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Description

Thanks for looking at the description! I used a better camera this time, so it no longer looks like I took it with a potato. Yay! This is a reference image I created to help people new to drawing wings/feathers. I have a picture of the finished product on my account: www.deviantart.com/avianartyst… .
Anyways, the arrows on the wing sections show the angles of the feathers, not how many feathers there are. I find that this is an underexplained part of drawing feathered wings. If you're new to drawing wings, I would reccomend looking at uzlolzu's www.deviantart.com/uzlolzu/art… . This was SO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL to me when I started out.

PLEASE leave any thoughts, ideas, questions, and criticism in the comments section!

And now, notes I made on individual feather sections!

Feather Textures:
1. I use these feathers as a connection point to the person’s back. Try to keep them rectangular, and don’t make there be a pattern as clear as shingles or a grid; it takes away from the natural look. I believe they’re called the scapulars. I’m not sure, I just draw them. . .

2. These feathers are unique in the way that they’re the only feathers that can be seen from the front. The reference I got these from, A Guide to Fantasy Fliers and Feathered Wings called this section the collar fringe. I might make a more detailed sketch of these feathers later; and how they could be concealed by normal human clothing.

3 and 4. These sections are quite simple to draw, with about four feathers each. Try to make 8 connect to 3, and 9 connect to 4. This helps maintain the connection of the third miniwing tailfeather thing being connected to the rest of the wing, and therefore not just attached to the back.

5. This section exists to splay the feathers from the straight up-and-down angle of 3 and 4 into the larger 6. Try to make the feather count hover around ten. This section can be removed if you want, I just think it makes 6 connect better.

6. This is unique to this wing design; most designs I’ve seen have focused mostly on the primaries and secondaries. If they have tail feathers, they’re just a bird’s butt plastered onto a person. To each their own art style: If you want to improve your standard tail feathers, this was a helpful reference for me: Tail Feather Compendium: Part 1.
One thing that has always bothered me about the single-section tail feathers is that they would interfere with walking. An avian’s legs would brush against them every time they stepped forwards, which would be uncomfortable. They’re also very difficult to conceal.
Honestly, you can’t put decent-looking wings on a person, and make them proportional, and make them fold, and conceal them, without using some sort of magic. Just try to accomplish like two of those, and I'll be impressed.

7. I almost didn’t make this its own section, but its useful to draw before 8. Keep these feathers the same size and shape as 8, just remember they should be layered smoothly enough to connect to each other. When I draw them, I keep the feathers connected to each other as to create a clear line where the wing ends, but to each their own!

8. This section’s texture was difficult for me to figure out; these are the feathers that cover the musculature and ‘arm’ part of the wing. I figured they should look like they’d be warm, so I layered the feathers thickly. Tip: throw in some tiny feathers every once in a while for added variety. I wouldn't bother patterning this section.

9. These feathers are pretty easy to draw. The only tip I could give is to add a skinnier one at the very end of the section to create a more three-dimensional effect.

10. These are called the secondary coverts. They should be slightly skinnier than the actual secondaries. Don’t make them all exactly even lengths/widths; that makes the wing look brand new/two-dimensional. Their style should resemble the secondaries, but make their ends flatter than the secondaries.

11. The second-largest feather section! These are called secondary feathers. Their tips should be rounded. As with the secondary coverts, try not to create identical feathers. These should end at about the person’s knees. You could make them shorter/longer, that's just the distance I prefer.

12. These are called the alula. They cover the ‘hand’ of the wing, and they’re really useful when folding the wing. They shouldn’t be super skinny, and should be pointed. These are important for the primary feather sections’ look, but not super crucial for flight. They should be considered when landing, diving, or taking off.

13. These feathers are called the primary coverts. They should be smaller than the primary feathers, like 50% of their width. Try to make their shape be somewhere between the primaries and the alula; it makes for a smoother transition. Note: don’t make the primary coverts cover all of the primaries.

14. These are the primaries! This is where any feather patterning will shine; they’re the largest and widest when I draw them. Their tips should slowly turn into flatter shapes more resembling the secondaries (11). These are really fun to draw; your design/shape doesn't have to match how I draw them. These should be straighter than the other feathers, and they spread out during flight to improve gliding. I choose to make the longest feather the second to last. This makes the wing look less aggressive, and less like combined shapes. Personal choice; I like how it looks.

