How to Draw a Bald Eagle

In this guide, we will tell you how to draw a bald eagle. We tried to make a simple lesson that will be available even to novice artists. However, if you try, you will end up with a truly realistic drawing. It was pleasant enough for us to create this lesson because the eagle is a real symbol of freedom and independence. We hope you get great results!

How to Draw a Bald Eagle

Step 1 – Sketch the Outlines of the Head and Torso

First, we outline a large oval and a small one – one will respectively indicate the position of the massive body, the other will indicate the location of the head. The upper oval is much smaller since there is no such volumetric plumage on it.

Step 2 – Sketch the Outlines of the Neck and Tail

Connect the head to the body with a wide neck. Mark a small bump at the back of the head. Draw a tail at the very bottom of the body. It is a long triangle going down. So, we get a proud bird with a powerful body.

Step 3 – Draw the Beak of an Eagle

The base is there, now draw a large, hooked beak. Draw a line for the mouth below. The beak should look predatory and rather massive in comparison to the head. Try to create a frowning and menacing expression.

Step 4 – Draw the Eye of an Eagle

Draw the eyes as small circles. Depict lines over the eyes and direct them towards the beak to form a brow arch-like in our reference. By the way, young eagles have gray eyes. As they grow older, the eyes of these birds acquire a yellow tint.

Step 5 – Draw the Bottom Edge of the Neck

Draw the bottom border of the neck, which looks like a jagged line. This line separates a very small part of the top of the large oval. Try to avoid too even and symmetrical corners.

Step 6 – Draw the Wings of an Eagle

Draw a pair of outstretched wings. Due to the peculiarities of the perspective, we can see one wing in its entirety and the second wing in the form of a narrow oval shape. Both wings are longer than the oval from the first step.

Step 7 – Draw the Tops of the Paws

Draw the short outlines of the base of the paws. Pay attention to the fact that wide areas of the legs extend from the body. Further, these contours pass into a smooth taper. A smooth horizontal line separates the wide and narrow parts of the paws.

Step 8 – Draw the Сlaws of an Eagle

Draw the eagle’s powerful, rounded toes with sharp claws. The arrangement of the toes on the right paw is very different from the arrangement of the fingers on the left paw. Don’t forget to draw the smooth curves and contractions that you can see in our example.

Step 9 Draw the Large Feathers of an Eagle

We are at the home stretch. So, draw some longitudinal lines that will indicate the largest feathers. The lines on the tail and on the wings have the same direction, this is a very important detail.

Step 10 – Draw Feathers on the Torso

Draw the texture of the feathers using short, rounded lines. As you can see, in our eagle picture there are no lines that are directed in different directions. On the wings, these lines are more intense than on the body.

Step 11 – Erase the Guidelines

If we remove all unnecessary guidelines, we get something like this. If your sketch is very different from what you intended, look at all the steps and find out exactly where you made mistakes.

Step 12 – Color the Eagle Drawing

So, let’s add some colors to our eagle drawing. Color the head and neck in light gray, the beak in dark yellow, the body in brown, and the legs in shades of yellow. The eyes can be painted either dark red or yellow.

So we did a great job. We hope that our guide on how to draw a bald eagle was useful to you. Also, we are waiting for your feedback and your questions. And we will also be glad to hear from you your wishes and ideas regarding topics for new guides. It will help us a lot to work.