The Day I Started Posting About #wings Was The Best Day Of My Life.

The day I started posting about #wings was the best day of my life.

Let’s Draw Wings

I’ve gotten the question/request of how I draw wings lots and lots so I’ve decided to make a dedicated post!

Now…I’m no master, but I have found a way that I like to draw wings that’s efficient for me. There three main points:

References

Simplification

Texture Management

First of all - References

My favorite wing reference of all time is this post by Jenn on Twitter. I have both the images saved but I use the Wing Shapes one, below, alllllll the time. Like for real all the time!

I also keep pretty extensive collections of wing photo reference. When I’m having trouble, I’ll trace a few or do studies to get back into the swing of things. Here are links to my Pinterest boards:

Broadwing Reference (passive soaring and high-speed)

Longwing Reference (active soaring)

Shortwing Reference (elliptical and hovering)

Secondly - Simplification

When I sketch wings, I simplify Jenn’s diagram even further -

For me, the key to drawing wings is simplifying the wing down - from the structure to the feathers - the goal for me is to be able to draw them quickly and have the proper information conveyed. It needs to look like a wing in the base sketch. If it doesn’t, no amount of rendering and extra feathers will help. I like to break the wing into the three main moving parts. The orange is one part, then the purple contains two main chunks feathers that you can group together and move as their own parts.

On top of that, I like to think of wings like a sheet of paper. They can bend and fold in on themselves, with the orange meaty bits anchoring everything together.

Lastly - Texture

I like to call wings “texture monsters”. Feathers are hard to manage and can easily make wings look over-busy and muddy. Just like before, I break the wing into chunks so I can spend less time drawing the wing and it’s feathers:

Then you can put it all together and push things further -

So yeah this is how I throw wings together! The wings I draw aren’t super technical or detailed, but I what matters for me is that they look and feel like believable wings at a glance -

~ Larn

–

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cosmos-slideout

4 months ago

go outside !!!! 333

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1 month ago

https://www.pinterest.de/pin/826832812815961076/

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1 month ago

BIRD WINGS and how to have fun drawing them First, you want to fully understand wing anatomy: what bones are in the wings, how are feathers layered, and how different kinds of birds evolved different shapes of wings. The curious scientific level of the topic. There are many fantastic guides that other people have already written on the topic, so I don't need to go into all of that. I recommend: abby-howard.tumblr.com/post/94885909683 (bone structure) x.com/jenndeut/status/1101999902752677890 (feather anatomy and wing shapes) skycowboys.tumblr.com/post/708446885346672640 (simplification and texture) Said that, these are some of my methods to draw bird wings:

[text around diagrams] 1. Wings are a bird's arms. Draw some freaky arms. On winged people, you can start from drawing another pair of human arms, with all the bones in the same places, but with freaky proportions. When you draw winged people, consider that they really have four arms. This helps to consider the wing as a body part, rather than just something that is attached in the back. The position of an extended index finger corresponds with the outermost primary feather. When the wing is extended, the elbow can become almost invisible. I drew the hand over the wing only to highlight its position relative to the human hand.

[text around diagrams] 2. You can think of feathers as a cape, or a sail. To avoid wings looking stiff, you can plan thinking of them as something similar to a piece of fabric. How does the fabric bend? Where is it affected by the wind? This will help you keep these aspects in consideration at the plotting stage. You can think of three pieces of fabric. The seams align with the wrist and the elbow. Simplify or render as desired. With more practice you don't have to specifically sketch this division, you can keep it in mind while you work organically.

3. Some bonus points Change the length of the wing bones to make different wing shapes. Don't forget that the under-side of bird wings looks different than the outer-side. This method applies also to bat wings or "dragon" wings. Just add the relevant bones to the structure (and subtract the feathers). Accuracy isn't everything. You can stylize wings a lot. The wings in Sailor Moon make no anatomical sense but we love them anyway. And most importantly, as with any creative endeavor: Consider what you want and how to enjoy doing it. [Credit on the side: Rosangela Ludovico / cyborgize.it / tumblr: devilrose / instagram: devilrose.art]

A quick guide about my method for drawing bird wings - with focus on winged people, though this all applies to birds proper as well. It's all about weird arms with weird blankets.

Referenced tutorials: ❧ Bone structure ❧ Feather anatomy and wing shape ❧ Simplification and texture

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cosmos-slideout

2 weeks ago

I have a blanket folded in half draped over my shoulders and arms and am wearing a long skirt. Lots of species euphoria. you may imagine me something like this: