How to Draw Birds of Prey with Aaron Blaise

Aaron thanks you for buying the course and explains general information about the topics you will review.

Study the rhythms of the bird of prey head and the parts on it: maxilla, cere, eye, lower eyelid, nictitating membranes, lore, crown, forehead, ear, mouth, nape, and neck.

Examine the bird skeleton, then build the body in different positions recognizing its parts, using the human body analogy.

Know the digitigrade characteristics of this group of birds to represent the feet more properly.

Identify different forms of wings; study the bones, muscles, and positions.

Learn the importance of representing the movement with this motion analysis, through an animation.

Focus your study on the bald eagle head, identifying colors to express shades and lights.

Continue studying the bald eagle’s head, from the front. Learn how to create the illusion of feathers using shadows.

Recapitulate how much the feathers build out the bald eagle shape with the three-quarter view.

Complete your study of the bald eagle while reaffirming the position of the feathers in a body in flight.

Reiterate reference points for bird heads as you learn about the harpy eagle features.

Take a close look at how the feathers shape the harpy eagle’s head in this front view.

Dress the 3/4 view of the head with the characteristic fluffy feathers of the harpy eagle.

Practice your bird drawing with the peculiarities of the harpy eagle’s body.

Know in detail the profile view of the largest bird of prey in the world. Use the Photoshop brush included, or imitate the effect in traditional media, to create fur texture.

Meet the skull front view and reference points for the Andean condor.

Complete the study of the Andean Condor head and learn how to create a brush in Photoshop to simulate the texture in the dark red caruncle or comb.

Paint a complete Andean Condor and use chiaroscuro to express the texture of the feathers.

Take the skull as a reference to draw the Peregrine Falcon head profile view.

Continue studying the Peregrine Falcon Head, his points of reference, and color patterns.

Use the skull as a reference to locate properly the cere, eyes, and feathers.

Express in your Peregrine Falcon a movement feeling and the influence of the colors of the environment on its body.

Learn particularities about the name Red Tailed Hawk, their base colors, and feather style.

Apply the methodology of drawing from the skull and learn the most common markings for the Red Tailed Hawk head.

Complete the study of the Red Tailed Hawk head.

Paint the complete body from a loose sketch to detail the feathers.

Study the head and the volume of the feathers, from different angles.

Paint a Swallow Tailed Kite flying and create a brush in Photoshop to achieve the feather texture.

Study the three head angles and colors of this Florida bird.

Use shades and light to represent different types of feathers over the body in movement.

Study the profile head of this eagle, and add shadows and lights to reach the depth of the feathers.

Detail the interior of an open beak in this study of the front view head.

Follow the development of a complete composition with a flying Stellers Sea Eagle.

Use a skull picture as a base to paint a Golden Eagle head profile view. Then, build the colors to obtain feather texture.

Continue the study of the head, and paint a front-on shot. Work in the shades to represent the volume of the head.

Finish your view of the head and do the three-quarter view.

Follow Aaron working on a complete composition about the environment of the Golden Eagle.

Use a skull picture to paint the Osprey head profile view more accurately; express the feathers with a few lines then add color.

Continue with the front view of the head and cast shadows with a side light source.

Follow this exercise to achieve the 3/4 view of the head, highlighting the characteristic feathers of the Osprey.

Aaron points out the importance of knowing the osprey´s anatomy in advance and analyzing your reference photos while creating a full-body composition.

Use the Great Owl’s crane as a reference to draw the head and the proportion of the eyes. Learn how to create a Photoshop brush, to simulate the feather fluff.

Learn the proportions of the owl in the profile view. Work carefully to achieve the feathers’ texture.

Concludes the study of the Great Hornet Owl’s head.

Plan a composition with a full-body Great Hornet Owl, learning how you can use your reference photos.

Start the Barn Owl head study with the front view.

Use the skull as a reference to learn the proportions of the Barn Owl in the profile view.

Find the anchor points to draw a Barn Owl head in a 3/4 view. Reiterate how to represent the texture of the feathers without drawing them one by one.

Follow Aaron as he paints a full-body Barn Owl, creating the impression of movement in flight in the dark.

Explore the shapes of the Ferruginous Hawk head, then add colors and textures.

Draw the front view of the Ferruginous Hawk, based on a general outline, identifying the patterns for this bird of prey.

Complete the head study of the Ferruginous Hawk.

Draw the Ferruginous Hawk body, applying what you have learned about the anatomy of the wings, and texture of the feathers, while you learn about the markings of this bird.

Start your study of the Northern Goshawk head. If you follow the exercise in Photoshop, learn the step-by-step to create a brush to simulate their streaking vermiculation pattern.

Draw from scratch the front view of the Northern Goshawk, and add colors and shades to achieve the volume and patterns.

Follow this exercise to get the Northern Goshawk 3/4 view.

Learn the importance of the sketch before your final composition. See how to create the feeling of movement in your composition, in this case, with filters in Photoshop.

Start the study of this Artic bird of prey.

Continue the study of the head, paint a front view and work in the shades to represent the poofy feathers.

Complete the three views of the head for the Gyrfalcon.

Use the reference photo included in the bonus materials to draw a full body Gyrfalcon, take your time to achieve the pattern.

Aaron thanks you for selecting this course. Share your artwork with #CreatureArtTeacher