How to Draw Wings

Cartoon Wings

Draw two thin, slightly curved ovals as shown. They should look like connected tree branches, or the skeleton of a bat's arm.

Add in faint curves for the feathers. They should be mostly oval-like in shape, overlapping one another but not going beyond three rows or so per wing.

Sketch in thinner, larger feathers. These can be as thick or as lengthy as you like, but try to keep even the proportions of these feathers and the feathers from the previous step.

Draw details for the feathers. You don't necessarily need to have too many extra lines or spots on your feathers, but the image above will show you how if you want those elements.

Outline and color your wing. To create a set, if your character is being viewed from the front rather than the side, simply mirror the drawing you've already done on the other side. And remember, when detailing/coloring, use your imagination!

Traditional Wings

Draw three trapezoids of different sizes and orientations which are connected to each other. This will be the framework for the wings.

Draw two straight lines with a space apart and which follow the orientation of the trapezoids – three layers are formed.

Draw the feathers for the first layer using simple and rounded curves.

Draw the second layer of feather using simple curves and longer than the first layer feathers.

Draw the third layer feathers using simple curves. The feathers are longer and more refined.

Trace with a pen and erase unnecessary lines.

Color to your liking with shades of white!

Bird Wings

Sketch the base line. This is the base of your wing which will determine its length. In this example, we'll be drawing an eagle's wing. Make sure to lightly sketch the base with a pencil, as you'll want to erase it later. Birds with longer wings generally have longer arms and shorter hands, like wandering albatrosses or seagulls. Smaller birds have shorter arms and longer hands, like sparrows or hummingbirds.

Draw the first layer of feathers. Do this by sketching a general shape that vaguely follows the wing's base and then fill it in with feathers. Don't forget the skin flap between the forearm and the upper arm.

Draw the second layer of feathers. It's similar to drawing the first layer of feathers, but further out.

Draw the outer feathers on the wing. This is a tricky step, because the line of feathers isn't consistent as in the other rows of feathers. You can make it easier for yourself to sketch out lines for the feathers before drawing them. Eagle wing feathers look like "fingers" but this doesn't apply to all birds, for example budgerigars.

Finish! Clean up the sketch, erase the base, and use however you want! You can use these exact tips for drawing other kinds of wings too, like vultures, crows, parrots, doves, anything.