How to Draw a Butterfly Step by Step

by easylinedrawing

This tutorial shows how to draw a butterfly in nine steps. It provides illustrations and instructions that give a detailed breakdown of the drawing process.

You can see a preview of the main drawing stages of the butterfly in the example above. There are also a few extra examples in some of the steps that show a more thorough breakdown of creating the patterns on the wings.

Start the tutorial in pencil and make light lines that are easy to erase in case you need to make a correction. You can darken them later on with a black pen or marker.

Step 1 – Draw the Body of the Butterfly

First draw the body and head of the butterfly as shown in the example above.

You may wish to start with a straight vertical line to help you see if the body parts you add afterwards will be properly aligned. Onto this add the upper part of the body followed by a longer and narrower lower part. Afterwards add the head.

If you do choose to draw the guide line you can keep it until you are done with step four of the tutorial.

Step 2 – Draw the Antennae

Coming out of the head and bending in different directions add the antennae. Give each one a tiny water drop like shape on it’s tip.

Do your best to make the antenna symmetrical. The guide line suggested in step one can again be helpful in this (you may need to extend it a little further up).

Step 3 – Draw the Top Wings

Going out from the upper part of the body add the first pair of wings shaped as shown in the example. Draw these with a curve in their overall shape and make them narrower near the base and much wider as they go out. Their upper tips should stick out the furthest.

Similar to the antenna try and make the wings symmetrical.

Step 4 – Draw the Bottom Wings

Add the second set of wings coming out from below the first one. They should again be narrower near the body and wider as they go out with downwards curves in their overall shapes.

Again, try and make the two wings as similar as you can so that one mirrors the other.

Step 5 – Draw the Top Wings Pattern

With the main shape of the butterfly done you can start adding the smaller details such as the patter on the wings. Begin with the top pair.

Butterfly top wings pattern drawing step by step

You can a step by step breakdown of drawing the pattern above.

Step 6 – Draw Bottom Wings Pattern

Once done with the patter on the top wings add the details of the bottom wings.

Butterfly wings pattern drawing step by step

You can again see a step by step breakdown of how you can do this in the example above.

Step 7 – Draw Outer Pattern of the Top Wings

Butterfly top wings outer pattern drawing

To make the butterfly look even more interesting you can give it a few more details. In this case it will be some oval shaped spots on the upper tips of it’s top set of wings.

Draw a large spot in the middle and two smaller ones to it’s sides.

Step 8 – Finish the Pattern & Line Drawing

Finish the wing pattern by adding two more sets of spots, this time of the bottom wings. Again make these oval in shape (but not as long as the fist set) and position them as shown above (on the bottom part of each wing).

Once done drawing the spots look over your picture to make sure that your happy with it (make any corrections if needed). Afterwards trace over your lines with a black pen or marker. If you prefer you can also simply darken them with the pencil.

Step 9 – Color the Butterfly

In this example the butterfly will be blue and yellow (these colors go well together) with white spots. You can of course go with different colors if you prefer.

Use any medium you like. For example for brighter colors you can use makers, for milder colors you can use colored pencils or water based paints.

Once done with this step you should have a finished drawing of the butterfly.

Conclusion

This tutorial shows how to draw a fairly detailed butterfly. While it may take a bit of time to add it’s wing patterns you can get a nicer looking drawing than if you were to go with a more plain looking design. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed following along.

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