How to Draw the Original Wolverine

In this tutorial, the team of Drawingforall will show you how to draw the original Wolverine in his costume from the first issues.

In one of the previous lessons we already drew this X-Man (visit the tutorial on how to draw Wolverine). It was a tutorial where we drew the classic version of Wolverine in his classic yellow and blue suit.

This is the most famous costume he wore in many classic comic book editions. But not everyone knows that this is not Wolverine’s first costume.

The very first Wolverine costume is exactly the one we will be drawing in this lesson. Its main differences include smaller mask “ears” compared to the classic version, a distinct whisker-like pattern on the sides of the mask, smaller shoulder pads, a different boot design, and thicker claws without the sheaths that appeared in later versions.

As you can see in this guide, we will draw Wolverine in the original costume he wore in The Incredible Hulk#180 in 1974.

How to draw original Wolverine step by step

Step 1: Sketch the superhero’s basic posture

Sketch out the posture of Wolverine and his position on the paper. To do this, use simple circles and lines. At first, draw an oval for the head. Then, lightly draw the lines of the spine, arms, and legs. Note that the neck is not visible due to the fact that the head is tilted downward. This is the first step, so use very light lines, so in the next steps we will erase all these guidelines.

Step 2: Sketch the torso and place symmetry lines

Now add some “flesh” to the “bones”, that is, add the volume to the figure. First, draw the lines of the facial symmetry. The vertical line divides the face into two parts and will help you to find the center of the face. The horizontal line also divides the face into two parts and will help you to draw the eyes. Then, using the lines from the previous step sketch out the outlines of the torso.

Step 3: Sketch the limbs using cylindrical shapes

Using cylindrical shapes, draw the torso, arms, and legs of the original Wolverine. Next, sketch the shoulders and knees using light and smooth circles. Sketch the claws on the first. At this step, you also do not need to press on the pencil too hard, be a in the next steps these lines will be erased

Step 4: Outline the mask “ears” and openings

Using curved lines outline the “ears” of the mask. Then, using the horizontal facial line from the previous step draw the opening for the eyes. Using the vertical facial line from the previous step sketch the opening for the mouth at the bottom of the head shape. Draw the mouth inside this opening shape.

Step 5: Draw out the face of the original Wolverine

At this step, we will start drawing the face in detail. First, draw out the eyes with dark and smooth lines. Then, trace the lines of the mouth and mark the teeth. To learn how to draw the face perfectly, we recommend you to visit our tutorial on how to draw Wolverine’s head.

Step 6: Complete the head and mask

First, draw out the shape of the comic book character’s jaw, making it angular and symmetrical. Darken the “ears” and trace the whiskers in the sides of the head. Erase the guidelines from the head, to make this part of the sketch look complete.

Step 7: Draw out the original Wolverine torso

Start adding details to the torso of the comic book hero. First, erase all guidelines and trace the shapes of the torso using darker and smoother lines. Draw out the belt and strips on the suit. In the final step of this original Wolverine drawing tutorial, we will paint these strips in black.

Step 8: Detail the arms of the X-Man

Start working on the arms by beginning with the upper section and carefully outlining the deltoid area as it flows into the biceps and triceps, and then into the forearm. As you sketch the outlines of the arm, gradually erase your construction lines and add smaller muscle lines to the level of detail you want in your drawing. Keep perspective in mind when illustrating the arms in motion.

Step 9: Draw out the original Wolverine hands and claws

Continue the lines from the previous step and carefully draw the clenched fists, using darker and cleaner outlines as you refine the shapes. Gradually erase the remaining construction sketches as the forms become more defined. Next, draw the claws. In this version of Wolverine’s suit claws are very thick, unlike the classic version. By the way, you can visit our tutorial on how to draw Wolverine’s claws if you want to learn to illustrate them perfectly.

Step 10: Detail the superhero’s upper legs

This step seems complicated, but actually, it is not. First, draw the pelvis and sketch the lines of the shorts. After that, draw the lines of the leg muscles – the hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles. Notice how the legs are expanded in the middle of the thigh, then taper in the knees, then expanded in the area of the calf muscles, and again narrowed in the ankles.

Step 11: Draw the boots and refine the lower legs

Now, draw out the lines of the shoes. Continue the leg contours from the previous step and carefully sketch the unusual shapes of the footwear, adding all the necessary lines while trying to keep the symmetry and perspective consistent. If you’ve done everything correctly, your drawing should look the same as ours. If it doesn’t feel quite accurate yet, don’t worry – just keep practicing until you achieve the result you want.

Step 12: Add classic comic-style shadows

At the final step of the original Wolverine drawing tutorial, we are going to add shadows. As you can see, we decided to draw shadows in the style of classic comics. Similar shadows you could see in our lesson on how to draw the Scarlet Spider. Do not forget to paint the strips on the suit.

Many of the most popular comic book characters have existed for several decades, and over all these years their designs have changed noticeably, evolving and shifting mostly in the details while keeping their recognizable core traits.

In Wolverine’s case, we see exactly this pattern: although his costume changed in the classic versions, it typically kept the familiar mask “ears,” stripe patterns, and the yellow-black or brown-black color schemes.

In this lesson, we aimed to show you how to draw a classic superhero and to explain how artists of earlier decades created these costumes and how the well-known designs we recognize today were formed and became iconic.

This classic Wolverine drawing lesson is also meant to contrast with our main Wolverine tutorial, showing how proportions and outlines of comic characters looked during the early period of comic book history, and how characters can differ depending on the artist and the era in which they were drawn.