People love to draw birds. It is so interesting and fascinating to watch a real bird come to life on a piece of paper, that the children also want to participate in this magic. Let's look at how to draw a cuckoo in stages.
Interesting Cuckoo Facts
A cuckoo is a bird that we hear more often than we see. It got its name from the Latin word Cuculus, which means "cuckoo" (the sound that this species of birds makes), and the word canorus, which means "melody."
There are 4 subspecies of cuckoos on the planet. In Europe, the cuckoo call is seen as the first harbinger of spring. Many local legends and traditions are based on this, and from ancient times people were inspired by this bird and tried to portray it, thinking about how to draw. To hear a cuckoo, and even if you have money with you, is a good omen, which means that a year will pass in abundance.
God Zeus turned into a beautiful cuckoo to entice the goddess Hera. After this, the bird became the sacred bird of the Goddess, and even her scepter was decorated with the image of a cuckoo ..
In Slavic countries, the cuckoo is considered a thing by a bird and a heavenly messenger. In ancient times, she was asked about the upcoming weather, the future harvest, young girls were interested in how soon they would get married and how many children they would have. It was believed that with their cry, the cuckoo drives away all the bad things - hunger, poverty, bad weather.
The common cuckoo reaches a length of 32-34 centimeters to the tail, from the tail - 13-15 centimeters, its wingspan - 55-60 cm.
This bird lives in Europe, Asia and Africa. She spends winters in the African savannahs. Cuckoos do not make nests and do not raise offspring. They toss their eggs into the nests of other birds, and they, not noticing the catch, raise foster children, like their own babies.
How to draw a cuckoo with a pencil
Each person, by virtue of his imagination, has a different idea of how a bird should look. Nevertheless, it is difficult to immediately draw a cuckoo on paper with the correct proportions. Step-by-step drawing, when you follow from simple to complex, helps to avoid mistakes. We will draw from simple figures, gradually improving the drawing with a more detailed study, so that it is clear that this is the cuckoo. This approach can be successfully applied for drawing any subject. So, let's figure out how to draw a cuckoo.
Necessary tools
We will prepare the workplace, prepare a sheet of paper, a soft simple pencil, paints, colored pencils or felt-tip pens - if desired (for coloring), an eraser.
The main stages of work
1. Let's start with the standard scheme, which is suitable for drawing any bird. We start with two simple intersecting shapes. Draw a circle for the head and an oval for the body.
2. Draw lines for the tail, legs and beak. The lines made for the tail should go down from the oval body. We draw two short lines to find the position for the legs, again extending down from the oval body. A curved line is drawn for the future beak approximately in the middle of the circle-head.
3. We draw a wing with the help of an auxiliary line running along the body of the bird, then connect the two lines that form it, approximately in the center of the tail. We draw a pair of curved lines for the claws. We add the eye almost right in the center of the circle, just above the beak.
4. Now we proceed to the difficult - to detail, since it is necessary to draw a cuckoo reliably and similar to the real one. Add a line separating the beak, lengthen it, slightly lengthen the shape of the head, raise the chest, work out the wing, sharpen and lengthen it, draw the tail with small details, make it rounded, stepped and with transverse stripes.
5. Using light and shadow, we can create the illusion of form and deepen the details, as well as draw attention to the elements of the picture. Thoughtfully work out those places that should be in the shade.
So, to the initial image of the body shape suitable for any bird, we managed to add features characteristic of our "model". Now you know how to draw a cuckoo!