How to draw a crane step by step - master classes with examples of drawing with simple and colored pencils

Drawing birds is an important step in developing drawing skills. It is easy to draw a crane using only paper and simple pencils. The bird has a short beak and smooth plumage. Such features distinguish it from the stork, with which the bird is often confused.

A step by step drawing of a crane with a pencil

Drawing a crane for children

Drawing a crane standing up is the easiest way. A standing bird is most often depicted on grass or in water.

First, the proportions of the drawing in relation to the sheet of paper are indicated. It is necessary to indicate the size of the bird both in length and width. To draw a bird in a standing position, it is better to place the sheet vertically. The strokes mark the points: upper (boundary of the head), lower (boundary of the legs), and two side points (boundaries of the beak and tail).

On the sheet of paper, a vertical oval is drawn with a slight slope, which marks the bird's body.
From the top point of the oval a curved line with the letter "S" is drawn. Just below it is drawn parallel to the same curved line.
Then draw a smaller contiguous line oval indicating the crane's head, so that the head, neck and torso of the bird are connected.
A line parallel to the floor indicates the crane's beak from the head.
In the middle of the oval, closer to the right edge is drawn a small circle, inside which is drawn circle of three times smaller. Thus marked the contour of the eye and the pupil.
The legs of the crane are drawn from the bottom of the torso: two parallel lines at a slight angle. From these lines are drawn parallel straight lines at right angles.
At the bottom of the legs are drawn three short lines.
Should add volume to the legs crane, compacting the lines drawn.
A curved line shows the contour of the wing, just below outlines a lush tail, in the opposite direction to the neck.
Finally, the auxiliary lines of construction are erased and the crane's feathers are shown with strokes and dashes on the bird's chest, wings and tail.

To complete the drawing, you can use shading, separating the light and dark areas. Thus are delineated feathers on the tail and wings, neck and torso of the bird.

Drawing crane in flight

The scheme for drawing the crane in flight looks like this:

A large horizontal oval is drawn and to the left at a distance of a centimeter is a small oval, which denotes the torso and head of the crane.
Mirror letter "S" connected the head and torso, which simulates a bird's neck.
On the sides the wings of the bird are marked. The right wing resembles a trapezoid in shape with a concave top. Left wing is denoted by a triangle.
Parallel to the upper part of the bird are drawn legs at a slight slope to the horizon.
The triangle marks the beak, and behind the line of legs - the tail.
Thickens the neck and feathers are drawn. Feathers are marked on the left wing along the lower border, on the right wing - from the lateral border on the inside and the lower border. A puffy tail is also marked.
An eye closer to the beak and the crane's claws are drawn with a dot.

Finally, the bird is decorated with feathers using strokes and dashes.

Crane wedge

A wedge of cranes in flight is drawn using crane drawing skills. "Crane key" is a wedge of cranes pointing one side forward. The wedge has a strict order and is considered the most beautiful.

To depict a crane key, the sheet is placed horizontally mark a triangle, the acute angle of which is located in the left corner of the sheet.
In the boundaries of the triangle marked the birds. Usually drawn from 5 to 9 birds in flight. This should take into account the proportions of birds relative to the sheet and each other.
Each bird is drawn in stages. You can draw cranes one by one or simultaneously all birds step by step.
Cranes can be drawn or can be left for the construction phase.

Drawing a crane with colored pencils

Drawing a crane and a gray crane

You can decorate the drawing with colored pencils.

After the step-by-step construction of the crane, all intermediate lines are erased with an eraser.
Crane has a white or gray coloring. The gray crane species is common in Europe and Asia. The torso and head of the bird remain white or are painted gray.
The inside of the neck of the gray crane has a darker shade, which can also be shown in the picture.
The wings and tail have a dark coloration. In the Siberian Crane, the wings have a white base and only towards the edge of the wing do the feathers acquire a darker color.
The bird's legs can be colored either dark or brown.
The beak of the gray crane is colored orange. The crane's beak is red. The area from the beak around the eye has the same shade.

Drawing a crowned crane

The crowned crane is called a species of crane with an unusual crest on its head. The bird lives in West and East Africa. The drawing of a crowned crane looks as follows:

The head, neck, torso, legs, beak, and eye of the crane are drawn step by step first.
The tail of the crowned crane is not as lush as that of an ordinary crane. It is drawn as an extension of the wing.
A crest in the form of a crown the size of the bird's head is drawn.
The feathers on the tail, wing, torso, and crest are marked.
The neck of the bird has a light gray color, and the torso is dark.
The bird's head is painted black, leaving the cheeks with a white circle.
The beak and legs are dark colored.
The tail of the bird is painted brown, and the wing has a white base with a transition to gold.

Finally, the bird's feature, its crest, is painted gold. The crest feathers look in different directions and have an outlined appearance.

Crane can be drawn in different ways. The bird can stand with its leg up, or with its head down. The crane can be shown in flight not only from the side, but also from above or below.

To get a correct picture, you should draw the crane from the photo, following the suggested steps of construction and drawing. In addition to pencils, you can use any paints, charcoal or pastels.