• Make reference lines in shape of a ‘t’.

Draw a vertical line to define the length of the body, and then draw two slanted lines on both side from the upper area of the vertical line, forming a broken ‘t’. The slanted lines would represent the length of the forewings.

• Use ovals of different length and sizes to define the body figure.

The thickest part of the body should be the thorax/chest. Use a grain shaped oval for the thorax, and a thin oblong significantly longer than the thorax for the tail/abdomen. Add a half of a circle at the top for the head.

• Draw the wings.

The lower outlines of a dragonfly’s wings are usually rounder or more sloped than the upper outlines. the forewings are like a grain shaped oval split in half. Make two sloped lines coming from the upper center of the thorax and connect them to the tip of the diagonal lines. The hindwings are relatively thicker than the forewings. Start by drawing another pair of diagonal lines right below the previous ones. Unlike the forewings’ shape, the hindwings are more like quarter slices of apple with the thicker half of them resided at the center. Add the appendages or curved spikes at the tip of the abdomen while you’re at it.

• Properly define the main outline of the dragonfly.

Add some slight curves to the upper outlines of the wings. Connect each parts to obtain the proper outline of the dragonfly’s figure. Add the segments of the abdomen as well. These segments would create some ridges to the outline of the abdomen.

• Once the main outline of the dragonfly’s figure is made, erase the reference line marks.

You need the figure clean so you could place the details neatly. Keep in mind that the division of the big eyes and other head features are also established by the vertical reference line. Add one more curve line on each segments of the abdomen, like rings tucked tightly around it.

• Draw the inner details of the dragonfly.

The details of a blue-eyed darners are intricate. Like most dragonflies, the veins on the from median –flexion line (upper portion of the wings) up to the upper margins are closer to one another. The veins don’t spread much and all leads to the tip of the wings, while the veins starting from the middle and across the rest of the wings are arced and spread downwards. The thorax has small spots and patches uniform on both sides. Smaller dots are aligned at the center and longer markings are near the sides.

Each sections of the segmented abdomen mostly has three markings. It is ringed with  bars outlining the segments, and the bars meet at the center of each segments like intersecting spikes and arcs. the abdomen also has a thin marking that intersects each segments. The last 3 sections could have a different mark formations. The third of the last sections has more like a heart-shaped form instead of rings, while the second and last sections could have semi-triangular bars.

• Once you are satisfied with the line work, retrace them using a pen.

Replace the outlines using a permanent marker. The outlines defining the shape of the dragonfly should be thicker, while the inner outlines of the details and prints should be retraced by thinner and finer line marks.

• Color some of the rings on the segments of the tail with black, and shade the other black sections as well while you’re at it.

Beginning from the tip of he thorax, blacken the intersecting rings on each segments of the abdomen. Take note that not all the rings would intersect (like the second segment) and not all have the same thickness. Darken the mouth and define the dark bar on the upper margin of the wings (pterostigma) .

• Apply the blue color of the blue-eyed darner.

Remember that the wings are transparent, so you would color across it. Use two shades of blue to convey the dimensions of the dragonfly. Use something like sky blue or azure for the brighter tone, and steel blue for a darker value. Color the small markings and the lowest section of the thorax, so as the lower sections of the abdomen segments. The mouth should also be blue. Fill these sections with the bright blue, and then overlap the round edges with the darker blue value.

• Color the eyes and some portions across the body.

The eyes have a different shade of blue compared to the body. Use royal blue as a base color, then shade the edges with a darker tone like steel blue. Add some shimmer on the eyes using cerulean blue.  Use pale blue on the small areas rowed the abdomen as well.

• Fill the remaining areas of the body with brown.

Color the rest of the remaining areas of the body with brown. Use a value like umber brown.

• Add darker values on the brown areas to convey the contour shape of the body.

Overlap the edges of the brown areas using a darker tone like umber brown. The thorax has ridges and shallow slopes. This can be contour by applying the dark brown below the inner outlines of the details. The brown areas would look better if it has a warmer mid tone. apply a faint layer of caramel brown where the darker and brighter brown meet, especially on the segments of the abdomen.

• Finally, finish the drawing by adding faint shades.

With a very light hand stroke, apply some shades to the wings by following the veins to section them out. apply some finished shades on the body as well, especially on the edges of next to the main outlines. And you are done drawing a blue-eyed darner.

More step-by-step drawing tutorials are available in our books https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners. Each book is categorized by different subjects for drawing, all explained in a way that non-experienced individuals could easily follow and learn to draw.

• Draw a vertical line with a round pinhead.

The vertical line defines the body length of the butterfly, and the pinhead is the size of its head.

• Define the outline of the forewings and the thickness of the body.

From the upper center of the vertical line, draw an inverted ‘V’. Extend  this outline with a pair of diagonal outlines, making a wide spread ‘W’ symbol. This would be the lower outline of the butterfly’s forewings. Complete the outline of the forewings by Making two curves coming from below the head  extending to the ends of the ‘W’.  Define the thickness of the body while making a shallow curve that separates the upper body to the lower body, like two intersecting grains.

• Define the hindwings.

 Draw two curved lines coming from the sides of the body like halves of ovals. The length should be longer than the tail/abdomen of the butterfly by a little.  Extend the slopes to the outer sides of the forewings’ lower center (nearly at the center tip of the ‘W’ figure). now you have the shape of the forewings. Draw the linings of the abdomen and apply the head features of the butterfly as well.

• Draw the details of the wings.

The details of the monarch butterfly’s wings are very ornate and the contrast in colors make the each parts very recognizable. the sections or cells of the wings are round edged bars divided by the veins. There are at least three distinguishable cells surrounding the center cell or the discal cell on the forewings, and more but shorter ones at the hindwings. (the ones nearest to the area that connects to the body). The costal margins or the edges of the wings have small random patches.

To easily establish the details of the wings, draw the discal cells in tear drop shapes, and make at least five divisions with curved lines spreading outwards to the edges of the wings.

• Retrace the outlines with a permanent marks.

Once you are satisfied with the main outlines and the details, redefine the markings using a pen or any permanent marker. Use thicker lines for the main outlines of the figure, and thinner line marks for the inner details. And then erase all the pencil markings to prepare for coloring.

• Apply the first base color of the monarch butterfly.

Using a dull charcoal black, color all the areas excluding the cells and the spots. Keep in mind the you will darken some small areas later, so the dark value you use should not be the darkest.

• Color the cells with the second base color.

The cells of the monarch butterfly’s wings are basically orange. Use a slightly brighter tone of orange like apricot and fill all the cells including the larger patches on the apex of the forewings (the 3 bars nearest to the upper edge of the wings).

• Make some shadows.

Using a darker shade of black, apply some shadows on the overlapped areas beneath the lower edges of the forewings and the sides of the body.

• Apply a brighter orange tone.

The orange color of the monarch butterfly near the body on the hindwings are usually brighter. Using an orange color with a paler or brighter value, brighten the upper sides of some of the cells on the hindwings.

• Apply a stronger tone of orange and finish the drawing.

Use a warmer tone of orange, like red orange, to darken the edges of the orange areas.  Make your final retouches, and you’re done drawing a monarch butterfly.

If you are interested in other drawing tutorials about several topics, take a look at our books. https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners. All the books are meant to teach and guide individuals who have no experience in drawing. The tutorials are explained thoroughly so anyone could easily follow through and  learn draw different subjects.

Now, let's draw a red-capped manakin.

• Begin by establishing the size of the body and the head.

Draw an oval to convey the size of the bird’s body. once the size of the body is defined, add half of a sphere to represent the head. make a cross reference mark on the head to establish the direction where the head should be facing.

• Draw the wings and the facial features of the bird.

The beak is basically triangular shape with a slope the connects to the head while the other half sticks out. The upper half of the beak should be positions right on the upper half of the cross reference line’s very center. The eye which is exposed is just horizontally aligned to it.

The wings are basically a half of an oval, overlapping more than half of the body. due to the angle, you only need to draw one, while only a small portion of the other wing could be seen. Add the feet of the bird with simple lines for now.

• Establish the layers of the wings and the thickness of the legs.

The wings of a red-capped manakin is covered with two feather textures; the ones which are visually definitive  feather shaped and a thick layer of fur-like strands which also covers the rest of the body. the furry texture covers the upper portion of the wings which connects to the body.

To easily place the feathers of the wings, make three curved reference lines in rows.  The first lines which represents the furry feathers should slope inwards, overlapping the second reference line which represents the coverts. Make a bunch of slanted lines on the last row to represent the layer of primary and secondary wing feathers. Define the thickness of the legs. 

• Draw the feathers and add texture to the main outlines.

Follow to the reference line you have made to easily draw the rowed layers of feathers. Replace the main outlines of the figure with slightly jagged lines to portray a feathery texture.

• Erase the sketch marks and other unnecessary markings.

prepare the drawing for inking. If you are already confident with your main outlines, you can already proceed to the next step. If not, just do this step first by redefining the outlines with finer line strokes. Clean up the drawing by erasing all the unnecessary markings such as the reference marks and the base forms. You should only be left with the main outlines. this is the final stage which you can make any adjustments that you need. Apply a few short thin lines on the back to portray  the texture.

• Re-do the main outline using permanent line marks.

Carefully retrace the main outlines with a pen or any fine-point permanent marker. The lines should be smooth and clean. Now you can proceed to coloring.

• Apply the base color of the body.

Excluding the head, carefully fill up the body with a very deep gray tone (dim gray).

• Apply the base color of the head.

For the head, use the very basic red color.

