The mythical creature with the body of a horse and a long twisted horn has been exciting the imagination of artists for many centuries. The first images are over four thousand years old. Unicorns were painted like bulls, donkeys, goats or stunted ponies with an amazing and formidable decoration on their foreheads. Like all ancient chimeras, the unicorn has the features of many animals: the power of a horse and the grace of a deer, a long narwhal horn, sharp goat hooves, a lion's tail, and huge wings, like a swan. Now, thanks to the fantasy genre, a simplified image with a graceful and strong body of a racehorse, long to the ground, mane and tail, is popularly popular.
How to draw a unicorn in pencil with a horse’s body in stages
To create a fabulous creature on paper, one has to use fantasy and analogies from life. Using reference figures, you can draw a unicorn in stages, like a horse.
Two circles are needed for the body. Depending on the posture, one of them will be larger, the other less. This is the croup and chest. Seamlessly curved lines combine them into a common contour. The unicorn, according to legend, has a slender elegant body, lighter and more elegant than any trotter. No swollen sides. The abdomen is taut, the widest place of the body is the ribs.
For the neck you need an elongated triangle. The unicorn is thinner and more muscular than a real horse. The nobility and become a mythical animal emphasize gracefully curved bypass lines.
The contour of the head, like the body, is created from two circles of different sizes. The structure of the skull of a horse and a unicorn suggest several differences. The muzzle of a fabulous creature is slightly smaller than a horse's, slightly pointed. The superciliary arches and cheekbones are smoothed, not as convex as a living horse. The eyes and nostrils are about the same size. The ears of the unicorn are neat, but not quite miniature. Of course, the most important feature is the horn growing from the middle of the forehead. From the base it is directed forward.
Down from the circles, straight lines of the legs with kinks on the bends are drawn. The hock on the hind legs is arched back, front - forward. The nodes of the joints and hooves are outlined in small circles. At this stage, it is necessary to determine the center of gravity so that the pose is stable. The limbs are also unnaturally thin for the horse. By tracing their contour on the centerlines, you can make the metacarpals more elongated than with the upper rocks. Some disproportion of thin and long legs will give the appearance of the creature a fabulous lightness, elevation. According to some myths, a unicorn is just an incorporeal spirit, taking the form of a horse with a horn, and not an animal of flesh and blood.
How to draw a unicorn with a mane and a tail, so that they emphasize the dynamics of the pose?
Hanging freely - for a calm, noble pose. In any other position, they repeat the creature's movement along the intended path. Waves and curls of horse hair, fluttering in the wind and flowing behind a running animal, look different.
When the overall silhouette is ready, special details are added to it, turning an ordinary horse into a magical creature.
Magic horn
The main distinguishing feature! How to draw a unicorn horn? This is a long twisted cone. An elongated triangle with uniform periodicity is divided by parallel S-shaped curves, which decrease to a pointed end. Stretching them in various ways, changing the frequency, it is easy to get many options for a twisted surface.
The sharp end can be depicted bent back, like an antelope. The horn itself may also be curved. But with respect to the plane of the forehead, it is perpendicular or tilted forward. The base is hidden by bangs, or the horn protrudes from the thick wool on the skin.
Unicorn tail
You can draw a regular horsehair. Better to make it phenomenally long and magnificent. On the other hand, the traditional lion's tail with a tassel at the end more effectively emphasizes the difference between a unicorn and a horse. The mystical nature of the chimera allows many experiments. For example, a cross between a horse and a lion's tail.
Graceful hooves
Wide horse hooves are not for a unicorn. It is more suitable for forked, elegant, dangerously sharp, a bit like goat, but much larger. They should create the feeling that the animal is moving on tiptoe to emphasize the lightness of the creature. In many myths, the unicorn leaves no trace.
An even larger beast will be decorated with a fringe of silky hair on the brushes.
Variable Features
Sometimes the image of a unicorn is supplemented with a small sharp beard, as a tribute to the legend of a unicorn goat. Often portrayed him with wings, like a pegasus. So the unicorn looked in ancient Babylon. The wingspan corresponds to the growth of the animal and harmoniously complements the pose without disturbing its balance. To have sufficient lifting force, each wing in the expanded form should be twice as long as the back.
After the unicorn is drawn in pencil, it needs to be painted. The traditional color of the unicorn is white, although in some ancient sources there is a black beast with a red head.
A multitude of legends makes up a controversial image. How to draw a unicorn?
On the one hand, a unicorn is a symbol of inner harmony, awakened consciousness and inspiration, love and compassion. The majestic messenger of happiness or the meek companion of the virgin goddesses.
On the other hand, it is a formidable creator and destroyer, the personification of the supreme power of Being, awesome with its power.
Using the basic elements - a wonderful horn, an exquisite figure, a fantastic tail - you can create any character on paper that matches the artist’s imagination. Reliability is given by the features of real animals, a delightful fairytale aura - their unusual combination.