3. type Questioners will do something if they see a good reason to do it. Like, if you tell them they need to practice anatomy so their character drawings look more believable, they’ll do it. They just need a little extra motivation, and they’ll never agree to doing something that seems useless. I would expect that Questionners would look up a video or a blog post like this that explains the benefits and the pitfalls of art challenges to help them make a decision.
Should you do an art challenge? + Mermaid drawing process video for Mermay
I’m starting a new video series called “Nela’s Art Chat” in which I share tips for artists/creatives on different topics of interest, while showing a time lapse of a drawing or painting process. It’s like a podcast, but it also has a cool visual you can watch! I haven’t recorded or shared any videos in 3 years (!) so it’s a pretty big deal for me to get in front of the camera again. I hope you enjoy the first episode, and come back for more. My goal is to publish 2 of these per month, but I’ll be out of town for a bit so it may just be one episode in May… We’ll see.
Inktober, Mermay, Drawing August, 100 days project, 36 days of type… there’s no shortage of art challenges, and many of us are asking ourselves “Should I do one this year?” If you’ve never done an art challenge, in this episode of Nela’s Art Chat I give you some of my tips on how to decide, and how to prepare if you do end up doing on. You’ll also be able to watch a time lapse of my ink mermaid drawing from start to finish! (Drawing is sped up 10x-20x times depending on the section. In reality it took a couple of hours.)
The beginning of the recording is a little faint since the pencil lines are too light to be picked up properly by the camera. It gets more interesting once I get to inking!
Your can subscribe to future episodes on my YouTube channel.
I’d appreciate your likes and comments, because this shows YouTube that it’s quality content they can suggest to more people.
Listen to audio only:
Tools used in this drawing
- Faber-Castell 0.35mm Mechanical Pencil
- Kneaded eraser + regular eraser
- Pentel Pocket brush pen
- Pentel Arts Color Brush (gray)
- Koh-i-noor india ink
- Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen
- Canson A4 180° Art Book
(Amazon affiliate links, I’ll get paid a few cents if you buy using my link, and there’s no extra charge to you.)
Finished drawing
Click to see the larger image in my sketchbook gallery:
Mermay 2019 day 1, ink on A4 paper. © 2019 Nela Dunato
How to draw a Mermaid
Mermaids are mythical creatures that have been around for centuries. They are often depicted as beautiful women with fish tails. Many people believe that mermaids are real, and there are many sightings of them around the world. Some people even claim to have seen mermaids in their own swimming pools! If you’re interested in learning how to draw a mermaid, you’ve come to the right place. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to create a simple but realistic-looking mermaid using pencil and paper. Let’s get started!
Step-by-step drawing guide of a Mermaid
Mermaids have often appeared in various myths and legends. Though their appearance can vary greatly from one story to the next, most depictions tend to emphasize their connection to the sea. Many mermaids (except for Selkies) are typically portrayed as slender, elegant figures with long hair and flowing, ethereal robes. However, some legends describe them with more animal-like features such as fins or scales. Additionally, some stories also describe mermaids as having the ability to transform into other forms, blurring the line between human and fish even further. Regardless of how they are depicted, it seems clear that our fascination with these aquatic creatures has endured for centuries, capturing our imaginations and sparking our curiosity time and time again. After all, who doesn’t love a beautiful and mysterious sea creature?
All those stories and the appealing look of this creatures make them great subjects for drawings. If you’re interested in learning how to draw a mermaid, this step-by-step guide can help.
So there you have it! Our tutorial on how to draw a mermaid. We hope that this has been helpful and that you now feel confident in your ability to create beautiful mermaid drawings of your own. As always, we would love to see what you come up with, so be sure to share them with us on social media or in the comments below. And don’t forget – mythical creatures are always fun to draw, so why not try your hand at some other fantastical creatures? We’d love to see those too. Happy drawing!
SHARES
Related posts:
- How to draw a Merman
- How to draw a Selkie
- How to draw an Ichthyocentaur
- How to draw a Cartoon Devil
- How to draw a Devil’s Skull
- How to draw a Gryphon
- How to draw a Manticore
- How to draw a Chimera
- How to draw an Ipotane
- How to draw a Minotaur
- How to draw a Wyvern
- How to draw a Chinese Lung
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Sirens
On this tutorial we will learn how to draw mermaids and mermans in simples steps. I will teach you the different structures of this half humans half fish creatures, how their tails works and their appearances and feautures.
Anatomy
Three types of body.
We have a proportional type, where the tail will have the length of the human legs. An out of proportion tail. I think this kind of tails succeed in making look terrifyng or mysterious our mermaid, becuase of the idea “what is hidden at the bottom of the ocean”.
The third type is not like the rest, where human legs turn into fish tails. Rather, the upper half of the human body comes out from where the head of a sea mammal or a shark would be. So the “tail” of this Sirens, actually are the entire body of a sea mammal or fish.
How does the tail move?
Depending on the tail we choose , it will limit the movements of our mermaid or merman. For the out of proportion tail you can choose were to put the knees and the rest of the tail will work as a snake. In the case of the proportioned tail, the knees will be in the same place that they are on the human legs. The only difference will be that the knees of a Siren can bend foward too.
*Sea mammals and sharks don’t have knees, therefore the Sirens who have this type of body can’t kneel or support themselves on their knees.
Scales
The tail can have scales like none. I will show you how to design the scales.
For the first case we draw a wire mesh. And we draw the scales in the small rhombuses that are formed.
For the second case, we make groups of scales and as they get smaller they remain as points.
For the third case they are more like irregular spots. I recommend a dark and a light color for the scales. In this way it seems that the light illuminates some scales.
The last case is without scales.
