, then if necessary use your pencil to measure proportions, comparing them to each other. Look at it and try to understand the perspective and foreshortening if it is at an angle to you. All this will save a lot of time when you commence drawing.
How much to draw?
You need to decide at the start how much of the subject you are going to draw. Do you want to draw all of it or part of it? Best not to just start drawing and manage to only get part of what you want to draw on the paper! Measure the height against the width and mark these extremities on your paper. Very lightly sketch in the over all shape, of the bird or the part of the bird you are interested in.
Putting pencil to paper is nothing to be afraid of, just enjoy your self at this stage because your not produce a master piece to hang in a gallery! And like I said keep your drawing light, very light at this stage so as you can easily remove any lines you don’t want.
When you are happy with how it looks on the paper you can relax knowing that the work you put in from now on will not be a waste of time.
A very use full tool for measuring proportions is the ‘Proportion Measure’ which can be obtained from my site www.performingpencil.com
Starting the drawing.
For a bird first sketch out the overall body shape, then the head, tail and wings and then follow up with the legs, beak, eyes and main feather areas like on the wings. Choose one part of the bird as a measure to help you get every thing in proportion.
Remember to keep drawing lightly at this stage so that you can easily remove unwanted lines.
Draw through one part in order to see why another is coming out in that place. What I mean is that if a leg is passing behind another then draw how you imagine the leg looks behind the other in this way you will get it emerging in the right place.
Also look at negative spaces, these are the spaces between say the legs and the legs and the body. Make sure they look right in your drawing as these help in getting the position of legs etc in the right place.
Quick sketches.
If it’s on the move its best to do lots of quick sketches, don’t worry about detail just get down its shape and posture and don’t think about it just be spontaneous. This will go a long way to helping you to get to know its character, the way it moves and stands.
This is were a sketch book comes in, fill it up with these sketches so that you have a valuable source of reference for later drawings. Make sure it is easy to hold, not too big but at the same time not too small. If it is small it will cramp your drawing and will get in the way of capturing the subject.
When you are drawing try and draw with your whole arm, this will go a long way to producing a better result.
I hope you have benefited and enjoyed this article.
About the Author
Michael was born in 1947 in Folkestone on the Kent coast. After living abroad and moving around the country he arrived back in Folkestone, there he later went to Art College from 1964 to 1967 studying graphic design and illustration.
In 1967 he moved to London and worked in various design groups and advertising agencies as a designer and typographer.
In 1972 he went freelance as an illustrator producing work for advertising, editorial and publishing and quickly gained a reputation in these fields.
He has been sussesfully represented by his agent Folio for a number of years.
During this time Michael was awarded a D&AD award for illustration and a Mecanorma award for best poster illustration.
Some of the clients he has produced work for are: Cadburies, British Airways, Quantas, Midland Bank [HSBC], Vintage Inns, Ikea, Queens Club tennis tournament, Puffin Books, Little Tiger Press, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Gullane Children’s Books, The Times, Observer and Telegraph.
USA clients have been: Readers Digest Children’s Books, Golden Books [Random House] and Schoolastic.
Since the mid 90′s he has been equally successful in children’s books and has produced illustrations for many books in this field.
Some of the children’s books illustrated are: ‘The Selfish Crocodile’ [best seller], ‘Little Hotchpotch’, ‘Rhino’s Horns’ written by himself, ‘Sulky Vulture’ ‘The Lonely Giraffe’, ‘Ellie and Elvis’ and ‘Captain Wag the Pirate Dog’ series written by himself and ‘The Wide-Mouthed Frog’ all published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books and ‘Here comes the Crocodile’, ‘Chameleon’s Crazy Colours’, ‘Ouch!’, ‘Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch’ and ‘What’s More Scary than a Shark?’ published by Little Tiger Press and numerous Dick King-Smith books published by Puffin Books.
Michael has also written the following ebooks, ‘How to Draw Birds’, ‘How to Draw Animals’, and ‘How to Draw Flowers’ these can be found on his website www.performingpencil.com.
His other sites are www.thepaintbrush.co.uk and www.wildmonths.com
He now lives and works by the coast in Kent with his partner and has four sons and a granddaughter.
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