With the two base colors in place, you will use different tones or grades on each of them to convey the dimensions and texture of the bird. At this point, you will only use very light hand strokes as you color over the base colors.

• Add a darker tone to the head.

Use a slightly darker shade of red, which could be a crimson red or firebrick red,  to portray the texture of the head. Apply very light strokes coming from the beak and curving outwards. Add a few short strokes to the back of the head as well in a same manner.

• Add a darker tone to the body.

To depict the shadows cast by the overlapping portions of the feathers and the soft texture of the body, you will use a darker tone that is darker than dim gray which is already dark. In this case, you will need something like charcoal gray (also called charcoal black) which is a bit duller and subtly brighter than an ordinary black tone.

• Color the smaller portions.

The legs of a red-capped manakin is basically wood brown with taints of cedar brown, while the beak could be a pale peanut brown or grayish brown.

• Apply the darkest tone of the red area.

Create more depth to the dimensions of the figure by adding another darker tone of red (on the head), with multiple thin line strokes coming from the beak but not reaching the forehead nor the cheek.

• Elaborate the texture by adding the darkest tones of the body and a few line strokes of a brighter tone.

Lastly, use black to darken the areas that should appear darker, such as the cast shadows under the wing and under the beak. 

Add a few very thin strokes of cool gray or bluish gray on the edges of the few wing feathers, and also make some short fur lines at the back. And you’re done drawing a red-capped manakin.

More examples for drawing birds of different kinds are available in the book "How to Draw Birds for Kids" . 

Here's an example of how to draw a bulldog.

• Draw an oval for the base of the body and a sphere for the head.

This unique-looking bulldog has a relatively thick body and a wide head. the thickness of its body makes up for its relatively short height. To start, draw an oval for the body and a sphere with reference lines for the head. Due to the position of the dog, the sphere should slightly overlap the oval (foreshortening the neck).

• Draw the short yet thick legs of the bulldog.

Due to its thick body, the legs are widely separated from each other. The front legs are usually slightly slanted so its short legs could support its heavy body. Add four oblongs to represent the four legs. Position each oblong accordingly, without any one of them being in contact of each other (specially in this angle).

• Draw the face.

The facial features of a bulldog are quite distinct. The loose skin on its short muzzle turns it into somewhat an inverted heart shape or simply a triangular sphere with a slope at the lower side. Use the reference lines as a guide for positioning the facial features. The mouth is cast downwards like an inverted ‘U’. because of the angle and the short muzzle, the nose would appear closer to the eyes. The ears diagonally aligned to the eyes are usually either crumpled or folded.

• Draw a slanted line from the back of the dog and to back of the head, this would thicken the neck. Define the outline properly once all parts are placed (including the very short tail which is barely seen in this angle.)

• Add some details portraying the loose skin of the bulldog.

Put a few thin lines to convey the ridges and folds of the body, especially on the face. The skin fold on top of the bulldog’s nose is what gives the muzzle its shape. Define the thick brow line that gives the face a bit of a frowned expression. Add a few more short lines on the forehead as wrinkles, and some on the chest as well.

• Retrace your pencil outlines.

Re-define the main outlines of the dog’s figure with a pen or any fine point marker. Remember that you should only use thin line marks for the inner outlines of the body (the wrinkles and the skin folds).

Once you are done inking, erase all the pencil markings so you'll be left with only the important outlines.

• Add some shades to the body to define its dimensions.

Use a gray color to add shades on the inner edges of the figure’s outline, and also on the overshadowed portions such as the farther legs. 

And then add a very thin layer of shading to the body to convey the dimensions. Basically, the shades should lighten until it diminishes when it reaches the areas that should be brighter due to its curved surface (central area of the body and legs). On the head, remember that the folds and the ridges should have a brighter tone from the face to emphasize it.

• Apply the body details.

Bulldogs varies in different colors and color patterns. The colors are different shades and distributions of red (which is basically brownish orange), black and white. They could have two to three colors on their body, and there are also those that are solid or single toned. the color patterns also vary from two to three colors of brindled colors (combination of two colors) and face markings or piebald patterns (patches of a different color on a base color). The most common color pattern is a two toned bulldog with a base color of white and large patches of a different color.

Since you already applied shades on the body, it can already be considered as a white base color and you only need to apply the patches next.

Start with a light tone of a second color. For a brown tone, you can use something like a cedar brown. Use this to place where you want the patches to be. For the mid tone, apply something like a mocha brown. To establish the curves or dimensions of the areas that the patches are covering, apply a darker tone like umber brown coming from the outlines of the figure.

• Make your finishing touches and color the other small portions that are left, such as the facial features, and you’re done drawing a bulldog.

More examples are available in the book "How to Draw Dogs for Kids".

This book contains several examples about drawing different kinds of dogs, with each little step carefully explained so the young reader could easily follow through. From composing the figure using a combination of simple shapes, and up to applying the colors. The steps are designed in a way that can be applied to either digital drawing (drawing on a tablet) or traditionally (drawing on a paper). 

Now, here's an example of how to draw one.

• Initially establish the body proportions.

The lower body of a German shepherd is observably lower than the front, this makes the outline of his back slanted than arced (like other dogs’). The body is relatively wide on the front then narrows down noticeably. In this kind of body structure, the semi-conical oval representing the oval must be slightly tilted while the top of the sphere representing the lower body levels with it, creating a slanted alignment. The sphere for the head is relatively small. Set the cross reference line a bit higher than the center.

• Establish the length of the limbs and position the facial features.

Position the limbs. The standing position of a German shepherd usually looks like it's almost in a squat position, and this makes the hind legs appear in a broken ‘L’ position with the hock strongly protruding on the back. Initially establish the folds and length of the limbs including the tail.

Place the facial feature using the cross reference lines as a guide. The muzzle is relatively thick on the base and then narrows down as it sticks out. the eyes are aligned with the bridge of the muzzle, and the erected triangular ears are diagonally aligned with the eyes.

• Draw the main outline of the figure.

Using the base figure, establish the main outline of the dog while conveying texture. Apply a few subtle ridges, especially on the lower sides and the tail. define the prominent cheekbones and subtle fluffs outlining the neck.

• Clean up the drawing.

Remove the base figures and all the other line markings you no longer need to prepare for coloring.

• Fill the figure with its base color.

The most known bi-colored kind of a German shepherd is the black and tan, with the tan fur covering the most of the body and combined with black markings. Use a light shade of brown like cream brown or dark tan.

• Convey the dimensions using a darker value.

Add a faint layer of shades on the on the edges of the outlines a tone like light bronze. Also apply this shade on the overlapped areas such as the farther legs, farther ear and portions of the tail. convey the contour of the head by applying a shade under the cheek, sides of the muzzle and eye sockets.

• Apply the body markings.

Using a dull kind of black, (charcoal black), make a big saddle-shaped mark on the back that extends far on the side part of the body. This might also extend on the upper part of the tail. the ears and the face is also usually black. Apply a thin layer of black from the outline of the brows and to the entire muzzle, and also behind the ears.

• Apply the small details of the facial features and begin to convey the furry texture starting with the head.

Darken the inner sides of the ears with the deepest shade coming from the ear canal. Use it to describe the concave dimensions and ripples on the ear flaps.

German shepherds have dense fur coat made of thick short strands. To portray this easily, you will use finer lighter hand strokes to make thin short lines. The strands are cast downwards, but make sure that you flow with the contour shape of the dog. Use stronger tones with finer and sharper lines. apply strands of rust brown to a reddish amber brown on the cream brown/tan surface.

• Use lighter and darker values with stronger strokes and finer lines.

For a lighter value, use a paler tone like sandy brown or anything with a hint of lighter cream tone. In contrast to the lighter strands, apply strands using a basic brown tone.

• Elaborate the fur texture even further.

Keep on adding more strands while adjusting the values a bit more. Add longer lines to make the coating appear more natural. Slightly overlap the black areas with the strands of brown tones.

• Add more values of darker and lighter tones on the texture.

Apply a very faint strands of a brighter tone with a leans towards a lighter cream tone, something like a brownish flesh tone or a brownish peach. Add strands of coffee brown, mostly on the areas that already has a darker shade (shadowed areas).

• Add your final retouches and apply another layer of shading.

Reinforce the dimensions of the figure by re-darkening the areas that should appear darker. This would blend all the textures and tones of the drawing with the shape more effectively.

And you're done illustrating a German shepherd.

More examples and tips are available in the book "How to Draw Dogs for the Absolute Beginner". All the steps in each examples are thoroughly explained, so a non-experienced person could easily follow and learn to draw. 

For other drawing books about drawing, visit the entire books collection https://l2draw.com/collections

The most well-known of their kind is the stegosaurus, and here's a simple process of how to draw one.

• Establish the mass.

Create a base to easily establish the mass and proportions of the subject. The body of a stegosaurus is pretty much like in a shape of a teardrop with the thicker side on the rear. use a combination of spheres to easily establish the proportions of the leg, with the back legs being observably larger than the front legs. Being thicker and longer, the back legs should be leveled higher than the front legs. In comparison, the sphere representing the knee of the back leg is almost just as big as the sphere of the front leg’s thickest portion.  The base of the head could be just a quarter of an oval, held by a relatively long neck. The length of the tail is relatively the same length of the base/trunk (I decided to curve it down, although the tails are usually held above the level of the head).

Once you established the size and proportions of the body, sketch the bony plates and the spikes of the tail. The biggest plates are often portrayed at the middle of the spine/back and then they rapidly decrease in size as both sides reach the neck and the tail.

• Properly establish the main outline and clean up the drawing.

