How to draw a butterfly with folded wings. How to draw a butterfly - the most beautiful insect? Let's draw the general contours of the butterfly

Would you like to be able to draw beautiful butterflies with a pencil in a matter of seconds? The lesson on this page will show you how to draw a butterfly step by step with a pencil in just 4 simple steps!

How to draw a butterfly step by step

The basis of a beautiful butterfly is symmetry in everything. Drawing a butterfly step by step is very simple, the instructions in the pictures show you how to do it. You can even make the task easier for yourself if, after step 3, fold the sheet in half and outline the wings, then the butterfly will turn out really smooth.

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Coloring the butterfly

It is best to color the butterfly with markers or colored pencils. In this case, small patterns on the wings will be clearer and more symmetrical. What colors can butterflies have? Here are the most famous of them:

• Completely bright yellow - lemongrass butterfly
• White with monochrome patterns - satyr butterfly
• Bright blue - Morpho amatonte butterfly
• A multicolored asymmetrical pattern is found in only one species of butterfly - Urania Madagascar

A hand-drawn butterfly can be painted with pink, purple and other rare colors, giving it fairy-tale features.

Butterflies offer many color and texture options. Their wings are velvety and iridescent, allowing for rich colors that are softly blended together.

For a smooth, shiny body, a multi-color polish works best; for hairy parts, use short, linear strokes. This single object opens up many techniques and possibilities for the artist.

So how to draw a butterfly?

In order to draw a butterfly, you will need the following colors:

Step 1. How to draw a butterfly with colored pencils

After I drew the butterfly sketch, I transferred it to smooth drawing paper. Please note that I also included the pattern on the butterfly's wings in the sketch.

Step 2. How to draw a butterfly with colored pencils

Fill in the pattern on the wings with lemon yellow and erase the pencil lines of the sketch.

Step 3. How to draw a butterfly with colored pencils

Now I applied the yellow-orange color over the lemon yellow, but left it showing through in some areas. I used the same color to paint the right pupil and antenna.

Step 4. How to draw a butterfly with colored pencils

I applied some pumpkin orange on top of the yellow orange around the edges of the design. Next I used Tuscan Red to fill in the dark areas of the wings and body, as well as the left eye and antenna.

Step 5. How to draw a butterfly with colored pencils

Step 6. How to draw a butterfly with colored pencils

I filled the empty areas with black, covering up some of the colors. I also painted both eyes and the right antenna black. Voila! Beautiful butterfly.

In the next lesson we will draw. Share your work on

Hello! Today we will tell you how to draw a butterfly! This is the first insect to date that has appeared on our website. Unless we drew earlier, but this, of course, is an arthropod. And it was noticeably more difficult to draw - today’s butterfly is very simple, except for the stages with the pattern on the wings.

But they won’t be particularly difficult if you stick to the order and carefully consider the schemes that our artists offer for you. Let's start the lesson and find out!

Step 1

Let's start drawing with such a small circle.

Step 2

Step 3

Now let's outline the wide wings. More precisely, only the upper contours. By the way, on our website there are many lessons on drawing flowers, so you can also draw a butterfly sitting on.

Step 4

Next, draw the lower edges of the wings and a line that will separate the actual upper parts of the wings and the lower ones. The dividing line looks like a horizontal line that runs through almost our entire drawing. it crosses the body of the butterfly at the top (note, it’s at the top, not in the middle).

Step 5

We draw the antennae of our butterfly, outline the side edges of the wings. The contours of the edges should be symmetrically jagged, but smooth.

Step 6

If you wanted to know, you'll have to look at the patterns on her wings. In this step everything is very simple, you need to draw patterns on the upper parts of her wings. We recommend drawing the largest shapes first - the one at the bottom and the one closest to the butterfly's body.

Step 7

But here it will be more difficult. There are a lot of lines, you can get confused if you don’t follow the order. But we decided to make a small diagram on which we highlighted in red what should be drawn first.

Here's what it will look like without markup:

Step 8

We complete our lesson by applying ovals to areas free from the main patterns. Please note that the ovals should be positioned symmetrically. We also note that if you see a clear asymmetry of the pattern, it means you made a mistake in one of the previous stages.

Look at the illustrations for the lesson not as pictures of butterflies drawn in pencil, but as diagrams, follow the sequence and identify the mistake.

It was a lesson step by step drawing, dedicated to how to draw a butterfly with a pencil step by step. Check out our VK page, a lot of interesting things await you there!

9 Amazing facts about butterflies

From the tiny Acetosea to the largest Tysania, colorful butterflies are nature's flying flowers. We are all familiar with butterflies, but our knowledge is usually limited to the most banal facts. Therefore, we will try to introduce you to these amazing creatures a little closer. The following 10 facts will help you get to know these insects better, which will allow you to most vividly and vividly convey their images on paper. And if you want to plunge into the world of butterflies and not only draw, but also decorate your own butterfly, then go to our coloring section dedicated to these adorable creatures. Creative pleasures to you!

1. Butterfly wings are transparent.

Is this possible? We know butterflies as the brightest and most colorful insects! A butterfly's wing is actually made up of layers of chitin and protein that make up the insect's exoskeleton.

These layers are so thin that you can easily look through them as if through glass. Thousands of tiny scales cover the transparent chitin, and it is these scales that create the appearance of color by refracting incoming light and reflecting it in different shades. As butterflies age, scales fall off their wings, so in these places peculiar spots of transparency are formed - chitin, which makes up the butterfly's wing.

