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Ciameth — Ciameth's Wing Tutorial

Published: 2011-09-22 03:42:20 +0000 UTC; Views: 90245; Favourites: 3847; Downloads: 1854
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Description I finally finished my wings and flight tutorial! Feel free to download it for personal use, but please do not repost this tutorial without my permission.

One thing to keep in mind is that my drawing of the flight muscles has been modified to allow you to see the supracoracoideus. In real life, it would be packed under the pectoralis, which would touch the furcula. The furcula is springy and absorbs energy as the flight muscles push against it; it also serves as a brace to support the thoracic skeleton during flight.

In the reference folder of my gallery, you'll find a few other tutorials and lots of bird reference, including one on raptor feet, which might be of interest to people drawing hawks, gryphons, etc: ciameth.deviantart.com/art/Cia… The rest of my photography is not stock. If you want to sketch from my pictures, that's fine--just credit the original photo if you upload your drawing online.

The Feather Atlas is a growing resource of high quality feather scans by the US Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory. It is a great place to learn about feather shapes, particularly if you want to compare the difference in shape between the feathers on two very different types of birds (like a seagull and sparrow). www.lab.fws.gov/featheratlas/i…

Some slow-motion videos of birds can be found at these links. Youtube uploader Ultraslo is an especially good resource: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAz1L8… www.youtube.com/watch?v=hecXup… www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPQ1vn… www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q97Nn… www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWNOUA… www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RvRO-…

My raptor foot reference: 
Related content
Comments: 181

MikaylaBD [2020-01-02 03:55:44 +0000 UTC]

👍: 1 ⏩: 0

Grav3soul [2017-12-25 09:52:03 +0000 UTC]

Super Helpful!! thanks for sharing these and those refs XD

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Lamerez [2017-03-22 03:49:11 +0000 UTC]

so helpful!!!

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Windsweep [2016-09-10 19:39:40 +0000 UTC]

You mentioned that the changes that would have to be made to a gryphon for it to fly would be very drastic and completely change how it looks; what would those changes be? I'm not necessarily looking to draw something that looks like a gryphon, so I'm interested in how to have it make more physical sense. 

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Ciameth In reply to Windsweep [2016-09-10 23:03:54 +0000 UTC]

The weight would have to be centered beneath the wings; a gryphon's feline hindquarters would have to be very lean and minimized, and the tail feathers would need extra surface area to make up for the drag caused by the hind legs.  The musculature and skeletal attachments of the wing would probably all have to be in front of the forelimbs like I did in the first little doodle, not split around the forelimbs like I did on the sketch of my gryphon character Valcauroch.  Maximum size would probably be no bigger than a housecat, as the heaviest flying birds are ~40lb (Kori Bustards).  Much heavier than that and wing size cannot increase enough to lift the weight without adding so much weight it negates the larger surface area.

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Balron [2016-08-08 19:48:07 +0000 UTC]

This will help me drawing my birdmen. :3  Thank you for this.

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MooshuFezrit [2016-06-10 17:39:47 +0000 UTC]

This is brilliant! Thank you so much :3

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mononokehoshie [2016-04-02 16:02:16 +0000 UTC]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!

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Sundale2 [2016-03-06 04:47:48 +0000 UTC]

Probably the best reference I've found yet for going from the fact to the fictional.  This is going to be a big help as I work on my own fantasy (or in my case, sci-fi) creatures.  Thank you.

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roxy0908 [2016-02-06 18:04:54 +0000 UTC]

I've been interested in human-bird hybrids (kind of like a more human-looking Harpy. the one from mythology, not the actual bird-)) lately and I've been wondering: where would the wings be placed so they are anatomically correct? How large to do you think the wings would be?

Of course, a lot of things would be different; hollow, honey-comb like bones, a larger chest because of the enlarged sternum and a bigger heart, feathers scattering the back, a bird tail for a rudder (probably reaching down to around the lower section of the thigh), etc.

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ToAtoneArt [2015-11-14 19:50:39 +0000 UTC]

This is very helpful. The book series 'Tales of Atonement' has an alien race called Aldre that have bird wings of differing shapes and sizes. I've been doing pigeon wings all wrong... v_v

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Flaurel [2015-11-14 03:04:57 +0000 UTC]

Your tutorial is one of the most specific tutorial in DA! It contain many details which we need to know before drawing, this is reaally cool!
Could you please give me the permission to translate it to a Chinese version?

The tutorial will be uploaded to this site:[kyoushitsu.lofter.com/] , it's our(me and my three friends) personal blog with tutorials translated from English and Japanese.
the Chinese version will totally show what you written in English, and will not revise and changed any contains(like watermark) except the sentences. 
If it is okay, we will reply you a link after upload the Chinese version.

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Ciameth In reply to Flaurel [2015-11-14 03:39:25 +0000 UTC]

Sure, you may translate it.

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Flaurel In reply to Ciameth [2015-11-15 07:25:19 +0000 UTC]

thanks so much! When we finished we will message you.

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Remiaro [2015-09-22 17:30:43 +0000 UTC]

So cool C: This will make for great bird wing practice. Thank you <3

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AspenForest732 [2015-06-14 18:01:10 +0000 UTC]

this is wonderful! I can hardly wait to put this into practice

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enelem [2015-06-03 17:57:27 +0000 UTC]

I find it very helpful, and easy to understand. Thank you for the sharing!

