How To Draw Angel Wings For Beginners – In this tutorial I will show you how to draw wings on the back of a person, to create an angel. Although angels are seen as spiritual rather than physical, they are depicted as human beings with wings. But wings aren’t just appendages that grow from shoulder blades—they’re specialized weapons. So a normal angel has three pairs of arms and legs!

So how to draw realistic angel wings? We need to dive a little into human and bird anatomy, not only to see how bones and muscles blend together, but also to remember their function. So in this tutorial I will not only show you how to draw wings or angel wings but also how to draw realistic angels.

How To Draw Angel Wings For Beginners

This tutorial can be supplemented by the following tutorial. They go deeper into the subject by providing terminology and more advanced knowledge.

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Of course, if you just want to draw a pair of angel wings, you can safely skip the anatomy part—the step-by-step instructions are still easy to follow!

Let’s start with human anatomy, since you already know it. The arms are attached to a structure called the pectoral girdle – the shoulder blade and clavicle. This gives the arms a wide range of motion. A large muscle, called the pectoralis, strengthens the shoulder—it attaches to the sternum.

Is everything clear? Now let’s look at a bird. Birds also have a pectoral girdle, although it is somewhat more complicated: the clavicles are joined to a structure called a furcula (or wishbone) that acts like a spring, and their function is taken over by a special which is a bone called the coracoid (in humans). Because birds need more strength in their arms than humans, they have large pectoral muscles that attach to the large sternum in their shoulders.

As you can see, the wings are not just arm bones – they are a complex structure of the pectoral girdle, arm and pectoral muscles. The part that starts at the shoulder is the most visible, but real, functional wings need more than that.

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You may notice two problems here. One, two pairs of legs including shoulder blades and clavicles should fit into one chest (if each pair is moved separately). Two, the sternum must be very large, with room for both a large wing-pectoral and a small shoulder-pectoral. So what do we do?

There are many ways to solve these problems, each equally amazing. It is neither possible nor useful to have two pairs of organs so close to each other, so whatever solution we come up with, will only be a pseudo-realistic representation of an impossible anatomy. But it’s still better than sticking wings on the back!

Here’s my idea: the sternum is enlarged, with two pectoral layers attached to it. Human-swans extend lower and are more curved to make room for the winged coracoid. Birds have clavicles removed—not all flying birds have them, so we can assume they’re not necessary for flight. The bird’s pectoral muscle is still very large, covering the front of the body.

An additional pair of shoulder blades remains in humans—fortunately, bird scapulae are narrow and can be curved to fit this placement. The wings start behind the main shoulders, slightly above them.

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With this configuration, each pair of limbs can move independently, and the whole structure looks very convincing—though not really enough for powered flight!

If you want to draw an angel or just a person with wings, you need to change their chest first. This is certainly not necessary, but it will add to the realism. I used this photo of a shirtless, muscular man as my model. She looks perfect for this purpose!

First, I added fake bones inside the chest, the coracoids come somewhere behind the shoulder-neck muscles. I tried to keep the sternum big, but not stupid (although it would be more believable this way!).

After I converted the image to a piece of line art, the new anatomy merged well with the original.

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If you want a reference for both the front and back views of the winged man, feel free to use:

Draw the basic rhythm of the wings. Forget the anatomy for a moment – just draw a shadow of what the wings will look like at the end.

Add “boat”. It bends slightly somewhere in the middle, so you can use it to create the pose you need.

Draw a line separating the primary feathers from the secondary feathers. It should be shorter than the forehead.

How To Draw Angel Wings: 14 Steps (with Pictures)

There are usually ten main feathers. Mark the “boat” to make room for everything. Spread the scores in half again.

Draw a curve that will form the original shape of the primaries. It should resemble a part of a circle, suddenly turning towards the wrist.

Draw the other three primaries—they may come off the curve, becoming more like the longest primary in length.

Remove the second one. There’s no need to count them—draw them in even rhythm until you fill the area. There is no need to draw them in the front folded view, however—they are behind the folded primaries here.

How To Draw Angel Wings

Outline the primary halves. The inner part of the curved border should be rounded and the outer part should be narrower. This is how you create the characteristic slotted wings.

Both primary and secondary are covered by large mantles. They should cover the shaft of the wings. Plan their length first. Note that the front and back covers are placed separately!

There are also small sheaths that cover larger sheaths. Draw them in the same way, except this time avoid the back of the main.

In addition, there is also a structure called alula – a bunch of feathers attached to the thumb. It covers the wing at the back, but a part of it can also be seen at the front when the thumb is “open”.

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The space between the flight feathers and the body is filled by the scapulars (posteriorly) and tertials (anteriorly).

Feathers are hidden under the cover when folded – feathers that are part of the bird’s body. You can leave them out if you want to show off those amazing back muscles, but they will help make the wings look fuller.

The guide lines are done—now it’s time for the real drawing! We will do the design in the exact opposite order to the way we drew it. First, remove the wrapper and small wrapper. Keep them soft! Feathers do not need to be removed separately, as they usually do not look like that.

Remove the bottom cover. Here you need to pay attention to the order of the wings. Start drawing on the back, side of the elbow and side of the front finger.

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Finally, the primary and secondary are good. With that you can draw the rachis too thick, but it should taper towards the end.

Once you’re done, you can outline the wings. Just be careful: if the lines are too strong, they can look too thick and difficult (unless that’s the style you’re going for, where go for it!).

Now you know how to draw angel wings and human wings. If you want to learn more about drawing people, I recommend this tutorial:

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I am a Polish artist with a great passion for creating new things—whether through drawing, digital painting, or photo manipulation. I have 10+ years of experience using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, both creating graphic and unique artwork. I have a degree in graphics, but these days I work as a freelance illustrator and tutorial writer. I specialize in creating realistic art, especially animals, and I’m good at making fictional animals realistic. I’m a big fan of dragons and cats! Because I learn best by teaching, and I like to share my skills with others, in my free time I like to create educational posts on my own blog. I also share a behind-the-scenes look at my artwork on my Instagram. I consider myself an unofficial ambassador for Sketchbook Pro, a seriously underrated program for digital art that I use every day in my work. You can learn more about me on the Sketchbook blog: https://www.sketchbook.com/blog/animals-creatures-by-monika-zagrobelna

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