Redefine the main outline of the figure and erase the sketch marks and the base forms that you used. You need the figure clean, regardless of whether you will remove it later or not, so you can properly apply the primary shades (since most of them would be close to the edges).

• Apply the primary shades.

Convey the dimensions and the subtle details of the subject via shades. portray the subtle traces of the rib cage and muscle linings of the body using faint mid-tone shading with very light hand strokes. Apply some shades on the edges of the main outline to depict its contour shape somehow, and then shade the farther sides and overlapped portions for the shadows. If you are drawing traditionally, make sure that you smear the shades smoothly and evenly (you should always smear and even out the primary shading).

• Start applying the primary colors. Choose the main color/colors that you want for your dinosaur and start applying the first layer of coloring. remember to adjust the brightness/darkness value depending on the area you are applying it to.

Convey the shallow slopes and any subtly receded areas of the figure through the values of the main color (the middle section of the trunk being lighter then gets darker as it goes up to the back, the subtle shift of dark to light values around and over the thigh and shoulder, etc.). And of course, the farther and overlapped portions should appear darker. Just use your primary shading as a guide to how dark the farther portions should be. Remember that the overlapped areas should have the darkest values of the color among the rest, as they should have shadows on the sides of the farther plates and the upper areas of the farther limbs right below the trunk).

• Add the other details.

Once you are satisfied if the toning of your primary color, you could now add in any body prints or patterns. Just makes sure that you blend or flow these patterns with the contour shape of your subject.

• Darken the value and elaborate the details.

Generally decrease the brightness of each values. If you are drawing traditionally, a very light run of a used cotton or whatever you used for smudging/smearing (assuming that it is stained enough). Applying these murky and thin layer of shade is ideal with gray soft charcoal, as it won’t overpower the colors (best-suited for colored pencils or even an already dried water-coloring) and you could always regain the tones using a kneaded eraser. But if you are drawing digitally, just simply make another layer over all the previous layers and drop down the opacity of the layer or the brush to low.

• Add a few more subtle (darker) tones to serve as an accent and finalize the drawing.

By darkening the tones, it would be easier to elaborate the wrinkles of the skin and any other details of its texture (since you somehow gained back a brighter value). Use a kneaded eraser (or even the brighter tone of the primary color) to create or re-create the wrinkles and skin folds, and use a darken color close to the primary color to add in a few more deeper folds and complementing subtle shadows for the previous ones.

If you wish to see more examples with more detailed guides of how to draw dinosaurs, grab a copy of "Drawing Dinosaurs - How to Draw Dinosaurs for Absolute Beginners". https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-dinosaurs-how-to-draw-dinosaurs-for-absolute-beginners

• Draw an oval for the base of the body, and then a smaller oval for the head.

Use simple straight lines for lengths and folds of the legs, tail and arms. The legs should have three folds, from thigh to knee and from heel to toes. The arms also have three folds, from shoulder to elbow and wrist to fingers. Take note that a raptor is in a slightly crouched position.

• Start defining the thickness of the legs and the arms.

Just follow the folds of the lines you drew earlier so you’ll know when to change thickness. The calves of the legs are rounded and a bit muscular but the thighs should obviously be thicker. The toes of a raptor are thick and spread apart from each other. the arms are fairly slender.

• Complete the outlines of the raptor by drawing the upper portions.

Add more thickness to the head and the facial features. the oval base (for the head) should only occupy the muzzle and the eyes (with the side of the lower curve as the jaw line). The neck is thinner from the shoulder then widens as it connects to the head. the tail is pointed and stiff. And then add the sharp claws of the feet.

• Erase the base (ovals and first line marks) so you’d be left with only a clean outline of the dinosaur’s shape.

• Add the feathers of the raptor.

Put some feather lining to the top of the head and below the tail. Make some layers of feathers sticking out from the back of the arm. They should only be short and few (not an entire wing).

• Once you are done with the pencil outlines, start re-tracing them with pen or a marker. Start with the main shape of the raptor using thick/solid lines, and then use fine lines for inking the feathers.

• Add some more feathery texture.

Now we are going to create the body prints differently since the raptor is feathered. To portray this kind of texture, you would need to make the print outlines with thin continual lines also known as “hatches” in drawing. Short thin lines that are tightly close to one another and changes in angle to make a turn. Just simply start with a row of horizontal lines and the gradually turn the line horizontally as you get closer to the edge. These hatches would replace the fine outlines for the body marks/prints.

When you are finally done with the inking, apply the darkest tone of the main color to the edges of the outlines. Remember the division of each areas carefully, this could be a little tricky since they are divided differently.

• When you are done applying the dark tone of the main color to the edges, fill these respective areas with a brighter tone of the same color.

Now we are going to use two tone of the same color once again. This time, it would be for the color of the legs (from knee to toe). I would also apply this second color to the belly area of the raptor.

• Apply thee dark tone of the second color to the side edges of the legs’ outlines and also at the sides of the belly.

• Now fill these areas with the second color’s brighter tone. They should be the middle areas of the legs and the upper portion of the belly.

The area of the belly is almost hidden by the feathers of the arms, be careful not to exceed from the outline.

• Choose a third color and apply them on two parts of the body prints. You can also choose different colors on each if you like. I wanted mine to have one color for each paired areas of the bordered sections.

Just continue the coloring process for the body prints on a same manner. Choose a pair of areas and apply the colors.

• Apply your third chosen color to another pair of the bordered sections. Take note that when you are coloring areas that are bordered by hatches(continuous thin short lines)  then you should also apply colors to the borders as well because they have little gaps in between the short lines.

• Finally, finish the coloring by applying your fourth chosen color (for the last pair of bordered sections and for the feathers of the raptor. Just simply color the long curved claws with dark gray and you’re done.

You can put some background to your drawing if you wish, as long as your main drawing is completely colored already.

For more examples of how to draw cartoon dinosaurs, grab a copy of "Drawing Dinosaurs for Kids"  https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-dinosaurs-for-kids-a-step-by-step-dinosaur-drawing-guide-for-kids

Basically, the quarter half of a circle should be overlapped by the quarter halves of the other circles. 

• Divide the area into three rows (or more, depending on the number of fans you will make).
• Make a row of circles. Find the center (of the circles) and make a reference line.

• The second row of circles will start from below or above the reference line you made (the center line of the first row of circles), and then mark a reference line on the lower half of the first row. (the upper half of the second row) This will be the center of the third row of the circles that will alternate the column of the first and second row. This reference line can be located easily by marking an ‘X’ on the columns created by the reference line (center line) of the first and second row. The intersections of the ‘X’s would be the center of the circles’ halves.

• Create another column of circles from the alternating row (third row of circles). And again, find the center of the upper half of the first column (this should be the top of the third row of circles).

• With the last reference line you made, make two rows of circles above and below it.

• With those set of circles, you can find the fan shape at the upper division of each circles created by the other two circles overlapping it. Mark these fan shapes with borders of cubes or tiles.

• Fill up each fan with tiles.

• Clean up the drawing. Now you have your fan shaped tiles.

To make a fan-shape tiles as a pavement, apply the same method with the reference lines following a vanishing point.

• Depending on the number of fans you want to make, divide the areas evenly. From these reference marks (indention of the evenly divided space), draw the vanishing lines going to a single vanishing point.
• Draw your first horizontal reference line. By this line, you now have your first row where you should place your first circle.
• Draw another set of vanishing lines coming from a vanishing point on a farther side of the horizon line. Use the intersections of your first and second sets of vanishing lines to find where the next horizontal reference lines should be. These intersections created by your vanishing lines will effectively adjust to the perspective of your plane.
• To establish the other rows on the farther part of the plane, draw diagonal lines coming at the sides of the other rows you previously made.

To know if you did the steps correctly, the vanishing lines coming at the far side of the horizon line (the ones you used to establish the first rows) and the diagonal lines that you made (to further establish the other rows) should have converged on the boxes and produce cross (X) reference lines establishing the center of each box.

A more detailed discussion and guides are included in the book "Manual Drawing Volume 2 For the Beginner".  The book contains tips about various topics, explained in a way that a non-experienced individual could easily follow and learn to draw.

https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners/products/manual-drawing-volume-2-for-the-beginner

Check out the other books about drawing various subjects as well.

https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners?page=1

Even if the features are very detailed and shaded with proper values accordingly it would still not look realistic (or worse, it may not look pleasing at all), if they are not placed appropriately.

 The key is to use reference lines to properly locate the placements of the facial features.

The reference lines that forms a cross mark are used to locate each facial features accordingly to their respective places. These lines serve as a guide to avoid misalignments and unusual distances between each feature.

• two parallel lines on the upper portion is used to align the eyes.
• a short line is used to align the nose wings.
• another short line is used for the mouth to establish  how wide it should be.
• The vertical line across the four parallel lines is used to locate the center of the head which is where the nose ball should be.

The distance of the forehead to the level of the eyes (usually the lower eye outline) is equal to the distance of the eyes from the chin. The location of the eyes is usually the center of the face (either the upper eye outline which is the eyelids, or the lower outline).

The distance of the forehead to the level of the eyes (usually the lower eye outline) is equal to the distance of the eyes from the chin. The location of the eyes is usually the center of the face (either the upper eye outline which is the eyelids, or the lower outline).

• The gap between the eyes is usually equal to the length of one eye.
• The length of the mouth is usually aligned to the center of each eye.

• The level of the ears is closely similar to the level of the eyes and ends to the level of the tip of nose.

Use these identical alignments and distances to easily construct a face of your own. Here's an example.

Place the reference lines on the constructed shape of the head.

Use the reference lines to properly positions each facial features.

