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MORE DRAWING TUTORIALS: How to draw a roseHow to draw a dragon How to draw a horse NEW: How to draw a wolf NEW: How to draw a betta fish How to draw animals from pears How to draw an owl How to draw a cat How to draw animals from alphabets How to draw a frog How to draw a parrot How to draw a bird How to draw a butterfly How to draw a sheep How to draw a pig How to draw a swan How to draw a penguin How to draw a peacock How to draw a lion How to draw a rabbit How to draw a cow How to draw a dachshund How to draw a seahorse How to draw a tiger How to draw a kitten How to draw a monkey How to draw a unicorn How to draw a phoenix How to draw a deer How to draw a squirrel How to draw a crocodile How to draw a dinosaur How to draw a whale How to draw a duck How to draw a giraffe How to draw a snail How to draw a koala How to draw an angelfish How to draw an elephant How to draw a griffin How to draw a walrus How to draw a cocker spaniel How to draw a poodle How to draw a donkey How to draw a chicken How to draw a rooster How to draw a porcupine How to draw a kangaroo How to draw a bear How to draw a mouse How to draw an octopus How to draw a turkey How to draw a goat How to draw a camel How to draw a hippo How to draw a possum How to draw a rhino How to draw a centaur Did you choose "Other"? I'd love to know what your other is. Email me to let me know. 
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Learn to Draw > How to draw birdsThe body of the bird, having only two legs, rests on a single line of gravity. The external shape of a bird is very different from that of its skeleton and soft anatomy, which make up its weight. Nevertheless, the external form has to be understood from the skeleton.The feathers are as important for flight as they are for a warm covering, and the wing and tail feathers, which serve to vary the weight distribution of the soft parts of the body to assist flight, do not follow the soft parts in their modeling as do the smaller down and covering feathers. The wing and tail feathers serve to continue the tensions of the thin muscles and tendons; hence the difficulty in reconciling the shapes of a live and a plucked bird. Only the beak, eyes, and legs are uncovered by feathers. The usual mistakes made by children and beginners when drawing birds are due to the difficulty of seeing the position of the trunk, spine, and leg bones when they are all covered with feathers. In fact, the human skeleton is closer to the bird's than the quadruped's. The rest position of the bird is closely approximate to that of the human crouching on tiptoe, holding his arms close and bent, so that the hands are at the level of the armpits and hanging down. A bird's flight position can be imagined by the human spreading out his arms and pushing the edges of the hands backwards; a strong downward pull of the arms corresponds to a beat of the wings. Raising the arms is harder, but a bird is helped by air resistance against the fall of the body. A turn of the arms shows how the bird folds its wings.  The crouching position illustrated shows how the vertebrae, rib cage, and pelvis have become a single, though very elastic, bone structure in the bird. It does not need the flexible spine or shoulder girdle of the human skeleton, for the heavy work of the wings is better served by a firm support, and the strong beat downwards needs to lift the body as directly as possible, so that it is best rigid. The collar bones have become the solid forked wishbone, which has either grown into a single unit with the breastbone or is joined to it with strong sinew. The shoulder blades have become a narrow saber-shaped bone which often reaches as far back as the pelvis and is thus much restricted in movement. The breast muscles, the motors of flight, weigh as much in birds of flight as all the other muscles together. They are attached to a strongly protuberant piece of the breastbone, which is not present in birds which do not fly and which is smaller in swimming birds. All muscles other than those of the breast are very thin and model the trunk to an oval or teardrop shape which offers the minimum of Wind resistance. The tail vertebrae do not need much mobility. The last of them have formed a flat plate to which the tail-steering feathers are attached, which, on the whole, point straight backwards. They, like all the feathers, are moved by skin muscles. 
The neck vertebrae need greater mobility than in quadrupeds and humans. This is because the eyeballs are almost immobile in their sockets, and because of feeding habits. The number of vertebrae is greater: doves have 12, hens, ducks and birds of prey 13 or 14, geese up to 18, and swans sometimes have 25. The vertebrae of the neck are surrounded by strong muscles, as those who eat game birds well know. The neck and head are not held with sinews, as in quadrupeds, but with muscles. This is why birds bend their necks in sleep or tuck their heads under their wings, so that the muscles are completely relaxed. Next: How to draw birds continued |
 If you're worried about not having enough artistic "talent", try some free cartooning lessons. You'll be drawing and laughing in no time flat.  Free printable coloring pages for kids.  50 tricks and that anyone can do. Puzzles and brain-teasers, too. |
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