Drawing & Illustration How-Tos
How To: Draw male and female manga eyes
In this clip, Mark Rilley teaches how to draw male and female eyes in the Japanese manga style. Breaking down the anatomy, he distinguishes the gender differences between the two in order to give your drawings more masculine or feminine qualities. For more information, and to get started drawing your own Japanese comic-style eyes, watch this free video drawing lesson.
How To: Draw a scary vampire face
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw a vampire. Begin by using the paint bucket tool to fill the entire background in black. Then start drawing the vampire in transparent blue. Sketch the outlines of the face and draw curves for the guidelines of eyes, nose and mouth. Now erase half of the face and fill it in black. The other half of the face is filled with tints of blue and purple airbrush. Finish by adding the details with opaque shades of blue, purple and white pencil lines. T...
How To: Draw a cartoon bird
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw a cartoon bird. Using the gray pencil tool, draw an oval shape for the body of the bird. Then create the lines for the wing and tail. Now add the details with black outlines. Then use transparent colors to fill the body, tail and wing with different shades of color. Add details to the wing by drawing some lines. The beak should be short and sharp, and the eyes should be highlighted in white. Color the branch with the brown paint tool and the l...
How To: Draw a sports logo
In this tutorial, we learn how to draw a sports logo. You will need: paper and a writing utensil to do this. Do a rough draft of the logo with a light pencil before beginning. When finished, draw a basic helmet shape with a Sharpie marker. Trace around the lines that you made and make sure to draw the face guard when you are finished with the helmet outline. Next, add on a grille to the mask and then add more detail to the helmet as it would look in real life. When you are finished, add color...
How To: Draw Obi-Wan from Star Wars
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw Obi-Wan from Star Wars. Begin by drawing a circle for the head and rectangular shape for the jaw. Then draw a line 1/3 way across the circle. Draw the eyes on the line and the nose just underneath the line. Now draw 2 lines from the ends of the eyes to the rectangular shape. Use those lines as a guide to draw the length of the mouth. Then add the ears, eyebrows and beard. Now lightly draw the hair. Finish by coloring and shading the image. Thi...
How To: Draw small faces on paper
In this tutorial, we learn how to draw small faces on paper. This is best for drawing on comic books, because the faces are smaller than on regular drawings. First, give yourself a scale size to see how large you want the faces on the paper to be. If you are new at drawing, use the square method to learn how to measure the face and learn how to draw the face so the body is scaled to the size of the head. Start out by drawing the head and adding in shading details. You will start with the guid...
How To: Make a realistic pencil sketch of a human skull
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw a skull. Begin by selecting a skull image to draw from. Then draw a circle and sketch a few lines to position the eye sockets, nose and mouth cavities. Now erase the guidelines and re-sketch the drawing. Then start toning the eye sockets and nose cavity by shading. Now tone the other parts of the skull. Finish by shading the background. This video will benefit those viewers who are interested in drawing and art, and would like to learn how to ...
How To: Draw a sci fi warrior's helmet with Tully
Let's face it: Without armor, we'd all be very squishy. While armor isn't necessary on the every day when we're going to school or hitting up the post office (at least we HOPE armor isn't necessary where you live), it certainly is and has been in battle.
How To: Draw complex figures using stick figures as a base
You know how people who proclaim they can't draw always muddle through drawing assignments by piecing together a couple of stick figures? Well, that's because stick figures are the absolute easiest figures to draw.
How To: Draw big pouty lips
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw lips. Begin by drawing a horizontal line for the mouth and draw a Mickey Mouse shape in between the line. Then sketch the upper lip with the 2 smaller circles on top and draw the lower lip with the large circle as guidelines. Now users may draw the rest of the face. Then darken and define the upper and lower lips. Now lightly sketch some lines on the lips to show depth. Then darken and shade the lips. This video will benefit those viewers who ...
How To: Draw a rose garden with Michael Weisner
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw a rose garden. Begin by marking the locations of the objects. Then draw the rose bushes around the garden pathway. Draw the lines with some cross hatching. This will give the bushes some form and feel. Add some circular boxes in the bushes to represent the roses. On the pathway, add some grass on the edges and stones on the path. In the center, draw a center piece and draw an arch over it. Finish by adding details to the roses. This video will...
How To: Draw a fun bunny doodle
In this tutorial, we learn how to draw a fun bunny doodle. To begin, draw an upside down triangle with two straight lines coming out of the top middle. Next, draw a half circle over the eyes, then draw two large bunny ears on top of the half circle. Then, connect the curls on the end of the ear to the bottom of the head. Now, do an additional line to make the inside of the ear. After this, draw another circle around the bottom of the face, then draw a line with two humps at the bottom of the ...