Erase the reference lines and any other primary markings once you have all the features in place. Complete the figure by adding the hair.

Depict the contour of the face using shades.

Elaborate the gradations to depict the head's dimensions.

This topic along more tips are included in the book "Learn How to Draw Human Figures - For the Absolute Beginner". The very basics of drawing human figures along with common elements accompanying it are carefully explained and shown, in a manner that an absolute beginner in drawing could easily follow and understand.

https://l2draw.com/products/learn-how-to-draw-human-figures-for-the-absolute-beginner

In close-fitting leathers or any kind of clothes that naturally bends tightly to the body shape, the illustrated clothing should seem as if the clothes are actually a part that defines the contour shape of the subject.

A gloss is used to show the contour shape of the body figure. Highlights are blended to a contradicting shade value to portray a reflection of an implied light source.

Aside from the body figure, the texture of the clothing depends on the manner a body is positioned. Due to the natural shape of clothes and the softness of the cloth, any kind of movements made by the subject creates a certain change on the its form.The important factor when drawing clothes is how the natural form of any clothing is affected by the contour shape (body) of the subject.

There are three things you should consider when illustrating clothes, especially the loose ones such as couture dresses or slack pants, the tension, the stretch and ripples.

As the body moves, a certain tension to the clothing is made, most especially to the parts of the joints and the cuts of the dress, shirt or pants that tightly encloses the body figure (like the part of the hips and crotch).

• Locate the point of the tension created by the body gesture.

Observe how the clothes are laid to the body and see how each portion tightens as you move. If the subject is wearing a pants and he/she folds his/her legs, then a tension is produced to the knee as the cloth forces to flow with the subject’s body shape and his/her movement.

• Whenever there is a tension-point, the stretch lines follow.

You need to illustrate the stretch lines to impose the location of the tension point.

The stretch lines depends on how the cloth is pulled to a certain portion (tension point) or where the natural tightened parts are, such as the joined edges of the seams or layers of the clothing (like the part of the crotch, underarms or the seams of a tight pants’ bottom).

• Tensions made to the clothing naturally produce ripples.

Depending on the body motion, a tension produces a loose portion since the clothing is stretched. Ripples and crumples shows up due to the change in the clothes’ natural form. Ripples depend on each tension-point and it usually follows the stretch line, it is commonly seen on the opposite side of the tension point.

Here's an example.

Even if the clothes would influence the main outlines of the illustration, you should always draw the body of the subject first so you could easily figure out how the clothes' shape should be manipulated properly.

Define the tensions, the ripples and stretches based on the portrayed pose or gesture of the body.

Darken the tight spots to depict the folds and tensions more accurately. The folds and crumples on the clothing are best represented by smudged shades. The depth of each ridges are easily portrayed by using the different tone values that follows the dimensions including the narrow ones according to a certain light source.

Softer texture is easily depicted by soft shadows and less tight dark spots.

These are the basics of drawing clothes. This topic along more tips are included in the book "Learn How to Draw Human Figures - For the Absolute Beginner". The very basics of drawing human figures along with common elements accompanying it are carefully explained and shown, in a manner that an absolute beginner in drawing could easily follow and understand.

https://l2draw.com/products/learn-how-to-draw-human-figures-for-the-absolute-beginner

Now, let's draw one.

• Establish the size of the long-tailed skipper by using simple shapes.

A long-tailed skipper has an angular shape because of its wings. In this case, a triangle a half circle can be used as a basis to easily establish its length and height (and mass).

Use a triangle to establish the span of the forewings. To make both sides even, use a cross mark as a reference line (horizontal line as the lower edge of the forewing). Mark the center of the horizontal line to locate the position of the base (thorax and abdomen), and then make the diagonal lines of the triangle meet on that center line to evenly divide the triangle into half.

The tip of the triangle would be the position of the butterfly's head, and the abdomen should stick out from the triangle's area. Base on the tip of the abdomen to define the half-circle that would establish the span of the hindwings.

• Define the forewings' inner margins and the wingtails.

Simply make two vertical (with the upper tip slight leaning/curving to meet the thorax) lines to establish the inner margins of the forewings. The length of the wingtails could be longer or equal to the length of the abdomen (never shorter).

• Once you have defined the basic shape, Modify the outlines  and erase the unnecessary markings. 

• Sketch the outlines of the butterfly's primary details.

Establish the cells and interspaces of the butterfly's wings. Draw the parts of the head, such as the antennae and proboscis. Only a portion of the abdomen is exposed since it is almost covered with the thick wingtails.

• Apply the texture and the markings of the wings.

Roughly describe the furs of the body. Replace the outlines of the thorax and the wing tails with short signatory lines.

Due to the texture and the iridescent nature of the long-tailed skipper, the different colors and tone values must be applied carefully and layer by layer (per different tone value).

• Make short hatches (short signatory lines) with blue.

Start applying the color of the butterfly. Start with the blue strands of fur. Color the wingtails with thin and short blue lines; leave a space in the middle for the brighter value of blue. Establish the portions of the forewings (near the base) that are partially covered in fur as well.

• Apply the brighter blue.

Fill the other areas of the body with strands of brighter blue. Slightly overlay some of the blue lines you placed earlier, especially the outlines of the thorax. Keep on making and overlaying the areas with the brighter value of blue until you almost cover the entire area (especially the wingtails), but leave some subtle space at the mid-portion of the head and the thorax (for the green strands).

• Use violet for a darker value of blue.

Apply some strands of violet, especially on the far edges. Only apply a small amount of violet strands and do it with light hand strokes.

• Color the hindwings.

Most of the long-tailed skippers have forewings that are also covered with their blue coating. So, establish this texture with the same process and color layering that you did for the body. Overlap the linings of the interspaces by hatching on a different direction per interspace. Also leave some linings of violet (to margin the interspaces).

• Apply the green tone. Place some few green lines on the furred areas of the forewings.

• Apply the subtle tones of green (the head's crown and mid-area of thorax). Make some strands of brighter green first and then overlap it with few strands of a darker green.

• Apply the faint colors of the forewing.

The forewing has a subtle color of faint brown or copper. A bright flesh-tone can make up for these faint colors. Apply the color on the costal area and few interspaces, with fairly light hatches.

Use brown for a darker value of flesh. Also make some faint line strokes of brown on the other interspaces of the forewing.

• Fill the forewing with its dark tone.

You can either use a black colored pencil or a charcoal pencil for applying the blackness of the forewings (I suggest you use a charcoal pencil, so you can further describe the texture of the wings).

Overlap the faint brown tones on the interspaces with thin but heavy line strokes. And then fill the remaining areas. Take note of the marks on the forewings and avoid shading them.

• Color the markings of the forewings.

The marks on the wings are brownish yellow to copper. Apply a thin layer of brown and then burnish it with yellow.

• Shade the areas that should appear darker.

Apply another layer of shading on the portions that should appear deeper. Darken the upper corners of the interspaces and thicken the linings. Darken the black margins of the lower edges of the hindwings and the sides of the wingtails.

• Finalize the drawing. Redefine the main outlines and then create a shadow by applying a faint gray margin.

More drawing tutorials about butterflies are available in the books "Drawing Butterflies - How to Draw Butterflies For the Beginner"  (https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-butterflies-how-to-draw-butterflies-for-the-beginner) and "Drawing Butterflies Volume 2 - How to Draw Butterflies For the Beginner" (https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-butterflies-volume-2-how-to-draw-butterflies-for-the-beginner).

How to Draw books for Absolute beginners about various subjects are available in https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners

Here's as example of how to draw a Maine Coon's face.

• Establish the primary outlines.

The Maine coon is known for its pointed ears and long fur coat (especially around its neck). The ear furs are also long there’s also a section of long furs right above the brow line. But other than that, the face and forehead is covered with short furs. Its eyes are round and big. Due it thick coating, the heads may look angular. The muzzle is thick but doesn’t protrude much from its base (surface of the head).

• Convey the short furs with short thin lines using light and single strokes for each. The pattern or flow of the short lines should depict the dimensions of the planes (surface of the head/face).

Point the lines sideways, from the center of the forehead and going to the ears (this means that the direction of the lines depending on the area it covers are opposing), but the center lines flowing to the farther side of the crown (top of the head) and to the back should point upwards and bend/angle with the convexity of the head. Apply an ‘M’ shaped marking right on the brow area at both sides.

• Apply some brown color.

Use brown for the areas that should have a darker tone. Apply short strands of lines on the brow line and the area surrounding the eyes, the short furs covering the nose, and a few more lines along the area to make strands of fur with a darker tone.

• Use orange to further define the fur.

Establish the strands of fur with orange color. Apply a number of thin curved lines to convey the long furs on the neck area. Portray several layers of fur by using a series of short and long lines in a single row, then add another different of row underneath the first row. Arc or bend the lines according to the row it follows, then use brown to further establish the layers by making a lining of shadow on the edge of each layer.

• Add a tone to the muzzle.

Color the nose red, and then apply a thin layer of orange and reddish brown around the marginal edge of the muzzle. You only need a faint coloring in this section, so apply the color with very light hand strokes using scribbling pattern (circular hand strokes with the side of the color pencil would not leave a visible linear marking).

• Darken the short furs of black and complete the short fur coat on the upper side of the head, and then draw the markings on the face.

Use a black tone with a deep pitch (I’m using a finely sharpened 8b charcoal pencil for this step) to have a good depth of blackness that can effectively go with the strong color tones of the drawing.

Put some faint dot marks on the white eyes to make it look more realistic, and then darken the pupil even more. Apply a faint shading on the inner edges of the eyes before you apply the color.

