How to Draw a Dark Knight's Armour

Armor is composed of complex interlocking pieces.

A dark knight has thick angular armor that serves to protect and to express his darkness. The full suit will have a helmet, breast plate, gardbraces, gauntlets, greaves and full arm and leg protection. They come in a diversity of styles that you can create in your drawing. Some suits have dramatic points and horns, especially on the helmet, while other suits are more austere.

Instructions

1. Map out the underlying body shapes. Use a pencil to sketch in a basic outline of the arms, legs, torso and head. Focus on placement and proportions rather than detail. Erase and adjust at will until you are satisfied with the outline.

2. Sketch the major sections of the armor. Start with the breast plate. It may have a crest in the middle or it may be tightly fit to the dark knight's body. Sketch a rounded triangle over each shoulder to indicate the gardbrace, or pivoting shoulder armor. Outline the helmet. It may have short horns or long spikes. Draw angular shapes over the upper and lower sections of the arms and legs. An important aspect of a dark knight's armor is the pointed angles outlining each of its sections.

3. Sketch more refined details, including smaller sections of armor, such as the gauntlets on the hands and greaves on the feet. Each pivot point on the body, such as the knees and wrists, will have an additional piece of armor for pivoting. These are ideal points to add spikes, which can be curved or straight. Use repetition such as repeating curves on the breast plate and upper arms to add aesthetic power. Some dark knight armor suits will be symmetrical, while some can be varied on each side, such in jousting suits, which have a huge slab of protection on the left shoulder.

4. Draw shading and shadow. Many dark knight armor suits are black, which will have heavy shadow with small sections of light reflected. Highly reflective armor will have sharp, curved shapes like "C's" and "S's" with sharp edges reflecting on its surface. Darker, textured armor will have softer gradations between light and dark, such as around the curves of the arms and legs. Also add final details like patterned engravings on the breast plate and helmet.

Tips & Warnings

• Sketch lightly until the final stages so you can erase and adjust.

• Look at reference photos of armor for ideas and guidelines, but also experiment and take them further.

References

• Beautiful Iron: Armor Diagram
• Elfwood: Pencil Sketching
• Dark Knight Armoury: Functional Armour From the Dark Knight Armoury

Resources

• Beautiful Iron: Armor Diagrams