How To Draw A Cockatoo with this how-to video and step-by-step drawing instructions. Easy animals to draw for beginners and kids.
Please see the drawing tutorial in the video below
You can refer to the simple step-by-step drawing guide below
Step 1:
Draw two ovals – a small oval for the head and a slightly larger oval for the body
Step 2:
Plan the beak and eyes – draw a circle for the eyes and add another oval on the right side of the head for the beak
Step 3:
Draw the top and bottom of the beak. Start planning the crest of the crested bird with a candy cane curve sticking out in front and a small curve in the back.
Step 4:
Connect the front and back of the crest with a smooth arc
Step 5:
Now put some lines for the different parts of the family crest
Step 6:
Following the curve of the cockatoo’s back, add its wings. In kind of looks like a giant, stretched commas!
Step 7:
Now let’s add the tail and upper legs – put a loooong triangle for his tail and for his legs, draw two little triangles sticking out of his belly!
Step 8:
Keep working on the feet! Two more… what are they… they are like going back to the question mark ahead!
Okay, I think we’ve provided enough information for our sketch. Now we are ready for the next stage on how to draw a rooster… now let’s do some ink writing! Remember we didn’t always stick to exactly what we did during this period – It was just our foundation on which we will now build…
When working on paper, most of my inking is done with a thick black pen – when I get to the details in Step 16, I then switch to a thin black pen.
Step 9:
Draw in the beak and eyes – and if you’re a pro at drawing dots, now’s your chance to shine by drawing in your macaw’s pupils.
Step 10:
Using your pencil sketch as a guide, paint over the top in more detail by adding in small triangular gaps.
Step 11:
Placed on the back of his head and wings. For the inside of the wing, follow the sketch while putting in some lumpy waves to make it look soft and fluffy! Also, add some lumpy waves on top, separating the crest from the head
Step 12:
Squid is on his belly and legs – his right leg is closest to us so make sure it becomes part of a continuous shape with this belly. His left foot is in the back, so it can be written as a separate figure
Step 13:
Trim his tail feathers – the triangular tail in the sketch needs to be more organic so use it as a rough guide, add long curves on the sides and add some lumpy waves for the tail!
Step 14:
Now ink in his feet – to add some depth, draw some little rooster toes protruding from the back of his “question mark” foot
Step 15:
That’s the finished main outline! Now let’s drop in some solid, black shadows. The most shadow will be under his wings, under his upper beak, and on his background legs. You can also create shadows in other areas, but be careful not to overdo it, or the image will look a bit overdone.
Step 16:
Now the fun part – putting in the details! When I’m animating with pen and paper, this is where I use my thin pen (line variation is always important – if all the lines are too thick this can also make the image look too thick.) busy). Draw some soft ‘w’s to indicate his blistered streaky fur! Then add some ridges on his feet and some lines on his crest starting at the top of the crest and connecting to the top of his head. Finally, add some curves to its beak to make it look a little more three-dimensional.
Step 17:
Add the base colors – dark green for the beak and gray for the legs. The Cockatoo’s crest is a “cool” yellow (i.e. yellow that leans towards green on the color wheel). For this character, I colored its badge with a very warm orange yellow. There’s not much color in this bird, so I put it in a warmer yellow which would make it look a bit more appealing to me. As for its fur, I’ve colored it in a very light yellow – but you can leave it white if you want.
Step 18:
Okey dokes, we are the final step! I just finished the finish with some subtle transparent shadows – in Adobe Photoshop this can be done on a new layer above your color layer – paint the shadows with a deep purple color and then reduce the intensity. blur until you are satisfied with the effect. When I use crayons, I just use the purple pencil and lightly shade the areas where I want the shadow. Again, there’s not a lot of color on this bird background so I also put a super double layer against the pretty pink background! Looks like the Australian bush! Ah good.