• Define the color of the eyes.

The eye color of a Maine coon is yellow. Remember to leave a highlight to make the eyes look glossy and more natural.

• Elaborate the color value of the fur even further.

Add a couple of more dark (brown) strands to give more accent and depth in color tones of the fur. Darken the overlapped layers of fur a bit further and also darken the areas that should appear farther. Add more strands of furs spiking outward on the upper side of the head (long strands of fur on the brow line and the ear furs). Make a couple of more brown and orange lines to fill up the gapes you unintentionally left when defining the furry texture.

• Re-darken the face marking and the farther sides and add more depth to the farther sides.

Darken the corners (the edge of the actual head crossed by the stripes subsiding to the fur layers) and apply a very faint shadow to the farther sides of the layered furs and the inner sections of the ears.

Make you final fills and retouches to finalize your illustration by applying a few more strands of orange and brown lines once again. Add more tone to the muzzle and a faint shade on the lower mandible. And you are done drawing a Maine coon.

More drawing tutorials about various subjects are available in our books. Each drawing tutorial compilations are carefully discussed in a manner that even a non-experienced individual could easily learn how to draw. 

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• Define the length of the wings and the size of the body.

The wingspan of a macaw is quite wide, with each of the wings being longer than the body. it would even look longer when the body is a bit foreshortened (angled in a way that it would look shorter). To begin, establish the slightly foreshortened body using an oval. Draw a smaller one to establish the size and angle of the head. once the size of the body is established, draw two arcs on each side, with each being significantly longer than the oval (body).

• Complete the base figure of the macaw.

The position of the bird is a bit more tilted on the right side. In this case, the outlines that form the shapes of the wings would be slightly different. The right side is spread wider sideways, while the half of the left wing is angled and raised. Make a reference line for the division of the wings’ portions. Aside from the wide wingspan. A macaw also has long tail feathers. They spread like a fan when in flight.

• Start drawing the feathers.

Define the shorter wing feathers by following the division you’ve made. Draw the tail feathers as well. Add some texture to the outlines of the tail feathers by creating some  toothed or jagged edges when you make them.

• Complete the details.

Draw the rest of the wings to finish your work with the outlines. Thicken the legs and draw the undertail coverts (the set of short feathers at the base of the tail).  make a visible division of the bird’s feather colors. A macaw usually has a patch on his throat which sometimes look like a short beard. Specifically, this would be a gold and blue macaw. As the name suggest, it has two base colors. the undersides of this birds is goldish yellow while the topside is bright blue.

• Retrace the outlines with ink.

Once you have defined all the important outlines, retrace your line work with a pen or any fine point marker. Remember to only use thin lines for the inner outlines (like the outline division of the colors, from the top of the head and extending on the topside of the wings).

• When you are done retracing, erase all the pencil markings to prepare it for coloring.Add the distinct face print around the eyes as well. 

• Apply the first base color of the macaw.

Due to the position of the bird, it would be composed of mostly its underside’s color. Use a yellow base that has a hint of copper tone. it could be gold (as the name suggest) or fire yellow.

• Apply the second base color.

The topside including the undertail coverts would have the second base color. Use a bright grade of blue with a hint of mint green which could be azure or cyan blue.

• Color the head and the legs.

Apply the colors of the facial features. The bill is basically gray (steel).a gold and yellow macaw usually has a bright lime green cap/forehead, a white face and the black throat. The legs are basically umber brown in color.

Once all the base colors are set, start elaborating the tones to portray texture and dimensions.

• Add a brighter and darker value the yellow areas.

With light hand strokes of rowed lines, apply a darker value with a yellowish orange tone (like fire orange) to the farther side of the body (back portion of the underside). Use the same tone to portray the shadows cast of each overlapping portions (below the neck, the curve of the chest, underneath each wing feathers). Add a  faint row of a brighter yellow tone to the side of the neck as a highlight (basic yellow).

• Add a brighter and darker value the yellow areas.

With light hand strokes of rowed lines, apply a darker value with a yellowish orange tone (like fire orange) to the farther side of the body (back portion of the underside). Use the same tone to portray the shadows cast of each overlapping portions (below the neck, the curve of the chest, underneath each wing feathers). Add a  faint row of a brighter yellow tone to the side of the neck as a highlight (basic yellow).

Add more values to the smaller areas as well.

• Add an even darker value to the blue and yellow areas.

Apply apricot orange to the farthest portions of the yellow areas. Use denim blue to cast shadows to the blue areas.

• Elaborate the values of the colors even further.

Keep on adjusting the tones until the dimensions and textures are portrayed properly. use copper as a darkest tone of yellow, right underneath the tight overlapping edges of the tail and wing feathers. Darken the sides of the beak as well, so as the edges of the green accent of the head and the undersides of the white face.

More step-by-step drawing tutorials like this are available in our books. Each book contains several examples of carefully explained instructions, in a way that every beginner with no experience in drawing could easily follow and learn. 

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• Make a somewhat shoe-shaped angular cone extension from the base. Remember that different big cats have different head profiles. In this case, a lion’s muzzle is thick, combined with a very muscular prominent jaw.

• The extension of the base should be at least more than half of the thickness of the sphere, extending from above and below.
• Use the cross reference mark to identify the center of the sphere, and use that to level the eyes from the muzzle accordingly.
• In this case, the exposed ear would appear larger because it is closer in view. And still, it is diagonally aligned with the eye (in this case, with the nose as well).
• Like before, the mouth opening would start from the lower edge of the muzzle’s base, and extending downwards with the lower jaw’s outline connected to the sphere.

• Once all the features are set in place, define it properly and add more details (such as the brow line and the ripples of a stretched mouth.

• Proceed to the inking process when you are satisfied with your sketch.

• Erase the pencil marks and begin applying the mid tone. The cheek and a portion of the front of the muzzle should appear brighter.

• The thick skin of a lion would naturally create ripples when stretched in such a manner, this would also create a different detail in shading. Darken these small sections and apply a mid-lighter tone to the ripples.

Keep on elaborating the gradation as you apply the brighter and darker tones accordingly. 

• The nose, the eyelids and the inner portions of the mouth would have the darkest tones.

• The lining on the portion of the cheek, the front of the muzzle, and a portion of the forehead would have brighter tones.

• Convey a texture by applying a faint grainy layer of shading to the skin. This could be easily done by a cotton if you are drawing traditionally, or a certain kind of brush for those working digitally.

• Cast the shadows. The inner section of the mouth, the recessed area of the eyes and the farther areas of the face should have a faint dark shading on them.

Work on the mane of the lion. This could be quite a tiresome process and should be done properly. Do not simply fill the areas with short and long strokes in any direction.

Follow the layers of the fur and make all the thin line strokes flow with it. The ends of the each layers would create a couple of spikes.

• Keep on thickening the mane. Cast shadows on each next layer that is overlapped by the spikes.

• Finally, apply a final layer of shade including on the mane, and make some finishing retouches.

This is one of the examples included in the book "How to Draw Big Cats for Absolute Beginners" https://l2draw.com/products/how-to-draw-big-cats-for-absolute-beginners 

If you wish to see more books About drawing, visit https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners 

Start with a sphere/circle, and then establish the angle of the head by identifying the center with a cross reference mark.

Use the circle to easily establish the shape of the head. Use the reference mark to properly establish the position of the eyes, nose and the upper lip. Use the upper lip to properly establish the outline of the lower lip.

• Add the other facial features.

the Half of the sphere is only occupied by the forehead of the bear, while the eyes are just below the horizontal reference mark. Use the vertical mark to properly position the nose at the center tip of the muzzle.

• Draw the details of the mouth.

Start with the details of the upper portion; the underside of the upper lip is partially exposed. The gum and the teeth are of the upper area are basically arced.  Needless to say, the lower teeth should be in a 'U' shape formation. Find the center of the upper set of teeth and the middle lining of the tongue using the vertical reference mark.

Once the main outlines are established, erase all the unnecessary markings.

• Start applying the shades.

The top area of the nose should have the darkest value for this part. The shades should be coming from the sides. Apply a few stippling to define the texture of the nose.

Take note of the tone values (level of brightness and darkness) you apply to each sections. The underside of the upper lip should be second darkest value of the mouth gradation; it should not be as dark as the farther/inner areas of the mouth, but it should not be as light as the tone of the gums.

Be careful when you apply the shading, use small scribbling strokes so you can easily control what portions should have a lighter tone to define the detailing, such as the stretch of the flesh and the linings of the gums. Use light hand strokes to shade the small areas with darker tones; right under the upper lip and underneath the lower gum and the tongue.

The subtle details on the gums can be conveyed with highlights, and the faint linings on the exposed inner side of the mouth can be established with subtle marks (for the slopes of the tongue) and the side of the mouth.

• Portray the small amount of fur on the muzzle.

The muzzle does not have long strands of fur aside from the few whiskers which are barely observable. This can be easily done with hatches of different weight and length.

For the direction of each hatch lines, remember that each should point backwards from the nearer side it occupies.

As the faint hatches go around the curve of the muzzle, it should gradually point downwards (like a vertical hatch gradually sliding diagonally). The fur covering nearest portion/curve of the muzzle where the whiskers reside are faintly darker, but the fur lines barely strike outwards from the base/surface. To convey the surface of this area, use faint line marks, shades and highlights to establish the fur line. Use a combination of light smearing and a combination of small scribbling shades.

• Use some slightly curved hatches to establish the fur on the face.

The hatches that establishes each fur lines should be curved outwards. But this direction is not as simple due to the contour shape of the head.

