What butterfly drawings really are about? At first sight they may look
like only a pair of opened wings and I think that might be the point. The wings.
When you learn the basic patterns of butterfly wings, you can say you’ve
learned how to draw a butterfly. That’s it and that is all you need to
know.
Basically, every butterfly has 2 fore wings and 2 hind wings, which
structure resembles to a stained-glass pattern. Once you’ve mastered the
proportion balance between fore wings and hind wings, you can draw your
own fantasy butterflies.
Many butterfly symbols, illustrations, etc are created this way. A
silhouette of these art works often has nothing common with real
butterflies at all, yet they are still beautiful.
click on the image to enlarge
The patterns, which look like a frame, are in fact the veins that nourish the butterfly’s wings. Did you know that recent studies find that hind wings help make butterflies (and moths) quick turns during the flight to escape or evade predators? It is fantastic how Mother Nature takes detailed care for these beautiful colored creatures.
If you catch butterflies, please take special care for their wings! They are too fragile and once they are broken, they cannot repair themselves and the butterfly will be unable to survive. So, when you first attempt to make butterfly drawings, please do not worry about the exactness so much.
I cannot help but repeat this almost on every page, that you are a human not a camera. Be easy about it. You can never make a drawing perfect ;-) The easiest way is to draw one with opened wings, so that you can clearly see the size, the pattern and it is easy to copy.
OK, so let’s draw the butterfly on the larger image on top of this page.
Click on the image to open it in new tab or window and then observe the
details of the pencil strokes. Ignore the wings description this time.
The drawing may appear to be pretty detailed if you look at it on the
smaller image, but if you zoom it up, you will see that I did not care
too much about the delicacy of the pencil strokes.
Click on the images and they will enlarge in new tab or window.
Print it out and simply copy it. If you cannot copy it, then get
yourself a tracing paper and simply trace it on the tracing paper.
Outline first the basic shape of the wings, the outer line and the
“mosaic” on the wings. That will give you a basic idea where you will
follow up with detailed pencil work.
Keep your drawing rather rough (not exact) because you can later get some creative ideas of your own. It really works that way!
When you are ready with the basic wing frame you can start to create the
pattern. Begin to shade from those parts that are the darkest or black.
I started from the upper half on the left fore-wing. Click on the image so that you can see it better in details how I shade each part on the wings.
You will easily notice that even on these simple butterfly pencil
drawings, I used only three shade tones. Basically, that is sufficient
to complete a simple drawing.
When you have ready the left half of the butterfly drawing, I would
recommend you folding the paper in the middle of the butterfly body –
along the body and flip the ready wing on the opposite side.
Then press the paper by your nails and “embed” the graphite pattern on
the right side so that you will get a “print” of the left wing on the
right side. This ensures that both sides – both wings will be equal, as
you see on the image above.
Then you simply “fill up” the right wing by pencil and voila (!), you’re
done. It is pretty much like a kind of coloring page. The difference is
that you use only pencil.
Please see and enjoy the following collection of personal galleries. We all believe you will have a lot of fun. Observing other’s art work is always, always very inspirational. You may get some new ideas for your own drawings.
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The following Theme Based Galleries are a collection of selected drawings from various authors based on a certain theme. I would like you to get as much inspiration as possible for your own drawings.
Share your own drawings, sketches or doodles by choosing a suitable
category below. You will be guided to the uploading process step by
step.
Feb 20, 21 04:12 AM
Cow And Crane
Feb 14, 21 11:26 PM
Different colours representing different communities... in the pouch there is corruption
Feb 14, 21 04:42 AM
I have drawn Shikamaru Nara from Naruto series.Manga and anime really inspires me and helped me got through the tough times.
Feb 14, 21 04:36 AM
Just started drawing my own cartoon characters.
Feb 09, 21 05:00 PM
Done on my iPod with my fingers sorry if it looks a little messy ... anyway the character is from the princess and the frog . I heard it is trendy to modernise
Feb 08, 21 01:40 AM
Happy Saraswati Puja
Feb 03, 21 07:34 PM
Just a quick face practice! :)
Feb 02, 21 03:06 AM
The aim here is profound details. The pen on the right will give an idea about the size of the art.
Feb 02, 21 03:03 AM
Ballpoint pens art. I have used part of a photo, as reference. But did not copy it literally here, in this art. No grid was used when I started it with
Feb 02, 21 03:00 AM
In-progress art with pens. I am focussing on part of a photo. But not interpreting it literally. No grid has been used with pencil. But started directly
Feb 02, 21 01:46 AM
Just a simple dr.doom drawing from marvel comics.
Jan 29, 21 02:14 AM
Beauty in complexity
Jan 27, 21 05:16 PM
This is my method of drawing Tom and Jerry on Microsoft Paint. They're most famous cat and mouse duo who cause trouble. Tom is a domestic housecat who
Jan 25, 21 05:10 PM
Mother Bengal
Jan 22, 21 06:42 PM
I just love to draw.