How to Sketch a Butterfly

Artist: Dawn / February 3, 2017
How to Sketch a Butterfly

Step 1.


Here we will start by sketching out the body of the butterfly. This is a narrow oblong shape that has sketched in horizontal shapes going up or down the thorax and abdomen of the butterfly.

Step 2.


You will now draw out the head, and then color in the bulging eyes. Sketch in detailing that covers the head like so, then sketch in the long antenna which also have shape.

Step 3.


Next, we will tackle the task of drawing out the butterfly wings. I know one wing seems shorter than the other, but this is because I was drawing the butterfly on an angle. It may look off to some of you, but it's fine, you can just adjust what you d   

Step 4.


This step is where you will begin sketching in the butterfly wing pattern design. This is one hundred percent tweak-able because you can use your own imagination when drawing out the wing design. I choose to go with something simple. Start at the arm   

Step 5.


Before we start shading the butterfly, you have to make sure that all the mistakes are cleaned up. I started the shading process on the tops of the butterfly's wings as well as on the head and antenna. Once I finished the base shading, you can start    

Step 6.


You will begin adding some spots to your butterfly's wings at the same time you sketch in the shading. Darken the wings edges like so, and at the same time begin adding some darkened spots.

Step 7.


Darken the butterfly and the wings even more. Use some simple shading techniques that will add texture, detail, and definition to your sketched butterfly. The bottom parts of the wings are also very dark and have a trimmed style pattern.

Step 8.


When you are all done, the butterfly sketch should come out looking like the one you see here. Add some brightness in the center of the wing's pattern and also add a bit more darkness to the blackened areas.

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Artist: Dawn
Date Added: February 3, 2017
Steps: 8
Favorited: 3 (view)
Views: 0 in last hour, 1 in last day, 48 in last week, 123115 total
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Tags: how to draw butterflies, draw realistic animals, how to draw realistic, draw realistic, how to sketch, sketching in pencil, how to sketch animals, art sketches for beginners, butterfly drawings, butterfly drawing easy, butterfly sketch
Description: I have two sketches going up today that I think a lot of you may love. Of course I know people have different taste when it comes to art and drawing style, I just have so much fun mixing up the way I draw buy choosing different programs to make my drawings in. Today I will start by showing you guys "how to sketch a butterfly", step by step. I know I have drawn plenty of butterflies in my day, but I have never submitted a lesson on a sketched version using Coral Painter. The butterfly came out somewhat satisfying to my standards, but I feel that I could have done a better job. Sketching insects and creating new art can be difficult sometimes especially when you have drawn so many in the past. I find that the easiest way to come up with a new butterfly design is to incorporate beauty that flutters around us. For instance, let’s say you were walking on a trail earlier and you came across a beautiful patch of spring flowers that were clustered together. The colors and shapes of the flowers could be incorporated when creating butterfly wing designs and or patterns. One of these days I will make a tutorial on drawing butterfly wings because they are so incredibly pretty and sometimes breathtaking. I have so much fun whenever I create a new butterfly drawing so it doesn’t bother me to keep making more tutorials on them. Nonetheless, I still think that you will all love sketching a butterfly because you get to use your pencils for once instead of a digital program if you use one at all. Anyways, have fun and be sure to tune in later because I still have more goodness on the way. Peace out and enjoy!

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