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Eagle Tutorial

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I guess this isn't so much a tutorial as much as it is just something you guys can reference off of.
Honestly, I can draw birds but I don't usually do it xD So I had to find some picture on google to use as reference and to allow everyone to see what I used to get the anatomy semi-correct -3-

So no, the photos do not belong to me. Credit goes to the original photographers and their amazing shots <33

Because the notes are all over the place, I won't put them in any specific order- Just in their respective subjects.

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Body & Wings
-The wingspan of an Eagle (most species I would guess) is about 2-2.5 times the length of their bodies from head to tail feathers.
-Birds in general have about 9-11 (I got my facts wrong while doing the sheet) extremely long primary feathers at the ends of each wing (In the instance that none of those feathers have been torn out/lost). 
-The tail fans out while flying, but folds into a narrow shape when grounded
-3 layers of flight feathers - Primaries, secondaries and tertials. But also have multiple layers of feathers not classified as "true flight feathers" but are still used to slow the bird down or to protect the existing flight feathers.
-The base of the wing begins at the shoulder of the eagle and ends with the feathers located near the rump of the eagle. Many people make the mistake of drawing birds with unrealistically small bases to their wings, but without a broad base to the wing- A bird would never get off the ground. So broad bases are a must in order to get the thrust and the lift necessary for flight.

Talons
Now I never said I was good at drawing bird talons, so please don't criticize me on the toes xD

-Eagles generally have 4 toes - 3 in the front of the foot, 1 behind
-Eagles, like many birds of prey, have very thick and leathery skin on their feet for protection. 
-I see people draw eagle legs and forget to add the feathers that cover most of the legs. I did this too and still sometimes forget to do this xD
-Any bird of prey has long, curled, powerful talons- Not little cat claws or short and stubby talons unless the bird has somehow overused their talons in some way. And even then it would be unrealistically often and on something more than hunting to dull down their talons.
(to be honest, the bottom right example of eagle talons looks more like that of an owl's- your welcome xD)

Eyes
I love eagle eyes, they always look so intimidating but also very cute to me. When you draw the eye, start off with a circle. Then add a line on the top of the circle, possibly covering some of the area inside, and angle the line slightly downwards and facing forward. It gives the eagle that signature intimidation factor~
-Specifically the pupil of a Bald Eagle is generally 1/3 the size of the entire visible eye, depending on the light of course. But the eye is static, it does not move much because the eye has grown to be so large that it barely moves within the socket. 
-The ridge above the eagle's eye is used to protect the eye from protrusions from tree branches and the like while flying towards its prey in the trees. 

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I hope this tutorial/reference helps as well ^^ Again, I am not an expert on bird anatomy but these are some specific points to allow you to understand how an eagle's body works and to help improve your knowledge the next time you try to draw an eagle~

Art c) Me
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© 2015 - 2024 silver-moonwolf
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EagleWolfFox's avatar
i'd love to use this as a reference for eagles