How to Draw The Joker, Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Artist: finalprodigy / October 29, 2011

Step 1.


Start out by picking your pencils. used an HB for sketching/lighter shading, B for dark lines, and 3B and 6B pencils for darker shading.

Step 2.


Start out with a light basic sketch. Use the guidelines if you need them.

Step 3.


Your sketch should end up looking something like this. You'll notice that the proportions seem a bit wide/large but that's just how I draw. Since I always find it hard to get my proportions perfect on my initial sketch I figured out that it's better    

Step 4.


Start out by adding a layer of shading to his facial features. An HB pencil will do fine for this.

Step 5.


Roughly sketch in his hair.

Step 6.


Then define the rest of the drawing a bit more.

Step 7.


Now roughly shade over the whole drawing with an HB pencil. Shade lightly.

Step 8.


Now use a cloth or paper towel to lightly blend in your shading.

Step 9.


Erase away the highlights on his face.

Step 10.


Shade in and around his eyes. Shade in layers. Start with HB, move on to 3b, and finish off with 6B on the darker parts.

Step 11.


Shade in his forehead. Keep in mind that his makeup is smeared and worn down. His natural skin is showing through towards the left side of his forehead. Use HB and B pencils for his skin.

Step 12.


Roughly shade and blend in his hair using an HB pencil and a blending stump.

Step 13.


Start shading in the rest of his face starting with a layer with an HB pencil.

Step 14.


Develop the rest of the face more with softer, darker pencils.

Step 15.


Shade and define his hair. You want to use layers of B, 3B, and 6B pencil for this. Go ahead and shade in your background a bit as well.

Step 16.


Shade in a layer with an HB pencil for his shirt and vest.

Step 17.


Start adding dark shading using 3B and 6B pencils. This is also where I started fixing the proportions of his head by "shaving down" his jaw line.

Step 18.


Finish the drawing by going over all of your darker shading again and sharpening your details. I hope this tutorial was helpful for you! Comments and questions are more than welcome!

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Details

Artist: finalprodigy
Date Added: October 29, 2011
Steps: 18
Favorited: 0
Views: 0 in last hour, 7 in last day, 53 in last week, 129976 total
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Tags: how to draw characters from batman, how to draw batman characters, how to draw clowns
Description: "Some men just want to watch the world burn." Hey everyone, here's a tutorial on how to draw everyone's favorite maniacal clown, The Joker. Heath Ledger did an amazing job with The Joker and it will always be a bitter-sweet tragedy that one of his greatest performances had to be his last. So, this is for all of you Joker and Ledger fans. Get your supplies ready and have fun with it!