How to Draw a Realistic Jet, Fighter Jet

Artist: JTM93 / November 19, 2013
How to Draw a Realistic Jet, Fighter Jet

Step 1.


To begin the drawing, we need to draw four parallel lines across the page. As these are only going to be used as guidelines and will be erased later, make sure you draw them lightly or else you will scratch the paper (and that would ruin the shading    

Step 2.


In this step, the first thing we want to do is to break up the longest line into five roughly equal segments. Also add lines joining the ends of the two lower lines together – these should start about 3-4mm from the edge of the upper line and join    

Step 3.


Add two long diagonal lines upwards from the edges of the middle segment (of the long line, as shown). These will form the leading edges of the two tail fins. Again, these lines MUST be drawn lightly as they aren't final yet and some portions will ne   

Step 4.


There is quite a lot going on in this step. First, draw the rest of the tail fins by adding two short lines at the top and then two long lines for the trailing (rear) edge of the fin. Note that the tail fins are slightly wider at their base than at t   

Step 5.


We need to add a couple more details before we can erase some of the lines. First, draw a rounded M shape along the uppermost guideline between the two tail fins (this forms the jet exhaust housing). Secondly, add the details around the cockpit canop   

Step 6.


And here I have erased all the lines that we don’t need. This is why it is important to draw the guidelines lightly – you don’t want to have a hard time erasing them, and you also don’t want to scratch the paper.

Step 7.


Now we start to shade the drawing. Begin by shading a rough layer of graphite across the surfaces of the jet. Make the shading on the surface above the left air intake lighter and the shading on the right side of the nose slightly darker. This is bec   

Step 8.


Now smooth the shading out with cotton pads/tissues. If you are familiar with my tutorials, this process of shading and smoothing it out with cotton pads/tissues should be familiar. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until you get fairly even tones. As I always sa   

Step 9.


Now we add some darker shading to the left tail plane, right sides of the jet exhaust housing and the right side of the nose and forward fuselage. Use a darker pencil, e.g. 3-4B, for this process.

Step 10.


Smooth the shading out again, like in step 8, until the tones are roughly even. You will probably need to add multiple layers of shading until the areas are dark enough.

Step 11.


Now we add the more defined shadows of the tail fins and cockpit. The right tail fin casts a long shadow about halfway across the main wing, but the left tail fin only casts a small shadow. The right side of the cockpit fairings are also cast in shad   

Step 12.


Now we start working on the highlights. Lightly erase a small patch just to the left of the center of the nose. Then erase a longer patch from the left intake all the way to the left exhaust, and a smaller patch along the left side of the right exhau   

Step 13.


Smooth the edges of the highlights from step 12 with the rest of the shading. Then we can start to add some of the smaller details to the drawing. There are various vents on surfaces around the jet. There are two vents on the surfaces above each air    

Step 14.


Now we can start to draw the subtle camouflage of the F22. The camouflage pattern is pretty basic – it is essentially some large blotches of darker shading across the wings and main fuselage surfaces. Just make the borders of the blotches wavy and    

Step 15.


Smooth out the camouflage shading with tissues/cotton pads. I've also been shading the air intakes over the last couple of steps. These intakes should be completely black, so shade them with a dark pencil (4+B). But that doesn't mean that you should    

Step 16.


In this step we add the final details around the plane. Firstly, darken the outlines of the leading edges of the main wings and add the small details at their roots (the parts where the wing joins the jet). There are some ‘zig-zagging’ panel line   

Step 17.


Now we are almost finished and just need to draw the cockpit canopy details. The F-22 Raptor has a highly reflective cockpit canopy which can be a bit difficult to draw, but hopefully you will be able to follow these steps without too much trouble. [   

Step 18.


Now that the drawing is finished, we need to erase any shading that has gone outside the lines of the drawing. To do so, use the masking technique from step 12 (use a scrap piece of paper to cover the drawing up to the edge to prevent erasing the dra   

Step 19.


Depending on how much of the smaller details you want to include, this is more or less the finished product that you should be aiming for. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and please leave any comments below. Thank you.

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Artist: JTM93
Date Added: November 19, 2013
Steps: 19
Favorited: 8 (view)
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Tags: how to draw planes
Description: The F-22 Raptor is the most advanced fighter jet in the United States Air Force. The F-22 is most well known for its stealth capabilities due to the angular design of the jet which reduces its radar signature. For this tutorial, you will need a ruler, eraser, HB-4B pencils, cotton pads/tissues and some scrap paper.

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