My thoughts on drawing wings (an unofficial tutorial)
Do you want to get better at drawing your favorite winged character? Do you have winged OCs? Just want to learn something new? I can't promise this post will help, but maybe it'll give you some helpful tips.
I know, I knowww, wing tutorials have been done to death. I don't care. This was initially inspired by a conversation on twitter, but actually I've wanted to write down my notes on the topic for a long time lol. Basically wings are one of my special interests so it's very important, for me, to draw them both nicely and also realistically.
On that note, let me first show you my resume *distant sound of floodgates opening*
Like what you see? Read on!
(Oh, and I will only be covering feathered/avian wings bc those are the type I know best.)
Now, I'm not here to give you a step-by-step guide on wing anatomy and aerodynamics, because there are plenty of other resources that cover this already, and I'll list my faves at the end of the post. Right now, I'm going to give you some easy guidelines and tricks that I wish more artists knew.
1: Wings do, in fact, have bones (crazy, I know) and are actually very rigid because they have to support the weight of a living creature. There are some positions you cannot physically force a wing into irl.
2: Flight feathers are not placed willy-nilly on the wing, because then they wouldn't catch the air properly. Again, like the bones, they are rigid and strong, so don't draw them like fur or ribbons. All wings have the same pattern of feather placement, with slight variation depending on species. If you learn the feather sections, it will automatically improve your drawings a lot.
2.5: Feathers overlap each other like a handful of playing cards, and this looks different depending on which side of the wing you're drawing. They always do this unless they're extremely untidy.
3: The size of the wingspan is important if you're going for a more realistic design. There is no "scientifically accurate" measurement when it comes to fictional creatures, but my general rule is when in doubt, you probably need to make them bigger. Personally, for my original winged human species, I give them wings that can be up to 12 feet long each (the artistic sacrifice is that it's really hard to fit the wings on the dang page lmao, so make your own call).
4: Get used to drawing folded wings. Most of the time, birds keep their wings folded because it prevents them from getting damaged and it conserves energy. The trick is to get good at visualizing how the joints bend and overlap (look at plenty of photos!) In general, they can fold much tighter than you think.
5: Wings and feathers take a lot of patience to draw, but the results are worth it. I've seen so so many incredibly beautiful and skillful artworks that are---well, maybe not ruined, but still negatively affected by a pair of wings that look like an afterthought, or not even like wings at all. You have no idea how much a little extra time and practice will add to your work until you see for yourself.
Finally, some notes on "stylized" wings: Of course it's perfectly ok to draw more simplified/cartoony wings if that's your preference!! BUT there is a difference between a stylistic choice and a lack of effort/poor understanding of the subject matter. Even cartoonists have to learn the fundamentals of realism so they know how to make their designs logical and appealing. Here are some examples of more stylized wings that I feel retain the core principles of anatomy/aesthetics:
And last but not least: A list of helpful links I use personally for reference and inspiration!
I made this pinterest board for general artsy inspo, and this board to curate my very favorite tutorials/refs/information, focusing on the scientific aspect of wings and flight in general. Feel free to use both! (I also suggest pinterest in general for pose refs and such, but try to only practice using photos at first and not other drawings.)
I highly recommend this blog and this blog if you want examples of artists who draw more realism-based winged creatures!! They are both huge inspirations for me and I think you should totally follow them even if you don't plan to draw wings lol <3
If you're REALLY serious about it, my favorite ref books are: Winged Fantasy, a lovely drawing book by Brenda Lyons; Proctor & Lynch's Manual of Ornithology; and Angelus vincens by R. Spano, which is essentially an artbook by someone who (I believe) designed biologically plausible "angels" for their senior thesis.
Ok, idk how to end this lol but I hope it helped! I know it's not my normal kind of post but I'm super busy with college stuff rn and this was all I had time for. If you guys have any questions or feedback, please let me know!!!
Since it has been asked, I made a little breakdown on how to draw wings.
So, first thing to understand is wing anatomy. I used a swan wing as reference for my artwork. Divide the wing into blocks of feathers. There's sort of three layers to the feathers outlined in the second picture, and these divided along the top joint of the wing where it folds. See the second image. Make sure you bring in these nice, flowy shapes here!
Now that you have these big shapes, you can cut into them and make the individual shapes of the primary and secondary feathers (layer 3.) also make sure they overlap correctly depending on if you are drawing the wing from the front or the back. make sure you stick with a nice rythm and have the feathers get gradually bigger as you get closer to the tip.
Like this:
when you go ahead and draw that layer 2 of coverts, make sure that every feather you drew for the bottom layer has (approximately) a feather overlapping it (so you have pretty much the same number of feathers in each layer) and that they line up nicely. But you can also make them a bit more ruffled. Like this:
Other than the flight feathers, the very top part of the wing is very smooth, with shorter, more rounded feathers (almost half-circles!). They can lie very flat or also look a lot more fluffy. think of them almost like overlapping scales. There is also the Alula at the top of the wing, a sort of extra feathery bit that sticks out over the primaries. also don't forget the scapulars which cover over the shoulder blade and are on top when the wing is folded. The Scapulars also have two layers of feathers. (see first graphic).
From there, it's only a matter of lineart and shading or however you want to finish your artwork. Hope this helps with the structure! Drawing wings folded together is a whole other story that I'm not going to get into here... lol.
TL:DR: understand the structure of wings and use references to get it right, work from big shapes to small shapes.
Edit: I demand to be tagged in the results, I desperately need to see more wing art. ÒwÓ
This is the second comic in my Open World AU, where Caine and Kinger work together to make the circus more "human-friendly", including always-open personalized worlds and more bodily autonomy. Pomni and Jax discuss their newfound ability to change their clothes as they wish.
While doing research for my book, I've come across opposing information. My book is more fantasy than historical, but there are aspects I'd like to keep close to. It's set in a Regency era setting, around 1813.
My female main character—the queen—drinks tea avidly (though I've recently learned it was expensive during the time period). But I'm curious if it should be her that carries the tea-caddy key on her chatelaine (like Emma in Emma 2020), or the FMC's lady-in-waiting?
I'm working on a Jane Austen project for university. At the moment my research is mainly Regency fashion. Do you know of any books/articles/documents that contain information or plates about the fashion rags of the time? Thanks!
I wasn’t sure if you only wanted information about the UK so there’s a little bit of a mix here:
The Regency Fashion Page
University of Washington fashion plate collection
Claremont Colleges fashion plates
Fashion-Era
NYPL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Sense & Sensibility
Wikimedia Commons 1 2 3 4
Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion
Candice Hern
La Mode Illustree 1 2 3
Shoe Icons
The Costumer’s Manifesto timeline
Victoriana
Regency England
Gaelen Foley
Koshka the Cat
Jane Austen Information Page
Regency Reproductions
In Style: Fashion Plates from 1792 to World War I: Selections from the Little Bower Collection
La Belle Assemblee, Jul-Dec 1807
The Regency Neckcloth
And I haven’t looked through many books but here’s a list on Amazon.
As someone heavily on the ace spectrum (but not realizing this until my late 20s—am now in my 30s), I am so freaking tired of people saying that people who don't make out or have sex all of the time do not love. I just love differently. And why should that be considered lesser than your way???
Can anyone help with what these transparent style of sleeves were called during the Regency era?
A Google search says they're detachable and called "undersleeves" or "oversleeves." But 1 and 2 don't look detachable (unless they are, but hidden really well).
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