1. Butterflies sense taste using their legs.

Butterflies have taste buds on their legs, they help them find their plant and find food. The female butterfly lands on various plants, drumming the leaves with its feet to force the plant to release its sap. The spines on her back near her legs have special chemoreceptors that help detect the correct match of plant chemicals. When she has identified the correct plant, she lays her eggs in it. The butterfly will also first trample on its food before it begins to feast. This helps her detect the presence of dissolved sugar and sample potential food sources, such as different fruits.

1. Butterflies feed only on liquid food.

Speaking of food consumption, adult butterflies can only feed on liquid foods and their diet usually consists of nectars.

Their oral cavity is modified and adapted only for the consumption of liquids; they cannot chew solid food. The proboscis, which functions as a drinking straw, remains curled under the butterfly's chin until it finds a source of nectar or other liquid nutrition. Then it unfolds into a long tube through which the butterfly absorbs food.

1. Butterfly drinks from mud puddles

A butterfly cannot live on sugar alone; its body needs minerals. To diversify its nectar diet, the butterfly sometimes drinks from mud puddles rich in minerals and salts. This behavior is more common in male butterflies because these minerals are found in their sperm. These nutrients are then transferred to the female during mating and help improve the viability of her eggs.

1. Butterflies cannot fly if they are cold.

Butterflies need an ideal body temperature of about 85ºF to fly. Since they are cold-blooded animals, they cannot thermoregulate their body. The ambient air temperature has a great influence on their ability to function.

If the air temperature drops below 55ºF, the butterflies become immobile, unable to escape predators or find food. When the air temperature ranges between 82º-100ºF, butterflies feel comfortable and move around easily. When there are cold days, the butterfly needs to warm its muscles, which are responsible for the ability to fly. They tremble or sit motionless, basking in the rays of the sun. Surprisingly, even heat-loving butterflies can overheat when temperatures rise above 100ºF. Then she will look for a shady place to cool down a little.

1. A newborn butterfly cannot fly.

The butterfly developing inside the pupa waits for its future wings to form around its body. When they are finally free of the dollhouse, the butterfly greets the world with tiny, wrinkled wings. At this point, the baby butterfly must immediately begin the process of pumping fluid from the body, through the veins into the wings, to make them larger. Once the wings reach full size, the butterfly must sleep for several hours to allow its new body to dry and harden before it can take its first flight.

1. Usually butterflies live only 2-4 weeks.

Once it emerges from its chrysalis, the adult butterfly has only a few short weeks to enjoy life. During this time, she focuses all her energy on two tasks - eating and mating. Some of the smallest butterflies generally live only a few days. And butterflies like monarchs that survive the winter can live as long as 9 months.

1. Butterflies are nearsighted, but they can see and distinguish a huge number of colors.

Up close, about 10-12 feet, the butterfly's vision is quite good. However, anything beyond this distance is a bit of a blur to the butterfly. Butterflies rely on their vision to perform vital tasks such as finding mates of the same species and finding flowers to feed on. In addition, butterflies can see a range of ultraviolet rays invisible to the human eye. The butterflies themselves may have ultraviolet markings on their wings to help them identify each other and find potential mates. Flowers also display ultraviolet markings that act as signals that the butterfly reads as “I'm being pollinated!”

1. Butterflies use a whole range of tricks to avoid being caught by predators.

Butterflies occupy a very low level in the food chain, and many hungry predators are not averse to feasting on them. Some butterflies fold their wings to blend into the natural background using camouflage, thereby making themselves less visible to predators. Others try to take the opposite strategy, wearing bright colors and patterns that boldly announce their presence. Brightly colored insects are often poisonous, so predators learn to avoid them. Some butterflies are not toxic at all, but imitate the color of their toxic counterparts, thereby repelling predators.

Nature is a combination of different wonders and incredible beauty. Not only animals, but even small insects can be fascinating and unique. Yes, we are talking about beautiful butterflies. Many artists like to pay special attention to the depiction of nature, but everyone needs to learn to also depict its small, but so beautiful elements. Some people collect butterflies, others take photographs of them, and we will show you how to draw a butterfly step by step.

What is needed for this:

• A simple pencil (preferably hardness B);
• sheet of paper;
• eraser;
• black gel pen (or thin marker);
• colored pencils.

Let's consider drawing two butterflies at once, but you can choose one to draw.

Draw the contours of the butterfly by pressing down on the pencil.

Now we need to specify the shape of the wings. Try to draw them symmetrical. An exception is drawing a butterfly with raised wings (example: the butterfly on the left).

Now comes one of the crucial moments of drawing a butterfly with a pencil step by step: mark the patterns on the wings with a simple pencil. Take a black gel pen and draw or completely paint over the body with antennae.

Now use a black helium pen to fill in the outlines of the butterfly patterns as shown in the picture. Try not to leave white spaces. If the question arises: why a gel pen or marker, then the answer is simple - the details will look more expressive and neater, which is difficult for beginners to achieve with a black pencil.

The most enjoyable stage of the work is coloring the butterfly wings. Choose any color or follow our example and the drawing is ready!

Now you know how to draw a butterfly with a pencil step by step, but we also offer you to watch a video on how to draw a butterfly in watercolor, which you will find in our other article at the link: (link). Creative success!