How to Draw Whimsical Birds

How to Draw Whimsical Birds
Drawing is known as a ready outlet for creativity and for helping people to relax. While there are a variety of subjects that individuals can draw, many people are attracted to birds. Birds may appeal to the human desire to soar above the difficulties of the day or to the wish to see the horizon or the future from a higher perspective. For some, however, whimsical birds are simply entertaining subjects to draw.
Method 1: Start With the Bird's Body
Step 1
Draw a sideways "S" shape on a sheet of paper. Make a line across the "S" shape from the beginning point to the end point.
Step 2
Make a circle in the upper section where you want the eye to be. Color the eye in with a pattern or a solid color. Add a v-shaped beak on the front of the head. In the lower section of the s-shape you drew, locate the area where you want the wing to be.
Step 3
Draw a wing using a straight horizontal line. Make a curved line under the horizontal line that connects at each end. Make twirling loops in the wing area to represent feathers.
Step 4
Add more embellishments as desired.

Method 2: Start With the Head
Step 1
Draw a small circle in the upper center area of your paper. Make it about the size of a pencil eraser. This is your bird's eye.
Step 2
Draw a larger circle around the small circle. Leave one side of the circle out and make a straight line there. Make the larger circle about the size of a golf ball. This is the bird's head.
Step 3
Draw a straight line out from the center of the line on the side of the circle. Put your marker or pencil at the end of that line. Make a curved line arching up to the top of the head straight line. Then make another curved line from the tip back to the bottom of the straight line on the side of the head. You now have a head with an eye and a beak. Mona Brookes, artist and author, explains: "When doing the outer edges of the beak, it is best to start at the point and work back to the head ..." Brookes recommends using u-shaped doodles to form feathers on the wings and tail.
Step 4
Draw your preferred embellishments on the beak and head. Decide how long you want the body to be. Make a horizontal line across the page there. This can be the branch your bird is sitting on. Draw three loops on each side of the horizontal line for the toes of each foot. Make a line going across the bottom of his toe areas for the bottom of the branch.
Step 5
Draw a line curving outward from the bottom of the head to the outer edge of the toes on one side and then the other. This is the body. Mark off the area on each side of the body for the wings. Long u-shaped loops can form the tail feathers seen below the feet and behind the branch you drew. Add more embellishments as desired.

Method 3: Simple Bird Shapes with Extreme Details
Step 1
Draw an oval but make it pointed at one end. This is a basic teardrop shape. Draw stick figure legs under it. Place an eye near the pointed end. Divide the point in half with a line from the point to an area where you think the beak should end. Draw a line across the point from side to side to end the beak.
Step 2
Divide the body of your bird into several different areas such as head, wing, body and tail.
Step 3
In each section, draw doodled patterns as the mood inspires you. There are no rules and no limits to this kind of drawing. A Zentangle resource has been included for pictorial inspiration.

Skill
• Easy

Things You'll Need
• Paper
• Pen
References
• YouTube: Whimsical Bird Sketch [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7eWq1E3mTs]
• "Drawing With Children: A Creative Teaching and Learning Method That Works for Adults, Too"; Mona Brookes; 1986
Resource
• Showing Content from the Zentangle Pool [http://www.flickr.com/search/groups/?w=35241465%40N00&m=pool&q=birds]