Iâve gotten the question/request of how I draw wings lots and lots so Iâve decided to make a dedicated post!
NowâŠIâm no master, but I have found a way that I like to draw wings thatâs efficient for me. There three main points:Â
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 Iâm having trouble, Iâll 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 Jennâs 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 doesnât, 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.Â
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.Â
I like to call wings âtexture monstersâ. 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 itâs 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 arenât super technical or detailed, but I what matters for me is that they look and feel like believable wings at a glance -