How To: Write in lowercase calligraphy letters
In this tutorial, we learn how to write in lowercase calligraphy letters. To begin, you will write in lower case letters just use a more find edge then you do when writing normally. The letters will all have a twist to the edge of them to make them look more fancy than normal. There are no straight lines, all the lines have a slight curve or curl at the end of them. Practice doing each letter on a piece of paper with a calligraphy pen or marker. The letters will look very similar to the usual...
How To: Design and draw a female comic character
Fancy comic books, but don't have the skills to make them yourself? Comic book artists do nothing but draw all day, so it's no wonder they're good at it. But you may need a little more help, and this five-part series will help you along your journey into developing comic characters, specifically the female variety. Photoshop is used in the videos, but you don't need a fancy drawing application to get started. Just pull out the old paper and pencil and follow along. There's a ton of great info...
How To: Draw a black and white male zombie in MS Paint
Though it's not typical for idrawgirls to focus on the male gender, don't count this tutorial out if you're looking for good instructions on how to draw a zombie. This male zombie is being drawn in MS Paint, and you can watch the drawing take place while listening to the commentary on what's being done and what needs to be done to create the living dead. But don't fret, there is a wonderfully drawn woman right next to the horrific zombie, so it's not that far of a departure for drawgirls.
How To: Draw a modern complex levels garden
Feng shui out your drawing skills by doing something a little different this time: rather than focus on architectural buildings and stairways, why not sketch out a soothing garden to ease your tired soul?
How To: Draw matching cartoon eyes and eyebrows
Drawing eyes is often the most difficult part of nailing down a comic book or manga character, but also the most vital part. Eyes really animate a face, so it's important to master all types of eyes if you wish to become a good artist. This tutorial will teach you how you can contain the eyes and eyebrows in the same plane, or basic shape, to make sure they align evenly. When this sort of method isn't used, often people will draw eyebrows that are disconnected from the rest of the eye.
How To: Draw Marvel comic books character Ms. Marvel
As with most female comic book heroines, Ms. Marvel, created by artist Gene Colan in the 1960s, is a bodacious babe with killer curves and an even more killer abilities of superhuman strength, stamina, flight, and precognition.
How To: Organize comic book panels
When you are organizing the panels of your comic, you should keep in mind the way you want eyes to follow it. With multiple panels on a page, your spacing between them will determine where the eyes will go. If you want the reader to read up and down and from left to right, then you should create columns, by leaving more space in the middle.
How To: Draw with basic shapes
In this Fine Art video tutorial you will learn how to draw with basic shapes and apply them. The four basic shapes are spheres, cubes, cylinders and cones. A sphere is a three dimensional circle. On paper it will look flat without shading. Make sure you practice all kinds of circles. A cube is a three dimensional square. You can make a basic cube by drawing two squares and then join the corners. Cylinders are tubes or pipes. Draw two ellipses and join them by lines. If you are just starting o...
How To: Draw a deer from a triangle
This video tutorial is in the Fine Art category which will show you how to draw a deer from a triangle. First you draw an inverted triangle which will make up the face of the deer. Then you draw two small curves starting at the two top corners of the triangle to make the horns of the deer. You can also draw more short curves or straight lines starting from these curves to make up the complete horns. Then you draw the ears starting just below the horns. Draw the eyes and color in the ears and ...
How To: Draw martial artist Bruce Lee (face, body and shading)
When you think of martial arts, only one name comes to mind, and no… we're not talking about Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris. We're talking about Bruce Lee, the epitome of martial arts. Not only was he the best martial artist known to man, he was also an accomplished actor, instructor, director, producer, screenwriter, and philosopher. But there was one thing he wasn't. An artist. Okay, he was a "martial artist", but he wasn't a visual artist, master of the pencil, kind of the drawing world… bu...
How To: Create a tessellation
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to create a tessellation. The materials required for this project are: index cards, scissors, pencil, large paper and coloring utensils. Begin by preparing a shape. Cut the index paper to a desired shape. Then place it on the right side of the large paper and tape it. Now trace the shape onto the large paper and continue transferring the shape until the page is filled. The shapes should fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. This video will benefit those ...
How To: Sketch a human skull
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw a human skull. Begin by drawing a circle shape and draw a center line to mark the symmetry. About half way through the circle, create an indent for the temple and arch out for the cheekbones. Now connect the bottom of the cheekbones to form the front teeth. Then draw a spear head shape at about 1/3 of the head for the nostrils. Now draw the eye cavities from the center mark of the circle. This video will benefit those viewers who are intereste...
How To: Draw Bart Simpson
Chance Raspberry shows us how to draw Bart Simpson in this video. First, start by drawing his head, which is in the shape of a soda can. Next, draw his neck which is the shape of a can of tuna. After this, draw a center line on his head, then another line on the side of the head where his eyes will go. Then, cut the head in half so you know where the top and bottom of the eyes go. Draw his eyes in, then draw on his nose and ears. To draw the hair, draw nine spikes on the top of his head drawi...