Aside from the slopes and sudden changes in plane on the structure of the face, the hatch lines have a pattern that you could follow to properly portray the fur coat.

I would list down the pattern as much as i can while showing it to you.

• The 'V' pattern of the fur from the area of the eyebrows and up across the ears, following the curved hatches establishing the slope of the eyehole.

• The hatches flowing and pointing backwards to cover the forehead and the top of the head.
• The hatches coming from at the sides of the muzzle, positioned downwards and slightly curving its lower end sideways, as the lines reach the lower area of the face, the vertical lines would slant and turn diagonally (following the flow of the arcing hatches).

• The hatches at the near edge of the face are pointing outwards, thus, most of them are positioned horizontally.

• All of the remaining fur lines on other sections simply bend and flow with the direction of the other fur lines they are joined with.

Darken the other areas that should appear darker, such as the side of the head with the longest fur lines, the inner areas of the ear, and the bordering outline of the head from the neck. And that's about it for drawing a growling bear.

This example is included in the book "How to Draw Bears for the Absolute Beginner, along with other examples that are also carefully discussed step by step. https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-bears-how-to-draw-bears-for-the-beginner

More book tutorials about drawing various subjects are available in https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners. Each book is designed to teach a non-experienced individual so they could easily construct their desired subject for drawings from scratch to finish.

 To easily convey the proportions of the head, create a sphere a base and then add the two long ears. You could also easily place the stout muzzle by using the cross reference mark (with it being right below the half of the sphere). In this way, you could then establish the view angle of the head.

• Once the base form is complete, use it to sketch the actual shape/primary outlines of the bat’s head.

 Define the facial features properly. draw the distinct details of the nose; the nostrils facing sideways with the with small flaps right below it, and the unique sword-shaped protuberance right above (blocking some portions of the face). The sides of its long ears are slightly folding inwards, and the tragus is also significantly long (reaching half of the pinna’s’ length).

• Redefine the main outlines with more visible lines.

Retrace the sketch you’ve made with finer line work to properly define the main outlines of the head, and then erase the unnecessary sketch marks.

• Apply the primary colors.

Aside from the nose having a faint pinkish flesh tone (excluding the nose leaf), a sword-nosed bat basically has a brownish orange fur coat and a deep grayish brown skin tone. So, use orange and brown to apply the primary color value of the bat.

• Convey the darker and lighter values of the primary colors.

Overlay the primary colors with the same color of a different value. Basically, you put another layer of color over the first one on the areas with a darker or lighter tone (depending on the area) to convey the dimensions of the figure, just depict the values as how you would when you apply the shades to describe the contour shape (farther sides deeper areas being darker as the nearest planes of the figure gets brighter). Darken the inner edges of the ears to signify the fold and its concave shape, and also darken the far edges of its subtle ridges on the upper side of the pinna.  Darken the inner portion of the nose leaf, including the curved edges of the nose.

• Once you are satisfied with the tone values of the base, convey the fur texture of the bat with short soft lines (once again, with different values). Use different values of the brownish orange, from bright orange to light brown.

And when you are done depicting the fur, finalize the drawing with a faint (either dark gray or black with a very low opacity/very light strokes) shading to cast shadows and to amplify the dark and light values.

If you want to learn more about how to draw bats, grab a copy of "How to Draw Bats for the Absolute Beginner".

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 More drawing tutorial books about a variety of topics are available here.

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Each drawing steps are thoroughly discussed so even a person with no experience in drawing could easily create a fine piece of artwork.

Mums are actually a collection of little flowers that create a false flower called inflorescence. The number of petals (ray florets) varies on its kind; the ones with more petals are double flowers that are developed through hybridization. The wild flower mums usually contain an average number of ray florets compared to double flower mums such as the ‘pompon’ where the disk florets are no longer visible due to the thick rows of ray florets that reaches a thousand or more pieces. It has a green stem that is fairly thick, growing from three to four feet tall that holds on one inflorescence. 

Now, I'll show you a brief process of drawing one using color pencils.

• Start by drawing two circles for a base.

Create a base to establish the size of your chrysanthemum. Draw a big circle for the base of the ray florets or the petals and then draw a smaller circle at the center for the disk.

• Lay out the petals layer by layer.

Sketch the petals. Start with the first row of the ray florets (tear-shaped) surrounding the disk, try to make it look more natural by slightly overlapping the side edges of one or two petals to the one next to it, while other have small gaps in between.

Add some more rows of ray florets at the back of the first layer. Let other petals be a little longer than the other, and others a little shorter. Draw at least three more rows, the number of petals doesn’t matter, you don’t have to put the same amount of petals on the front layer nor even count it; all you need is to portray that the flower has a numerous amount of ray florets.

• Draw the disk florets.

Define the disk florets by drawing small circles on (like a bunch of little beads) the disk.

• Erase the base and replace/trace the outline.

Once you think that the sketch is as good as it should be, erase the base (the two circles) and re-outline your sketch with better and smoother outlines.

• Put some shades on the petals/ray florets.

Add the proper gradation of your flower using contour hatches. Darken the spaces in between the petals on the front row to signify depth. Create some shadows under the petals especially the ones on the lower portion of the flower.

• Darken the portions that should have the darkest/strongest shade value.

Amplify the light and dark value by re-darkening the areas that should have the darkest shade tones (especially the areas/petals on the front that has folds, the small spaces in between and the shadows underneath the front row of ray florets).

• Color the center and redefine the beads.

Apply the yellow color of the disk/disk florets. The outlines of the bead-like disk florets will blur out so you have to re-outline them after applying the color.

• Color the tips of the petals with white.

Apply a highlight at the ends of each petal to effectively convey the contrasting bright highlights of the tips from the general strong red tone of the flower.

I used a white bermatograph for this step (I often use bermatograph for color pencil drawings) because it is slightly resistant to color pencils.

• Apply the colors of the petals.

Start filling up the petals/ray florets with its red color. Use a stronger hand pressure when applying your line strokes on the dark areas, and use a fairly light pressure with circular (scribbling) strokes on the portions of the petals that should appear brighter.

Simply follow your previous shade tones to easily figure out where you should apply heavy strokes and light hand strokes. The pencil shades will help for making the tones darker, and those areas without or with faint shades would instantly have a brighter value.

• Burnish the petals with pink.

 To make the strong tone of the red a little softer (to turn it into a pinkish-red) overlap the red color with a shade of bright pink. This will diminish the natural texture produced by the line strokes of red; it would become duller and less crisp, making a shinier and smoother texture.

To regain and amplify the dark tones further, use a black color pencil and apply light hand strokes on these areas (do not overdo the shading because the black color pencil can easily overlap the other colors).

Regain the highlights on the tips of the petals by re-applying the white color.

• Place a dot of orange at the center of the disk (signature detail of an Orinoco center). Re-outline the shape of the mum and then color the stem to finalize the drawing.

More examples and steps to draw each of them are discussed in the book "Drawing Autumn Flowers - How to Draw Autumn Flowers For the Beginner"

https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-autumn-flowers-how-to-draw-autumn-flowers-for-the-beginner

• Establish the Position and shape of the spider.

Draw a semi-disk shaped oval for the abdomen, and an irregularly shaped oval for the upper body. In this angle (side of mid-aerial view), the side connecting to the abdomen should be flat, and the upper area should be protruding (the area of the head).

• Define the legs.

Establish the proportion of the legs properly. Define the outline dimensions of each leg according to their angles. Due to the spider's viewpoint, some portions of the limbs need to be foreshortened. The nearer legs are folded in a manner which their true lengths are not shown. The length and shape of the femur segments should be modified. The femur segment of the second leg is completely hidden, while the others only show a small portion of it since this segment is pointed forward towards the viewpoint.

• Place the details.

Once the shape of the spider is defined, draw the details of its body. The unique feature of the ladybird's spider is its four black spots on its abdomen; use reference lines to properly lay out the four black spots. Draw the bars of stripes on the limbs. There are four horizontal white stripes on each limb, it begins above the knees/patella, and three more on the way down. These stripes would help depict the mass and cylindrical shape of the legs.

• Convey the texture and shade of the limbs.

The legs are covered in fairly thick black fur, paling down as it reaches the tip/tarsus. The furs are sectioned between each stripe, as if the stripes are bandages around the furry coating.

Adjust the pressure on your line strokes depending on the section of the limb. Use dark and fairly thick lines on the inner areas and thin lines on the far edges of the leg segments near the base/body. Gradually adjust the pitch/darkness as you get to the tip.

The pedipalps and its thick chelicerae contain the same furry texture as the legs’ with the palps having two white stripes each.

• Shade the upper body of the spider.

The carapace is generally black, with few thick white short hairs contrasting its surface. Shade the entire area with thick line strokes while leaving subtle highlights.

• Start coloring the abdomen.

The fur of the abdomen is basically reddish-orange. To obtain this color value and texture, use three different colors that could effectively portray a darker tone of orange. Take note of the small portion of the upper body that also has this color value.

To effectively depict the texture, fill up the area with thin and short lines with multiple layers of different color. Use light brown, orange and red.

Use brown as a darker tone of the orange color. Make some few short lines with light hand strokes around the contour shape of the abdomen.

Fill up the area with orange short lines. Keep on following the contour shape of the surface and fill it with short lines having different thickness/thinness and line weight (pressure on hand strokes).

• Make some few short lines for the darkest orange value using red color.

The red would also help depict the texture and the dimensions of the surface as it serves as a shade.

• Evenly smear the shade with a smudge stick (or with anything, you prefer).

