How to Draw an AK-47

Artist: JTM93 / January 5, 2011
How to Draw an AK-47

Step 1.


As we want to draw a very accurate drawing of the rifle, we are going to have to find a very good reference image and ensure that we draw the gun to the correct proportions. Begin by choosing a medium to high resolution photo of an AK-47 and copy the   

Step 2.


Equipment • HB, 4B pencils • Q-tips (cotton-buds) or alternatively cotton-pads (make-up removers) or tissues. • Ruler

Step 3.


How to shade using q-tips. First shade a light layer and then smooth it out with a q-tip or cotton pad. Secondly, go over the layer a couple more times to darken it and then finally smooth this second layer out with q-tips

Step 4.


To draw thin highlights on metal work, you can use a technique called masking. This involves placing two sheets of paper close together and erasing the area between them. This is a similar technique to pinstriping a car using masking tape

Step 5.


Make sweeping and definitive pencil strokes when drawing wood grain. Use the point of the pencil led, not the side. Make sure that you put a base layer of smooth shading first before you draw the wood grain as you don't want the grain to get faded.

Step 6.


This shows the importance of a base layer of shading - the wood on the extreme left looks far more realistic.

Step 7.


Remember that this is a technical drawing. That means that you cannot apply the same techniques that you use to draw animals or portraits here. Instead, you will need to draw with a ruler glued to your hand! Drawing an accurate outline of an assault    

Step 8.


Now you must start drawing the details. There are very few tips I can give other than to measure before you rule a line! You also do not want to push hard with the pencil (you should be using nothing harder than an HB pencil) as each pencil stroke cu   

Step 9.


With all the outlining completed, we can begin to render the drawing. The first step is to darken some of the lines. You will want to focus on the barrel of the gun to begin with.

Step 10.


When you look at your reference image, you should notice that the metallic sheen on the barrel can actually be broken down into blocks of different shades. It is a simple matter of shading strips of different darkness onto the barrel. The end result    

Step 11.


Add the final layers of shading to the barrel area and then we can begin to shade the base layer of the wooden hand grip. This can be rough – in fact, you are looking for a sort of cloud effect when shading the base layer of wood – you want the g   

Step 12.


This can be the hardest step when drawing an AK-47. You must shade the face of the metal component above the trigger and this must be both light and consistent shading. The required technique can take a lot of practise to master and I explain how I s   

Step 13.


Before shading the magazine (curved bit), you must draw in borders around the highlights so that you avoid them when shading. You could also opt for the masking method that I outline at the beginning of this tutorial, although this would be difficult   

Step 14.


The penultimate step! With all the metal work done, you now focus on adding the shadows and highlights to the wood components (handle, grip and stock). Shade the areas normally first, then darken areas for the shadows and lighten the highlights with    

Step 15.


The final step involves drawing the wood grain. It may look difficult, but it is very easy to achieve. Make sure that your base layer of shading is the way you want it before you add the grain (ensure that the highlights and shadows are in the correc   

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Artist: JTM93
Date Added: January 5, 2011
Steps: 15
Favorited: 5 (view)
Views: 1 in last hour, 4 in last day, 46 in last week, 138228 total
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Tags: how to draw a gun, draw guns, how to draw guns, how to draw realistic, draw realistic, how to draw real, how to sketch
Description: Welcome to this in-depth guide on"<em><strong> how to draw an AK-47</em></strong>" Kalashnikov, arguably the most effect assault rifle ever produced. I have designated this tutorial as intermediate, however if you opt to trace the outline of the gun then this is quite an easy drawing to pull off. Drawing an assault rifle is great practise if you want to improve your technical drawing skills - this is not a drawing for those artists who enjoy rough sketching - you will need a ruler and a sharp HB pencil and good patience to follow this tutorial but I have tried to make it as simple and informative as possible. I hope you enjoy it and find it helpful.

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