How to Draw Scorpions
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Did you know that there are over 1, 700 different species of scorpions in the world? This, naturally, tells us that not all scorpions are alike. The range from very tiny (9mm) to nightmarishly large (20cm)! Their body types are dependent on the types
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Scorpions carry their larvae on top of their backs until they are mature enough to leave their mother. The average number of scroplings per litter is eight, but some species of scorpions are capable of having litters of up to one hundred scorplings.
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Before we begin working on drawing the scorpion, let's do a couple quick exercises to get better acquainted some key features. Here is a step by step breakdown of the most defining feature of a scorpion - the tail and stinger. The tail is made up of
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Next, let's take a look at the claws, which are very similar to lobster claws. Notice how the base of the arms attach to either side of the head. The serrated inner edges of the claws are used to help grasp the scorpion's prey while killing it with t
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Have you ever seen the head of a scorpion? Each species has a very different looking head depending on its environment. They have a pair of eyes either on top of their head or on top of the backs, just behind the head. They also have multiple eyes o
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Here's an example of how to bring those elements together and use them to demonstrate how a scorpion attacks its prey. Notice how the back arches upwards to allow the tail to lunge forward and sting the prey. Keep in mind that the back legs should be
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Let's get started with drawing a scorpion step by step. Use a 2H or harder pencil to loosely sketch in your construction lines. These should be very light so that they can be erased later after the image has been inked. Draw a large oval shape for th
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Now we can start drawing the claws. Since the right claw is facing towards us, it is not going to appear as large as the left claw until we later shade it. Scorpions have exoskeletons, meaning that their bone structure is on the outside. The body is
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Moving on to the head, be sure that the front appendages connect in a believable way. They should appear to almost lock into place. Place a couple eyes on either side of the head. This is also a good time to draw the front edge of the shell covering
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Let's get to work on the right legs. They should be even spread out from one another to provide adequate balance. Scorpions have four legs on either side. The very back leg is the longest so that it can push the rear end up high enough so that the st
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Now draw the body of the scorpion along with the left legs. There is a series of shells running down the backside of the scorpion as part of its exoskeleton.
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We can now finish off the form of the figure by drawing the tail. Remember that the tail is comprised of sections that, when together, allow it to bend forward significantly. Make the hook on the stinger rather long - it'll be more menacing.
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Ink over the image using either a brush, brush pen, or Micron markers. After you're done inking, erase your pencil marks with a kneaded eraser. You will now have a perfectly clean black and white image of a scorpion. But it's not finished just yet…
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Let's start shading the figure by first establishing the location of our light source. In this case, it's going to be coming from in front of the scorpion, slightly on the scorpion's left side. Our scorpion is going to be predominantly black in color
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We can continue to render the image by feathering the edges of the shadows into the shine spots. Using a brush or brush pen, carefully drag the tip of the brush into the shadows, gradually pressing down as you do so. The thin end of your brush stroke
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Here is the image fully rendered. Notice how the shines are still very prominent because we carefully faded our shadows into them with feathering.
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If you need to use some white ink or opaque white paint to do touch ups, feel free to do so. In this case, I went back and inserted some more thin white highlights around the outer edges of some of the body parts to help them stand out better. The im
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January 12, 2013
Description: A step by step guide to drawing comic book style scorpions.
