How Can I Draw a Tornado?

Create a storm by drawing tornadoes.

Tornadoes are a powerful force of nature. Drawing one will turn you into a creative force as well! Drawing tornadoes will develop your drawing techniques and help you to master a great storm picture. Add in lightning bolts and dark clouds of thunder, but what will really give atmosphere to your picture is shading and making sure you place a lot of emphasis on the speed of the tornado and its circular motion.

Instructions

1. Draw a large upside-down triangle that covers almost the length of your paper. Draw a wonky line that cuts through the middle of the triangle.

2. Draw, at the top of the triangle, a large, wide oval. Shade in the top of the oval with spiraling lines. Following the wiggly line and the triangle, draw bumpy lines that fall down to a point at the bottom of the triangle.

3. Use the top swirling lines as a reference, and throughout the whole bubbling triangle that you have created, draw several spirals that flip around the tornado. Do not draw the lines complete but rather draw several bent lines that cover sections of the cone, continuing downwards to the ultimate point. This is what really creates the spinning, motion effect.

4. Outline all your set pencil lines with a thick black marker, and erase any remaining lines.

5. Color and shade in your tornado. This is where your picture will really come to life. Add various shades of grey to your tornado. Create a scenario. Draw some house silhouettes in the distance and trees at the bottom of the page. Draw debris surrounding the tornado to create the effect of things flying and caught in motion.

Tips & Warnings

• Creating an atmosphere will create huge depth to your tornado picture. Try adding all sorts of debris surrounding the tornado - cows and lightning in addition to houses and trees, for example.

References

• Dragoart: How to draw a tornado