 The shade on the robust area should be a little lighter compared to the downward slope near the abdomen. You should also darken the farther areas of the carapace to depict its dimension values

retrieve some of the highlights using a pointed eraser. Add your final touches and you're done drawing a ladybird spider.

This is just one of the examples included in the book "Drawing Spiders Vol 2 - How to Draw Spiders for the Beginner"

https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-spiders-volume-2-how-to-draw-spiders-for-the-beginner

Also check out Volume 1 here https://l2draw.com/products/drawing-spiders-volume-1-how-to-draw-spiders-for-the-beginner

These book are meant to guide absolute beginners for drawing. Steps are explained in a way that even those without any drawing experience could easily follow and learn. If you wish to see more, drawing tutorial books about various subjects are available in https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners

An easy way to draw a head in a quarter view is to start with a quarter-angled box. 

To approximate the distances and the gradual change in size of the facial features, use reference lines in perspective.

Lines in perspective are reference lines that begin or end in a spot called vanishing points, the vanishing point represents the certain spot in which a horizon ( person’s sight) outlines the farthest space a human’s eyes can see. Every perspective lines need a vanishing point to base upon. Thus, the position of the vanishing point is very important before marking any perspective lines.

• Use 2 vanishing points

The first vanishing point will serve as a guide for aligning the facial features perfectly; the other vanishing point is to establish the mass of the head and the placement of the ear.

• Observe how the head is angled, if it is evenly aligned or if it is slightly tilted or vice-versa.

I will use the image below as an example of the process. 

Since the portrait only shows the face and not the head as a whole, we only need to make sure that the facial features are properly placed according the certain angle of the head.

• Observe what parts of the facial ridges are aligned and use it as a base. 

In this case, the brow bridge and the cheek bone is aligned.

Using a base line will easily discern how the facial features should be positioned, even without establishing the certain diminishing point that it follows.

• Start with the head’s outline, establish the edge of the jaw line and then the head’s thickness/mass
• Take note of the alignment of the lip’s nearer end and the center of the nearer eye.

• Define the details of each facial features using a pencil with a darker lead or with a higher B grade (like 4b or 6b), at least darker than the one you are going to use for shading.

•  remove the reference lines and start shading on the left side (or right side if you are left handed).

it is much easier to start with the obvious shades which are the darker ones if the skin tone is bright. These shades will be blurred later on and will serve as the one to base upon for the other tone values (to even out the general skin tone).

• Blend it gently and even out the dark shade, then use the same blending medium on the other areas with a brighter shade.

• Redefine the tight corners.

• Keep on smearing the shades until it evens out. Keep in mind what parts should be brighter and what parts should look darker.

Smear the dark shades to make it blend with the other dark tones by using the stained or used smudge tool.(either the cotton you previously used or a smudge stick) Use the same tool to create a mid tone with light hand strokes.

• Once all of the shade values of the skin tone are conveyed, start contouring the hair style of the model.

Our model has a black layered hair. In this case, you only have to convey the layers and how it flows on the side down to her shoulder (not shown).

• Establish the flow of her hair, and then use a darker lead or charcoal to establish the darkest areas.
• Some portions of her hair highlights are better left barely marked, which means that the highlights would be a line of bright-gray lines.

• To leave the hair highlights as thin as possible, use a mechanical pencil to define the hair flow as a whole.

 Overlap the dark shades you have made before by defining the hair flow once again with the mechanical pencil, to make it appear like the dark shades are just shadows of the hair’s dimension values (to establish the hair layers).

• Do the same process for the other side of the head. Make your final retouches and you're done.

If you wish to see more examples of drawing portraits, grab a copy of "Learn to Draw - Faces and Portraits - For the Absolute Beginner". Each facial feature and how to draw them are covered; how to easily establish the outlines and how to construct the shapes. The very basics of drawing portraits are discussed step-by-step so even a beginner with no experience at all can easily follow and learn to draw.

https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners/products/learn-how-to-draw-faces-and-portraits-for-the-absolute-beginner

Convey the mass of the figure with light and thin lines. Take note of the position and angle of the subject you are working on. Penguins have a robust body with short legs, and the flippers are long enough to cover the sides.

• Thicken the main outline to properly establish the figure of your subject.

Establish the final outline with clean and definite line strokes. Use thick and visible, but not hard-pressed line. This outline will later on be overlapped by texture contour and shading.

• Begin the shading starting with the black portions of the head.

It is much better to use a pencil with a softer lead to apply the shades. If you don't have one, just gradually darken the tone by applying more than one layer. Do not put too much weight on your strokes to achieve a darker tone. apply the first one, then smudge it, and apply another.

• Complete the shade of the dark areas and then proceed to establish the texture.

Using very faint and thin short lines, make a few rows on the back of the head to convey a dense furry texture. These are implied contour hatches that should signify the surface of the area it covers.

• Convey the texture of the body.

do the same thing on the far edges of the body (under the belly and inner sides of the legs. The trick is in the gaps of each rows of short lines to effectively convey the tone or shade of an area that is basically white.

Do the same thing the the edges of the entire body to depict its round shape. Overlap the main outline with overlapping short lines (feathering strokes) to depict the texture. Apply shading to the feet.

Add more texture to the body to finalize your drawing, particularly on the sides. You don't have to entirely fill the body with the texture because this would make the image appear darker. the depiction  should just be enough to visually imply a textured white surface.

This tutorial is one of the given examples in the book "Drawing Birds for Beginners - Step by Step Guide to Drawing Birds". 

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For more tutorial books about other subjects, visit  https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners

Cats are known for their flexibility and athleticism. This is one of the reason why they are fun to draw and may also be the reason why illustrating them in action could be a challenge. Observe the figure below and see how they change their form when captured in a certain motion. Use these frames/outlines as a basis if you want to draw the cats in these manners.

Running cycle

Stretching

When drawing the head, reference lines can be used as a guide for properly placing the facial features and checking if the proportion is right.

Little modifications are required depending on the kind of cat you wish to draw. Aside from the shape, the fur of the cat is also depicted differently depending on the kind. 

Here's an example of the process for drawing a head of the cat, particularly the selkirk rex.

• Establish the angle of the head and the face features with the help of cross reference lines.

• Convey the fur with long and broken hatches that flows with the contour shape of the head. This will be your guide for the layers of the fur coat. Keep in mind that the selkirk rex has wavy (and a bit unruly). Curve the lines almost randomly but don’t lose the ordered rows of the fur.

• The fur should flow outwards from the tip of the muzzle and to the edges of the main outline.

To be able to properly express the fur coating, the lines should wave naturally to the contour form of the spherical surface of the head. As the line flows with the shape, it should also slant downward as you reach the main/outer outline of the head.

• Establish the shade of the eyes. Re-establish the eyes with darker outlines and darken the pupil. 
• Put some shade on the white portion of the eyes from the inner edges of the lids, and then smear it.

• Darken the nose with scribbled shading and re-outline the mouth.

• Elaborate the thickness and waved form of the fur to establish its layers further. Use the loose sketch you previously made as a guide. with a light source imposed coming at the front,  the farther portion of the head should be slightly darker.

The layers of the fur can be portrayed effectively by shading the lower area of each row and leaving some fur stands with observably brighter value. This step may take a little time to initiate but you have to go through this to effectively portray the texture.

• Start from the darker portion (farther side of the head) and use heavy (but thin) line strokes. The flow of the fur (and how you apply the shade on it) should further describe the contour shape of the cat’s head.

The shade on the muzzle has a brighter value. Use subtle linear shading on it then slightly smear/smudge the lines. Darken the inner edges of the portion of the fur that outlines the muzzle, but remember that the eyes, nose and the outline of the mouth should have the darkest value.

• Make your final retouches (re-darkening the darker portions and retrieving subtle grey outlines with a fine-point eraser or kneaded eraser). The layered effect on the fur becomes visually effective if the tones (lighter or darker) of the overlapping rows are in contrast.

This is an example of the contents inside our drawing manuals for absolute beginners. If you wish to see more instructions in drawing like this, visit the page https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners and grab a copy of the topics you wish to learn how to draw. Several examples are shown in each book with step-by-step instructions.  The processes are thoroughly discussed and broken down in a way that a non-experienced artist could easily follow and learn. 

• Convey the basic shape of the armadillo girdled lizard.

Draw a basic sketch of the subject’s shape to establish its mass and figure proportions.

• Draw the texture outline.

An armadillo’s body is cover with a thick armor, segmented from its neck and down to its tail. Establish the segments of the armor and how it spikes out of your primary outline sketch. The head of the subject is also armored, with short spikes at back of its head forming a crown. 

• Apply shading to the sides of the figure to portray the dimensions.

Place some shades on the certain portions of the figure (at the sides of its body, right beneath each segments and at the back of its crown). This will produce a darker value when you overlap it with a color pencil.

• Apply the first layer of the chosen color.

Further establish the contour shape of the subject by applying the first layer of its color. I am aiming for a brownish tone. Since the general color of the subject would be a shade of mahogany brown, the first layer would be a dark auburn brown.

The first layer of a single color with multiple values is usually the darkest of its shade. Overlapping a darker value is much easier and more visually natural compared to overlapping the lighter shade with a darker tone which often results to a diminished tone of the brighter value.

• Overlap the first color layer with the general skin tone of your subject.

For the general brown shade of the subject, use scribbling hand strokes to fill up the figure.

• Fill up/ burnish the colored areas with the lightest color value.

To obtain the lightest value of the color, overlap the previous color layers and certain highlighted areas with yellow. And you're done.

