How to Draw a Budgie / Parakeet (Blue)
Please PAUSE the "How to Draw a Budgie / Parakeet (Blue)" video after each step to draw at your own pace.
Time-Lapse (Speed Drawing) video:
Written step-by-step video tutorial:
For the first few steps, don't press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.
Step 1: Draw a big circle near the middle of the paper as a guide for the parakeet or budgie's body. First make four small marks to indicate the circle's height and width. Then connect the marks using curved lines. If you're struggling drawing the circle, trace the outer rim of a coin, a lid or any other object with a circular edge.
Step 2: Draw another circle above the body as a guide for the budgie's head. Draw this circle the same way. Start with four marks, then connect the marks using curved lines. This circle should be about half the size of the first one. Draw it a bit to the right too.
Step 3: Draw a curved, horizontal line across the bird's head to help you add the facial features later. Add a curved vertical line on the top, right side of the budgie's head for another construction line.
Step 4: Draw two curved lines at the top that connect the head to the body to form the budgie's neck. Make a small mark far below the first circle to indicate the bottom edge of the body. Connect the mark to the circle using curved lines to form the U-shaped guide for the bottom part of the body.
Step 5: Under the budgie's body, draw two long lines similar in shape to the letter V as a guide for the tail. Sketch lightly at first so you get the shape right. You can make the bird's tail longer if you'd like.
Step 6: Draw two short, curved lines on the bottom half of the body as guides for the parakeet's feet. The line on the right should be outside of the body, and the line on the left should be on the inside of the bird's body.
That's it for the guides! From this point on, press harder with your pencil for a more defined drawing.
Step 7: Lightly sketch the budgie's eye inside the head as a small circle. Use the initial lines as guides for placement. When you get the shape and size of the eye right, darken the lines. Inside the eye, draw a small half- circle for the iris. Inside the iris, draw a tiny circle to represent glare. Add a series of curved lines around the eye for the bare skin found there.
Step 8: Below the construction lines on the right side, draw a small shape for the top of the beak also called a cere. This shape should be similar to a small rectangle with rounded corners and sides. Inside the cere, near the top, draw a small circle for the budgie's nostril. Below the cere, draw the beak using a curved line on the right and a short, wavy line on the left that come to a point at the bottom. On the left side, above the wavy line, draw a few short strokes for the bird's fluffy feathers.
Step 9: Use the circle as a guide to draw the rest of the budgie's head. Use quick, short strokes to darken the path of the circle and create the shape of the head. As you draw the right side of the head, curve the line in toward the beak to create the forehead. Follow the initial neck guide line on the right to draw the bottom part of the bird's head. Use quick, short strokes on the left side to complete the bottom of the head. The bottom part of the head should be a curved broken line. Don't connect the strokes.
Step 10: Use the short, curved lines near the bottom as guides to draw the feet. Follow the path of the guide as you draw the thin toe around it. Make the bottom pointy for the nail. Add a shorter curved line on the right for the other toe. Use the short line on the right to draw the budgie's other foot the same way. Draw the shape of the toe around the guide. Add the shorter toe on the left side this time.
Step 11: Draw a series of short, horizontal lines on the sides of the feet to give the budgie a stick to stand on. Don't overlap the toes. The other two toes on each foot are behind the stick, so don't draw them.
Step 12: Darken the left edge of the initial guides to create the first part of the parakeet's folded wing. Inside the body, close to the left edge, draw a series of lines for the other side of the folded wing. Use a series of broken lines and quick, short strokes down the left side to finish the shape of the wing. Below the stick, draw a thin U- shaped line for the tip of the bird's wing.
Step 13: Darken the right edge of the guides to create the rest of the budgie's body. Use a few quick, short strokes above the feet for a feather- like texture.
Step 14: Use the V-shaped line at the bottom as a guide to draw the budgie's tail. Darken the basic path of the guide but make the shape thinner and rounder at the bottom. Draw a few curved lines within the shape of the bird's tail for the individual feathers.
Step 15: Erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. You can also LIGHTLY erase some of the final lines so that the colors don't get too muddled with the graphite in the next step. Re-draw any final sketch lines you may have accidentally erased.
Final Step: Color your budgie drawing! Use black or dark brown for the iris. Use pink, peach and light brown for the cere and beak. Use light brown for shadow and a bit more pink on the cere and blend in the colors. Use the same color for the feet. Add the colors lightly at first, then gradually push harder to blend them. For the stick, use light brown along the bottom and light brown with a bit of yellow on top.
Use black to draw a series of lines that extend from the parakeet's eye toward the back of the head. Young budgies have stripes all the way down the forehead. Add a few spots under the eye for the cheek patches. Draw the stripes down on the bird's wings too. Follow the shape of the wing as you add the stripes. Budgies have different stripe patterns, so yours don't have to look exactly like this. Draw longer, vertical stripes on the bottom of the wing. Use dark blue to emphasize the stripes.
Use dark blue to lightly add a base coat to the entire budgie except on the budgie's wing and head. Add a few spots on the tips of the tail feathers using black. Now add different shades of blue on top of each other on the body. Use blue, light blue, dark blue, sky blue and even a bit of purple! Add the colors lightly at first, then darken them and blend them together until you're happy with the shade of blue.
Use a bit of gray on the wing and on the bottom part of the body to create shadows. The key to coloring is to lightly add the colors on top of each other , gradually blending them together. Add some gray above the beak to create the shadow under the forehead. Continue adding as much blue as you'd like. Add a bit of yellow to the white for highlights. If you have a pet budgie, try to duplicate its pattern on your drawing. Remember to pause the video after each step to draw at your own pace.
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