Drawing a colorful peacock with colored pencils can be a fun and rewarding art project. Peacocks have vibrant, iridescent feathers in shades of blue, green, gold and bronze that make for a stunning work of art. By following some basic steps, you can learn how to draw a peacock in pencil color that captures the beauty of this exotic bird.
What You Need to Draw a Peacock
Here are the recommended supplies for drawing a peacock with colored pencils:
Supply | Purpose |
---|---|
Drawing paper | Thicker paper holds up better to multiple layers of coloring. Bristol paper, mixed media paper or watercolor paper recommended. |
Pencil | For sketching the initial peacock drawing |
Eraser | For erasing pencil lines and making corrections |
Colored pencils | Look for a set with a wide range of colors to capture the peacock’s vibrant plumage. |
Blending stumps | Optional – for smooth blending of colored pencil strokes |
Sharpener | For sharpening drawing and colored pencils |
The key tools are quality drawing paper, a standard graphite pencil, a large set of colored pencils (at least 24 colors), and an eraser. Optional tools like blending stumps can also be helpful.
Step 1: Make a Line Drawing of the Peacock
Start by making a basic line drawing of the peacock with an HB pencil on your drawing paper. Here are some tips for this initial sketch:
– Lightly draw the basic shape of the peacock’s body, including the neck, legs and prominent feathers. Don’t press hard or include much detail yet.
– Sketch the basic shapes of the head, beak, eyes and the crown of feathers on the head.
– Outline the position of the tail, which will be the peacock’s most colorful feature. The tail should be long and extend out behind the body.
– Draw the basic shapes of some of the detail feathers on the tail. Peacock tail feathers are called coverts and ocelli.
– Once you are happy with the initial sketch, you can start pressing harder with your pencil to firm up the lines. Still focus just on structure at this point.
– Remember peacocks have a crest of shorter head feathers and longer tail covert feathers above the grand tail feathers. Include these in your sketch.
– If needed, use an eraser to remove any pencil lines you don’t want.
The goal of the line drawing is to capture the basic structure and proportions of the peacock. Don’t worry about detail or color at this point.
Step 2: Add the Base Layer of Color
Once your line drawing is complete, you can start adding the first layer of color using your colored pencils:
– Lightly color in the main areas of the peacock using broad strokes. Avoid pressing hard at this stage.
– Choose appropriate base colors for sections like the beak, head feathers, body and tail feathers. Refer to peacock reference photos.
– Some good base color choices are light blue for the body and tail, gold or tan for the head and accents, light peach for the beak, and blue-gray for the legs.
– The belly and underside of the tail can be light tan or white at this stage.
– For the eye feathers, color the bases pale blue, green and gold. Leave some areas white for highlights.
– Don’t worry about perfect coloring or details yet. Just get light color down on the main peacock sections.
– Avoid coloring over the pencil outline sketches so they remain visible.
– The base layer creates an underpainting and helps establish placement of colors.
Color Tips
Use these techniques for an even base layer of colored pencil:
– Apply pencil strokes in the same direction and use a light touch.
– Overlap pencil strokes slightly to fill areas evenly.
– Vary pressure to adjust color depth and avoid hard lines.
– Keep your pencils sharp for smooth coverage.
Step 3: Build up Layers of Color
Once you’ve established the base colors, you can start building up layers and adding more detail:
– Use an HB pencil to re-establish any lost outlines from your initial sketch.
– Deepen the colors on the body, head and tail feathers by applying heavier pressure and more layers.
– Refer to peacock photos as a color reference. Mix different shades of colored pencils together.
– Add gradients of color by slowly varying pressure. Make some areas darker and some lighter.
– For the peacock body, use darker blues and greens. Add white pencil for highlights on the back.
– Color the beak yellowish-horn at the tip fading into light peach toward the head.
– For a greater color variety, use pencils like purple, pink, orange, turquoise and brown for accent feathers.
– On the eye feathers, color the “eyes” with vivid shades of blue, green and amber.
– For the most realistic effect, apply many thin layers of alternating colors to build up depth.
– Sharpen your colored pencils frequently for a fine point and smooth application.
Take your time at this step to show off the peacock’s vibrant, shimmery plumage. Varying pencil pressure and blending will create those iridescent, multi-toned feathers.
Step 4: Add Finishing Details
To complete your colored pencil peacock drawing, accentuate certain details:
– Use a white colored pencil to add small highlights and bring out key feathers.
– Darken and refine patterns and eyespots on the tail covert feathers.
– Add darker layers to the peacock’s face, beak, eyes and legs.
– Use gold, bronze or metallic pencils to increase shine and iridescence on select feathers.
– Consider going over some edges in a darker pencil to sharpen details.
– Add interest by creating textured effects like cross-hatching in the background.
– Carefully stroke in sparse individual feathers, especially around the head and neck.
– Check for any sparse areas that need more coloring. Fill in with matching light layers.
– Sign and date your finished colored pencil artwork!
With some thoughtful details at the end, you can really bring your peacock drawing to life. Don’t be afraid to experiment with color combinations and textures.
Tips for Drawing Peacocks
Here are some additional tips to help you succeed at drawing peacocks with colored pencils:
– Use good quality, sharp colored pencils. Budget sets may lack vibrant pigments.
– Vary your pencil grip and angle to make different kinds of strokes.
– Apply very light layers first to slowly deepen color over time.
– Capture the iridescent nature of peacock feathers with blended color layers.
– Leave some white areas for highlights and indications of light feather textures.
– Study peacock photos to see how colors vary across different feathers.
– Aim for bright, saturated colors for an intense peacock color palette.
– Consider trying a peacock feather or two for practice before tackling the whole bird.
– Draw the peacock in a proud pose with its tail fully fanned out for best effect.
– Allow plenty of time to do the many meticulous pencil feather layers justice.
With patience and an artistic eye for color, you can replicate the elegant feathers of the peacock in colored pencil. Use these tips to guide you.
Conclusion
Drawing a peacock utilizing the vibrant colors of colored pencils can result in an impressive work of art. Follow the step-by-step process from the initial sketch all the way through completing refined details. Utilize peacock color references and feather photographs to inform your color choices. Experiment with color combinations to achieve dazzling, iridescent effects. Take your time to properly layer and blend the colored pencils. With persistence, you can develop the skills to realistically render the striking colors and textures of a peacock through this colorful, rewarding colored pencil drawing project.