How To: Draw ocean waves
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw ocean waves. The image drawn in this video has water waves clashing into some rocks on shore. Begin by drawing the outline of the rocks on the right side. The horizon line of the image is about 3/4 above the rocks. Then draw a large wave that passes the horizon line. Now paint the sky in gray and paint the rock in shades of black and gray. Paint the waves and slowly build the colors. Use the pencil tool with transparent color to fill in the wa...
How To: Write the letter Q in calligraphy copperplate
In this Fine Art video tutorial you will learn how to write the letter Q in calligraphy copperplate. Hamid Reza Ebrahimi shows you how to this using a Brause & Co No 86 nib, Persian traditional black calligraphy ink, Brause marbled penholder and Persian leather pasteboard and Steinbach pasteboard. To write the capital "Q", dip the nib in to the ink, then starting at the 2nd horizontal line, write upwards touching the top line. Then continue writing downwards till you touch the 4th line and no...
How To: Draw a meerkat
In order to draw a meerkat, you will need the following: a pen, an eraser, and a pencil.
How To: Draw Justin Bieber step by step using basic shapes
Do you swoon over Justin Bieber and wish you could have him all to yourself? Though he's probably not going to pay a personal house call to you anytime soon, you can draw yourself a very lifelike picture of him!
How To: Draw a spiral staircase with complex levels
Are you a fantastically talented artist who's tired of scribbling the same circles and squares over and over again? Sprinkle some hot sauce into your drawing affairs by combining the two. Watch this tutorial to learn how to draw spiral staircases, which are much harder than normal linear staircases to complete but also much more fascinating aesthetically.
How To: Draw an architectural complex levels street scene
Have you ever wanted to be an architect? Okay, maybe not, especially considering the days without sleep working on presentations, the torturous physics, and the neverending years of school. But despite all the work, being able to replicate and design reality on paper is pretty cool.
How To: Draw letters
Drawing is easy for some, harder for others, but drawing letters is pretty simple for both the pro and novice artist. There's all kind of text styles you could conjure up, and they don't have to be boring fonts. Fire up your imagination to create different styles for drawing numbers and letters of the alphabet, adding individuality and pizzazz to names, messages, greeting cards and decorated items.
How To: Draw curves like an architect
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw curves like an architect. The first way is to use circle and oval shaped templates. When using the template, push down on it firmly and carefully picking the template back up to not smear the pencil marks. If the template does not come with a raised backing, use some built-up tape for leverage. Never use permanent markers with the template, work with dirty hands or cut with the template. Users can also use French curve templates and compasses....
How To: Draw Aladdin and Jasmine from the movie Aladdin
In this tutorial, we learn how to draw Aladdin and Jasmine. Start by drawing Jasmine, draw her hair on first, then start working on her face and head. Add on her earrings, eyebrows, and mouth. Make sure to pay attention to details and use a picture as a reference to what they should look like. Fill in Jasmine with the colors she wears in the movie, and then start to work on Aladdin. Draw in his hair to start, then make sure to draw on his hat on the very top of his head. Draw his face, giving...
How To: Draw a treehouse
Drawing a tree house begins by drawing a simple trunk and roots before adding more details. Learn to draw a tree house with help from a professional artist in this free video on basic drawing.
How To: Draw Chinese dragon tattoos
Drawing a Chinese dragon tattoo should include a lot of wavy movements and fluid action to the character. Use an "s" or a "c" shape as the basis of drawing a Chinese dragon tattoo with tips from a professional illustrator and graphic designer in this free video on drawing.
How To: Draw a Japanese dragon
To draw a Japanese dragon, first render a fierce eye, flesh out the head in a stylized way, extend the long body across the page, and add feet with talons. Sketch a few scales on the body of the dragon with art instructions from a professional artist in this free video on drawing.
How To: Draw bubble letters
To draw bubble letters, draw elliptical shapes in place of straight lines in pencil, trace the outline in marker and erase erroneous pencil marks. Sketch out rounded and bubbly letters with creative tips from a professional illustrator in this free video on drawing.
How To: Draw fancy letters
To draw fancy letters, block out the basic outline, begin adding ornate details inside them and even add vines and filigree around the outside of the letters. Draw fancy letters to start off a new chapter in a book with creative tips from a professional illustrator in this free video on drawing.
How To: Draw a gorgeous realistic rose step by step
This video will show you how to draw a really beautiful and pretty rose. Set appropriately to the Seal's "Kiss From a Rose", each portion is shown to you step by step. It looks like a complicated rose, but once you start out, it'll get easier and easier! Just follow along with this how-to video.