How to Sketch a Snake, Snake Head
1
Start out by picking your pencils; I picked four this time around. I used the 2H for light shading/lines, the HB for initial sketches, and the B and 2B for dark shading/lines.
2
Start out with a clean sketch of the snake. Use the guidelines if you need to.
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Once you have your sketch done shade in the background. The easiest way to do this involves outlining the snake with a 2B pencil then shading in the background by crosshatching with HB-2B pencils.
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Now to work on the scale patterns. Start out by sketching the lines with an HB pencil.
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Now use a 2H pencil to go over the lines from the previous step. Shade in the scales using a 2H. Try to figure out where the lighting is coming from and shade accordingly. In this drawing the light is coming mostly from the top right.
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Now use the 2H or B to define the dark lines of the eyes and nostrils.
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Finish up the eye shading using 2H and HB pencils.
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Now start work on the side of the head by sketching in the scales.
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Fill in the scales using the 2H again.
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Time for the most complex part. Sketch in the concave scale and the rest of the head.
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Use the 2H and B pencils to work on the dark shading first.
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Add in the rest of the shading using a 2H pencil. It's pretty much smooth sailing from here.
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Now sketch in the body scales. These are basically just curved cross hatching lines.
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Now roughly shade in the part of the snake that's further away. Don't get too caught up in detail, unless you want to do so.
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Now, define the foreground scales a little more using a 2H.
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And finish up the drawing by shading the scales in. This tutorial should be a real challenge so don't give up if you don't get it right the first time; just have fun with it!
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August 13, 2011
Description: Hey everyone, it's been quite a while since I drew my last snake tutorial so this one is pretty special. I have fallen in love with Emerald Tree Boas because of this drawing; they're just so much fun to draw! Get your pencils and paper ready!