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Zerrinth [2015-04-17 14:22:59 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful and beautiful artwork!

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Aka-san [2015-03-23 13:15:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank youuuu !

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poyan2581 [2015-03-13 05:19:57 +0000 UTC]

It's clear! Thank you for sharing.

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ewmh1 [2015-01-31 07:26:17 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge It really means a lot!

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Onjii [2015-01-09 14:39:08 +0000 UTC]

I love this! thanks by the way. don't know how to draw my char winged

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Kuwaizair [2014-12-31 22:06:58 +0000 UTC]

i still can't wing and don't practice and try but apparenty harping on people for lack of anatomy is bullying so I guess I don't need to, even in professional venues

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Momojiro [2014-06-27 10:26:27 +0000 UTC]

This is really great
so helpful and wonderful!

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windycityparrot [2014-06-03 05:28:06 +0000 UTC]

Greetings I'm seeking permission to post this image on our blog www.windycityparrot.com/blog.a…

thank you 

mitch@windycityparrot.com

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Ciameth In reply to windycityparrot [2014-06-03 13:45:26 +0000 UTC]

You may provide a link to it, but I would prefer the image not be uploaded.

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Chockie84 [2014-05-23 13:42:12 +0000 UTC]

This is great! Thanks for sharing this... 

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fireytika [2014-03-30 15:08:58 +0000 UTC]

awesome~!! Thanks for sharing this amazing tutorial!!

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koonmo [2014-03-14 22:30:10 +0000 UTC]

This is an amazing tutorial! You clearly know a lot about wings, so I have a question for you. One of my characters has feathered wings and I am struggling in deciding what bird to base her wings off of. I was going to chose a peregrine falcon for the speed aspect, but you said here they aren't incredibly maneuverable. I'm looking for her to be able to fly quickly, but her greatest ability should be her agility. She can perform hairpin turns and the like. What wing shape would you suggest? 

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Ciameth In reply to koonmo [2014-03-14 22:36:57 +0000 UTC]

Perhaps look at kites and rollers; they are among the most agile predators in the bird world.  Kites have long, narrow (but not particularly pointed wings) wild-scotland.org.uk/wp-conten… and long tails.  Rollers have shorter, rounder wings with pointed tips ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imagecac… and a long tail.  Not as good at soaring as a kite (which are good at hovering), but they're masters at hairpin turns.

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koonmo In reply to Ciameth [2014-03-14 22:47:16 +0000 UTC]

Wow thank you for the quick reply! Both are beautiful thank you so much! I shall go do some more research on both and then decide. 

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Glori305 [2013-12-27 14:47:57 +0000 UTC]

This is awesome, been looking at bird (and bat) wings working on my wings (for sculpts) and some of your "commone mistakes" have been my downfall, nicely done!

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Opearl [2013-12-08 00:39:10 +0000 UTC]

This is by far the best wing tutorial I've seen! Thank you!

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NaniLam [2013-10-05 06:57:21 +0000 UTC]

WWWWWWOOOOOOOWWWWW *o* amazing tutorial!!!!!!!

favorite adds ^^

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Alalein [2013-09-06 21:52:15 +0000 UTC]

WOW! This is awesome
Thanks a lot for sharing

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eshipsey [2013-09-02 05:45:01 +0000 UTC]

Oh goodness. Thank you so much! I freaked out with happiness throughout your entire tutorial.

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BAMillustration [2013-05-05 21:38:18 +0000 UTC]

This is amazing! The part about birds was helpful enough on its own, but then I see the added bonus of a griffin tutorial! Thanks so much for doing this, it made designing a (believable!) griffin a lot easier!

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Ciameth In reply to BAMillustration [2013-05-05 22:08:54 +0000 UTC]

Glad you liked it!

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Merrowsong [2013-04-26 03:14:20 +0000 UTC]

This is so helpful--thanks so much!

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IXAmXDeathXBee [2013-03-17 00:34:25 +0000 UTC]

This is great! I'm going to check out the rest of you gallery to see what other neat stuff you have

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Clashe [2012-12-13 00:00:46 +0000 UTC]

Man this is really comprehensive. Thank you!

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Neonyal [2012-11-15 11:54:53 +0000 UTC]

This is just the tutorial I've been looking for, birds come in different sizes and shapes after all, especially the wings Thank you so much!

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aliphelps [2012-11-09 00:56:36 +0000 UTC]

This is amazing. I'm going to favourite it for future reference. Wings have always given me trouble, and so I really appreciate you taking the time to make a tutorial.

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Zerucune [2012-10-15 15:48:40 +0000 UTC]

Wow! This is such a handsome way to show how to draw wings. Thank you a lot for this!

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Phantomet [2012-10-04 11:59:40 +0000 UTC]

Gotta start drawing wings now!

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Anevis [2012-09-15 18:54:04 +0000 UTC]

Yay! Thanks

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gaturora [2012-09-02 21:23:38 +0000 UTC]

This has been really helpful. Hats off for creating an amazing tutorial.

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Henva [2012-08-28 08:01:14 +0000 UTC]

this is brilliant!

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teh-silver-wolfeh [2012-08-15 19:54:14 +0000 UTC]

I think wings are some of the most commonly mis-drawn things in art, but this tutorial is really wonderful and gets the basics down nicely <3 I love it!

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Ze-Platygrapsus-Girl [2012-08-14 10:32:22 +0000 UTC]

Very helpful !

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