How to Draw a Vampire Man

A vampire reference photo featuring an open mouth makes a more interesting drawing.

According to "The Fantasy Art Bible," fantasy art mixes drawing from observation with drawing from imagination. If you want to draw a vampire man, you must do this in your drawings. The more you understand how to morph the fantasy features such as fangs with the man's realistic human characteristics, the more convincing your vampire man will become. You'll find the details you need to create these characteristics in the pages of your sketchbooks, photographs or your imagination.

Things You'll Need

• Vampire reference pictures
• Rule
• Pencils
• Drawing pad

Instructions

1. Gather your visual reference materials. Throughout history, artists and filmmakers have created the image of the male vampire. Collect visual references from these sources as well as pictures of male faces; pay particular attention to the mouth area. A mouth with slightly parted lips will allow you to add in teeth.

2. Choose one large photograph as the model for the vampire man's face. Mark the photo with a grid with 1-inch squares.

3. Pull other reference materials. For example, you may like how one vampire's teeth looks but prefer to use another that features blood drops in the corner of the mouth. Keep these handy; you'll use them in later stages of the drawing.

4. Add a grid to your drawing paper that replicates the exact measurements of your photo's grid. Use light pencil marks to make the grid.

5. Determine the number of grid squares from the top and side of the photograph to the man's mouth. For example, the mouth may located 10 squares down from the top edge of the paper and five squares in.

6. Count on your gridded drawing paper until you find the square of the same number.

7. Look at your photo and notice how the lines forming the corner of the man's mouth look; notice also how these lines look within the grid square and what relation they have with each of the four walls of the square. See the exact angle at which they curve. Once you have a grasp on what these look like, recreate these lines at the same angle on your gridded paper. Draw what you see. Don't add lines that aren't there. (See Resources)

8. Finish drawing the vampire man's mouth by filling in all the grid squares surrounding the vampire's mouth.

9. Add in the vampire man's pointed teeth. Look at your reference photo for vampire teeth; extend and sharpen the teeth on your vampire man's mouth until they match the teeth in the photo.

10. Draw in drops of blood on the teeth, lips and chin. If your main facial reference photo does not have these features, pull out the other reference photos that you put aside for this purpose. Replicate what you see.

11. Fill in the details of the rest of the vampire man's face until you've completed the drawing of the vampire man's face. Use the grid in the same way that you did to draw the mouth, recreating how the lines of the vampire's face intersect with the grid lines.

12. Erase the lines of the grid on your paper, being careful not to erase the lines of the vampire man's face.

References

• "How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way"; Stan Lee and John Buscema; 1978
• "Colored Pencil Portraits"; Ann Kullberg; 1999
• "How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs"; Lee Hammond; 1995
• "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"; Betty Edwards; 1999
• "Sketchbook for the Artist"; Sarah Simblet; 2005
• "The Fantasy Art Bible"; Jane Moseley and Jackie Strachan, editors; 2009

Resources

• Art Made Easy: Drawing Using a Grid
• Duey's Drawings: Shading Tutorial: How to Shade in Drawing
• Drago Art: How to Draw Vampires
• How to Draw and Paint: How to Draw Faces
• Drago Art: Learn How to Draw People