How to Draw a Peacock
We’ll also teach you about the benefits of quick sketching and why you should be doing them. And then we’ll show you how to outline and color your peacock drawing with markers.
This art tutorial is great for artists of all ages and skill levels. Creating art should be fun and relaxing. So let’s go have some fun learning how to draw a peacock.
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Art Supplies
Peacock Sketch Exercise
Doing some quick sketching before starting on your drawings is a great way to warm up and work through some rough ideas.
I’ve been doing this a lot recently and it’s been super beneficial. And it only takes a few minutes to do.
There are a few different ways I like to approach doing this. First, set a timer for three or five minutes. And then do as many peacock sketches as you can before your timer goes off.
Another way to do it is to sketch quickly until your paper is filled.
Either method will work. But what you want to focus on is doing quick, loose, flowing lines for your sketches. The point is to work through the basic shapes of whatever it is you’re drawing.
By doing this quick sketching exercise you’ll start to notice things about your subject matter you didn’t see before. And learning to draw is really about learning to see.
How to Draw a Peacock Step by Step
We’re going to begin by roughing in some basic shapes. This does a few things for us. First it helps determine the proper placement of our drawing. You don’t want to end up with your peacock half off the paper after putting in a bunch of time. Unless of course that’s the composition you’re after.
Second, using shapes to draw is a great way to break complex objects down into less intimidating pieces.
And third, it gets you over that hump of staring at a blank piece of paper.
So for our peacock drawing we want to make an oval for the head and eye. Then add in a curved neck, a triangle for the beak, and a couple of rectangles for where the feathers on top of the head will go.
Now we can start adding in more detail. Begin by drawing the beak. You’ll probably want to work from a reference photo to make things easier.
Then define the shape of the head and neck.
Next, work on the details for the eye. Peacocks have pretty dark eyes so you really don’t need to add a lot of extra details.
The next step is to add in some texture for the feathers. Using Texture in Art is important and will help improve your drawings.
You can add some squiggly lines for the top of the head. And some curved lines in a pattern for the neck.
I also drew out the area where the feathers are white around the eye.
The next thing to do is draw the details in for the feathers on top of the head. Don’t worry about getting super detailed with them.
Peacock Outline
After you have your peacock all sketched out and looking good, you need to get it ready for some color.
There are many different ways to do your peacock outline. Since I typically use markers for coloring my drawings, I like to use a black pen for my outlines.
You could also use a thicker black marker or a different color entirely. However you decide to do your outlines is up to you. And will depend mostly on your artistic style.
If you don’t know what your style is yet, just practice and try new things and it will develop.
When making your lines you can use thick, thin, or a combination of the two. Again, it’s a matter of personal preference and style.
Peacock Drawing with Markers
I’ll be using markers today for my peacock drawing. But you can use whatever medium you prefer.
Regardless of what medium you’re using, the process will be the same. The application will depend on the medium you’re using though.
When adding color to your artwork you should always try to use two or three colors for each section. For your peacock drawing you can use a light, medium, and dark blue. Or you could use a medium blue with gray for the shadows.
There are many other options for color combinations as well. Check out our tutorial on How to Use Color in Art for more information on how to choose the right colors.
A light and medium gray were used for the beak. And then some white was added using colored pencils and a white Gelly Roll pen.
How to Draw Peacock Feathers
The feathers are a big part of any peacock drawing. So let’s spend a bit of time focusing on how to draw peacock feathers. Like with most things, there’s a lot of different ways to do this. Let’s look at a few of those ways.
First, let’s add a background to the peacock drawing we’ve been working on.
Each individual feather will start with a straight line.
Then draw a circle or oval towards the top of that line.
Next, draw another line around that circle, but have it come to a point where the line of the feathers is.
Then draw another line around that one that comes to a point at both the top and the bottom. And draw a half circle from the end of the feather line to the bottom of the inner circle.
Draw several more feathers to fill up the area around your peacock.
For the negative space between your feathers you can draw in some whispy lines.
After you’ve got your feathers all drawn out, go over them with a black pen and then add in some color.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
Now that you’ve learned how to draw a peacock, what’s next? Well, the next step would be to practice.
Drawing and art are skills that are learned. So practice is the only way to get better. Drawing everyday is the best approach. Even if it’s a few minutes each day. Those short drawing sessions will add up over time.
Try challenging yourself to do a series of peacock drawings in seven days and see what you can come up with. It will help improve your creativity as well as your art skills. Doing smaller drawings is a great time saver. Check out our post on Artist Trading Cards to learn how to make more art in less time.
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