If you wish to see more examples and tips, grab a copy of "Drawing Snakes and Lizards - How to Draw Reptiles For the Beginner". The book contains several examples of drawing snakes and lizards with easy to follow instructions. If you are a beginner in search for a guide on how to draw these interesting creatures, then this is the book for you.

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in order to properly define the dimensions of a subject, you have to identify the planes that constructs the figure as a whole. These planes would be your guide   when you apply gradations.

Depicting dimensions is also done by adjusting the details properly. I will show you the process using a siamese fighting fish as an example.

The fins of a Siamese fighting fish are long and graceful. They can be portrayed with a set of thin curved lines. Draw the outlines of the fins as if they are flowing lightly in the water, and then bend the lining details to the contour shape of the fins’ outline. 

• The lines should bend with the flow of the fins’ outlines.
• The ends of the fins are better portrayed as soft spikes.

Take note of the portions of the fins that should appear nearer, these portions should contain a highlight to depict its difference in dimension. Convey the linings in different line weights (from light to dark) to portray a texture that would visually appear as a soft and lightly flowing figure.

The most common texture applied to fishes is the scales. Their individual shapes are usually small arcs or diamonds. They overlap each other in an ordered manner and bends across the whole figure.

• The scales should depict the dimensions of the figure properly. Identify the planes to easily apply the changes on the shape and direction of the scales.

There is no other way to portray the scales with visually obvious shapes but to draw it one by one. Do not portray the texture by simply drawing a set of continuous arcs with a continuous hand stroke. Draw the scales one after another to properly convey the scales in appropriate look and order.

There are certain types of aquatic animals with shapes that are very different from others. Aside from the small details, texture or body prints, some have body figures that are far from the common forms.

The seahorse has intricate details in its body. Its prominent ridges go around its entire shape, affecting the texture of the planes and changes the way how the figure should be outlined.

Establish the contour by placing a darker shade on the sides of the figure right next to the outlines, and place a thin line of shades underneath and above the ridges to leave the ridges with the brightest value to make it appear elevated.

There are several more tips and tricks on how to draw aquatic animals using pencils. These are available in " Learn How to Draw Aquatic Animals - For the Absolute Beginner". The book contains several more examples and simple guides to show a beginner the process of creating illustrations of different aquatic animals. From constructing the outlines, establishing dimensions, applying details and adding shades, these are carefully explained in a way that a non-experienced person could easily understand and learn.

https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners/products/learn-how-to-draw-aquatic-animals-for-the-absolute-beginner

The easiest way to start drawing any subject is by making a base. Establish the mass of the subject by combining different basic shapes and then convey the length of any extending parts (such as legs for animals) with a simple straight or curve lines.

Reference lines are combined with basic shapes to make sure that the base is constructed properly. Lines are used as guides for outlines (and certain portions) that should be aligned. The curves and slants on the main outline can be easily adjusted if there is an equally aligned base to refer upon.

If there is any pattern that is observable on the subject you want to draw then you can use reference lines to establish the details easily. 

In this case, the reference lines are used as a guide for the pattern of the snake’s scales. The arrangement of the snake’s skin is filled with diamond shaped scales, this creates a grid-like pattern contoured to the semi-cylindrical dimensions of the snake’s figure.

The changes in dimensions are expressed easily by using constructive planes. The form is then expressed with different tones depending on its angle and perspective. The lines expresses the position of the plane. Leveled horizontal lines across the plane would describe if the plane changes in angle, while curved lines depicts sloped or recessed areas.

To establish the planes of a subject in perspective, you need vanishing lines coming on both sides of the horizon line, thus, requires two vanishing points on the edges of the horizon line.

It is better (and easier) to establish a subject (or a place) having a great height or depth if it is viewed from afar, either in an angle above (bird’s view) or from below (ant’s view). To easily establish this kind of perspective, you need a vanishing point coming from above or below.

A third vanishing point is added on top or below aside from the other two vanishing points on the sides of the horizon.

Point perspectives also come very handy when you want to draw a room, a passageway, or anything with a solid structure. 

But not all of the things have solid forms. Things with free-shape nature such as fire and water don’t have definite planes on its shape. This becomes an issue when you try to draw them, aside from a water being transparent and fire being too bright for solid outlines. 

If you are going to draw a fire as an element or a part of a drawing, remember to keep the outlines as subtle and thin as necessary. This is to establish that it is not an object that can be held and it does not have a fixed shape. Depending on how the fire is angled, the peak of the form is often pointed or spiking. Curvy lines are always present to portray an element with a free-shaped nature.

On a black and white drawing (by charcoal, pencil or pen) brightness may require a certain visual density, affecting the fire’s semi-transparent nature. A thin layer of highlights often created with an eraser is also effective, but a strong and bright flame may look weak if the fire is drawn with an eraser entirely.

If you wish to see more examples, guides and tips, grab a copy of  "Manual Drawing Volume 2 For the Beginner".  Step by step instructions are thoroughly explained in details. This book is centered on teaching you how to construct the shapes of your subjects properly.  Know how to put your drawings in their proper proportions and in perspective. Learn the essentials of making proper outlines of any subject or scenery from the very start and how to finish.  If you are an absolute beginner, this book is perfect for you.

https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners/products/manual-drawing-volume-2-for-the-beginner

The difference in length of the fore legs and hind legs becomes apparent when the frog jumps. It would stretch its hind legs widely during and at the moment of leaping, and then quickly reverts to its natural crouching position as it lands.

The outlines define the figure and form as the shades portray the dimensions. this basic idea is the any subject you wish to draw. The light and dark values are also applied to colored illustrations. This is initiated by using different color values on a single base color. the transition between light and dark can also be done by using different drawing tools, like using a charcoal based pencil to apply the shades and then applying the colors.

To show you the process, here's an example of drawing a purple fluorescent frog.

• Establish the main outline of the frog.

Define the contour shape of the frog's figure. Establish the folds of the limbs and see what portions are overlapped. The curves and subtle projections of a frog's body shape outline is well-shown when it is viewed in an upper-side view angle; the robust eyes, the slight protuberance of the lining on the trunk, and the round belly.

When the proportions are properly defined, refine the outlines with smoother and darker lines.

• Define the body markings with purple.

The body of a fluorescent frog is marked with irregular purple rings. The marking are more apparent on the limbs, wrapping each leg and down to the toes. There is also a purple band starting right below the eyes and down to the frog's ventral side. Use a purple (pencil) color directly when establishing the markings, or a violet with a light/bright value.

• Apply some linear shading.

The violet color of the frog's body is dark; in this case, you need to apply a preliminary shading to darken the tone value of the color you are going to apply later.

• Smear the shades.

Carefully smudge the linear shades with light scribbling hand strokes. Keep the highlights clean and simply even out the shades to loosen the edges created by the hatches.

• Apply the violet color of the body.

Fill up the areas with the frog's dark violet body color. Control the weight of your hand strokes; the pressure you apply on the (color) pencil depends on the area you are coloring. Use light hand strokes on the edges of the body and the middle area of the legs. Use heavy hand strokes to overlap the darkened areas.

Finalize the drawing by darkening the eyes (take note of the subtle gloss at the center) and cast a shadow. Redefine the main outline and clean up the outer areas.

More colored examples and detailed instructions are available in "Drawing Frogs Volume 2 - How to Draw Frogs For the Beginner" . The book is a follow up for the  "Drawing Frogs Volume 1" which discusses how to draw with pencils. Just like the first one, the steps are broken down carefully so even a non-experienced artist could easily follow, and more.

https://l2draw.com/collections/drawing-for-beginners/products/drawing-frogs-volume-2-how-to-draw-frogs-for-the-beginner

 Click the Picture Below to find out more.

It is an affiliate link and we will get a small commission if you purchase. It is an excellent course that we really recommend.

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Horses are fascinating creatures. They are great and beautiful, with an analogy of haste, and they
are fast and strong. Even in old paintings, you can see how an artist paints horses on his canvas.
So, why not learn and also feel how to render horses by following the instruction in this eBook.
It will be as if we are like back in time as we follow the old artist footprints and later on see if we
will become “A Great Horse Painter”, after you learn how to paint horses with various media.
I’m sure you’re excited to learn how to draw and paint horses, and I’m sure you won’t regret
learning. I’ll teach you the basics of how to render horses using your pencil, but that’s not all,
you will also learn more as you move along from one medium to another. So bear with me as we
tackle different types of media while rendering horses. All you need to do is give your time and
dedication in your horse paintings, and remember to have fun. Let’s accept the fact that painting
is now part of your life.

How to Draw a Horse

Below is a picture of the horse that we are going to draw.

So, take your HB pencil, and let’s draw this horse step-by-step.
Steps:
1. See thru the basic shapes: Sphere, Cube, Cone, and Cylinder on the horse.

Legend: =Cone =Sphere =Cube/Rectangle
2. Now, draw these shapes on your paper.

This will serve as the framework when you are building the parts of the horse.
3. Draw lines that will connect the shape to other shapes, just like drawing a line when
connecting dots.

4. Erase the excess of unwanted lines and shapes in your drawing, and continue to refine the
outline of the horse.

5. Add the important details in the features such as the mane, the contour of the muscles, and the
bit collar or head harness.

If you find this hard, just keep on practicing, and takes note of the angle of the lines, and the size
of the shapes in relation to the other shapes, in order to have a good proportion.

Drawing Horses in Different Poses
The steps are the same as what we did above:
(a.) Find the basic shapes and draw them as the base for your framework.

(b.) Flesh out your drawing by connecting the lines from one shape to another. 

(c.) Erase the lines and shapes that are not needed, and then add more details to your drawing.
Also consider shading the shadow.

Have a complete copy of this book.

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