How to Draw a Dove

Using this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to draw a dove in flight and add volumetric, realistic shadows.

To create this tutorial, we used the basic techniques of drawing birds and applied these principles to the specific structure of a dove’s body.

This bird has very recognizable outlines of the body and head, and the image of a dove in flight is especially familiar to many people.

In this lesson, we will recreate that image by using simple techniques while still achieving a drawing with a convincing sense of volume.

How to draw a dove step by step

Step 1: Sketch the bird’s head and body

First, sketch the head of the dove as a small circle in the upper left part of the page. Then, slightly lower and to the right, draw an elongated oval to represent the torso. In proportion, doves have relatively small heads and smooth, rounded bodies.

Step 2: Draw the neck and tail of the dove

Connect the head and torso with a pair of smooth lines to form the neck of the bird. The neck should widen slightly as it moves from the head toward the torso. In the lower part of the body, sketch the outline of the tail, which spreads outward like a fan.

Step 3: Sketch the wings and beak

On the front part of the head, draw the beak as a triangular geometric shape. Divide it into two parts with a line running along its length. On the upper part of the body, sketch the wings, indicating their characteristic curved shape.

Step 4: Draw the dove eye and wing edges

In the center of the head, draw the bird’s eye. Continuing from the lines of the wings, draw the lower edges using long, smooth curves. The front wing should slightly overlap the back wing to create a sense of depth. You can also use atmospheric perspective here by making the rear wing less contrasting than the one closer to the viewer.

Step 5: Draw the legs of the dove

In the lower part of the body, draw the legs of the dove, which consist of two sections. First sketch the upper parts covered with feathers, then draw the lower parts with the feet and toes pressed close to the body. The leg closer to the viewer should partially overlap the one in the background.

Step 6: Refine the head and beak

Erase the construction lines from the head and fill the eye with solid black. For a more lively effect, you can add a small highlight. Then outline the head and the beak with clean lines.

Step 7: Refine the body, wings, and tail

Erase the construction lines from the body and refine the proportions and outlines if necessary. Check the symmetry of the wings and the correct placement of the tail in perspective. Use short, smooth strokes to indicate feathers on the tail.

Step 8: Draw the feathers of the dove

At the ends of the wings, draw the feathers with long, flowing lines. Feathers near the base of the wing should be shorter than those at the tips. Draw the tail feathers with long lines spaced at roughly equal distances, remembering the effect of linear perspective so that they become slightly smaller as they recede.

Step 9: Add shading to the flying bird

Along with perspective and overlapping forms, shadows play an important role in creating volume in the drawing. Assuming that the light falls on the dove from above, begin shading the surfaces of the bird that are partially or fully hidden from the light.

This lesson showed you how to draw a dove in flight with its wings spread to the sides. Now try drawing the same bird in a different pose, for example standing.

To do this, you will essentially repeat the same steps, but instead of raising the wings upward they should be folded along the sides of the body, as we demonstrated in our chicken drawing tutorial.

The bird’s legs should also not be tucked close to the body but instead placed firmly on the ground.

Simply repeat the steps from this lesson while changing the position of the wings and feet. In addition, you can draw the dove with more volume and realism by going a bit further than what we demonstrated in this tutorial.

We used simpler shadows to keep the lesson more accessible, but you can deepen the sense of form and realism to create a truly natural-looking bird.

In our basic drawing course, we explain these concepts in detail and show how artists create volume and a sense of reality on a flat two-dimensional surface.

Similar techniques were used in our penguin drawing tutorial, where we added more half-tones and tonal transitions to make the bird look even more realistic.