How to Draw a Pet Bird

If you have a pet bird, you might want to draw a picture of it. This could be a fun holiday card or simply artwork for your website or wall. Drawing your pet bird is not too hard if you take a photo of it first.

Things You'll Need

• Camera
• Paper
• Pencil
• Colored pencils, markers, crayons, watercolor or Abode Photoshop

Instructions

1. Take a picture. Drawing birds from real life is an advanced skill, as birds won't sit still long enough for you to draw their portrait. So start from a picture. Take several photos of your pet bird until you find one that you really like. If your bird has a special trick they do or an activity they like, consider getting a picture of them doing that. This will make your picture more meaningful.

2. Print your photo or put it on your monitor so you can see it. A blue ringneck parakeet is used for this example.

3. Start by visualizing the bird broken up into individual parts---head, neck and body. The head is basically an oval. The neck is a cylinder. The body is another cylinder. Sketch the head, neck and body with your pencil. It's okay to be very loose and rough at this point---just get down the basics.

4. 

   Add the tail, wings, legs and beak to your sketch.

5. 

   Connect your shapes with smooth lines. Adjust your proportions. Keep referring to the photo to help you. When you add in feathers and muscles, remember to envision how those lines fit together on the real bird. A thigh muscle is not just an interesting blob, but it should flow smoothly and logically into the foot.

6. Ink in your sketch. When you have the sketch the way you like it, consider going over it with waterproof black ink. Then once the ink is dry, carefully erase your pencil. Or, if you don't want a black outline to your bird, go straight to the coloring.

7. You can color your pet bird with colored pencil, crayon, watercolor or marker---or scan it and color it with Abode Photoshop. Watercolor can be challenging, but it is a very pretty way to represent feathers.

8. Look at both your photo and your real bird to decide what colors to use. Your photo will be a helpful guide on figuring out what parts are in shadow and which parts should be highlighted. But remember, photos are sometimes slightly different colors than real life, so look at your real bird, too.

9. When your artwork is dry, you can frame it or just hang it on the refrigerator. You can also scan it or photocopy it and turn it into a fun holiday or thank you card. Whatever you choose, you will have a neat portrait of your favorite bird!

Tips & Warnings

• Take several photos of your pet bird so you can pick your favorite. Make sure you have plenty of light at your desk so you can see your drawing and your photo.