How to Draw Realistic Angel Wings
- 1). Select a number of reference images of wings. Examine the structure of the wing itself by studying the bone structure of a bird's wing. Note the shoulder going to the elbow along the top of the wing, and then to the wrist of the bird, ending in long feathers. Use this information to help you create varying positions of the wing in drawings.
- 2). Draw the basic bone structure with light lines, to get the positions of the wings you want to draw. Use the reference images as a guide as you draw the top line of the wing just above where you indicated the bones. Continue outlining the wings down the sides, along the bottom and curving upward back to the area underneath the shoulder. Note the shape of the curves along the bottom of the wings.
- 3). Erase your lines for the bones as you now have the outline. Draw horizontal lines to segment each wing into three areas which will contain the primary, secondary and tertiary layers of feathers. Draw the top two layers less wide than the bottom layer with the top being the smallest width. Indicate the separate feathers with rows of about 20 or more vertical lines along each layer. Curve the bottoms of each layer of feathers. Make sure each row is offset with the row above to make them look real.
- 4). Detail the feathers by referring to your images. Create clean straight lines between feathers and layers. Shade in the edges to give the wing a three dimensional look. Use a chamois to lightly blend the shading on the wing. Use the direction of the light as a guide to find and shade dark areas.
- 5). Erase any smudging to refine your outline and use it to rub in highlights where necessary.