Speaking of feather markings: Thank you to Blue-Hearts for creating this wonderful feather pattern/shape compilation! This was so useful to me; go look at their art and give them a favorite!
www.deviantart.com/blue-hearts…

Wow, you're still here. I hope this is useful to you!

Description

Thanks for looking at the description! I used a better camera this time, so it no longer looks like I took it with a potato. Yay! This is a reference image I created to help people new to drawing wings/feathers. I have a picture of the finished product on my account: www.deviantart.com/avianartyst… .
Anyways, the arrows on the wing sections show the angles of the feathers, not how many feathers there are. I find that this is an underexplained part of drawing feathered wings. If you're new to drawing wings, I would reccomend looking at uzlolzu's www.deviantart.com/uzlolzu/art… . This was SO INCREDIBLY HELPFUL to me when I started out.

PLEASE leave any thoughts, ideas, questions, and criticism in the comments section!

And now, notes I made on individual feather sections!

Feather Textures:
1. I use these feathers as a connection point to the person’s back. Try to keep them rectangular, and don’t make there be a pattern as clear as shingles or a grid; it takes away from the natural look. I believe they’re called the scapulars. I’m not sure, I just draw them. . .

2. These feathers are unique in the way that they’re the only feathers that can be seen from the front. The reference I got these from, A Guide to Fantasy Fliers and Feathered Wings called this section the collar fringe. I might make a more detailed sketch of these feathers later; and how they could be concealed by normal human clothing.

3 and 4. These sections are quite simple to draw, with about four feathers each. Try to make 8 connect to 3, and 9 connect to 4. This helps maintain the connection of the third miniwing tailfeather thing being connected to the rest of the wing, and therefore not just attached to the back.

5. This section exists to splay the feathers from the straight up-and-down angle of 3 and 4 into the larger 6. Try to make the feather count hover around ten. This section can be removed if you want, I just think it makes 6 connect better.

6. This is unique to this wing design; most designs I’ve seen have focused mostly on the primaries and secondaries. If they have tail feathers, they’re just a bird’s butt plastered onto a person. To each their own art style: If you want to improve your standard tail feathers, this was a helpful reference for me: Tail Feather Compendium: Part 1.
One thing that has always bothered me about the single-section tail feathers is that they would interfere with walking. An avian’s legs would brush against them every time they stepped forwards, which would be uncomfortable. They’re also very difficult to conceal.
Honestly, you can’t put decent-looking wings on a person, and make them proportional, and make them fold, and conceal them, without using some sort of magic. Just try to accomplish like two of those, and I'll be impressed.

7. I almost didn’t make this its own section, but its useful to draw before 8. Keep these feathers the same size and shape as 8, just remember they should be layered smoothly enough to connect to each other. When I draw them, I keep the feathers connected to each other as to create a clear line where the wing ends, but to each their own!

8. This section’s texture was difficult for me to figure out; these are the feathers that cover the musculature and ‘arm’ part of the wing. I figured they should look like they’d be warm, so I layered the feathers thickly. Tip: throw in some tiny feathers every once in a while for added variety. I wouldn't bother patterning this section.

9. These feathers are pretty easy to draw. The only tip I could give is to add a skinnier one at the very end of the section to create a more three-dimensional effect.

10. These are called the secondary coverts. They should be slightly skinnier than the actual secondaries. Don’t make them all exactly even lengths/widths; that makes the wing look brand new/two-dimensional. Their style should resemble the secondaries, but make their ends flatter than the secondaries.

11. The second-largest feather section! These are called secondary feathers. Their tips should be rounded. As with the secondary coverts, try not to create identical feathers. These should end at about the person’s knees. You could make them shorter/longer, that's just the distance I prefer.

12. These are called the alula. They cover the ‘hand’ of the wing, and they’re really useful when folding the wing. They shouldn’t be super skinny, and should be pointed. These are important for the primary feather sections’ look, but not super crucial for flight. They should be considered when landing, diving, or taking off.

13. These feathers are called the primary coverts. They should be smaller than the primary feathers, like 50% of their width. Try to make their shape be somewhere between the primaries and the alula; it makes for a smoother transition. Note: don’t make the primary coverts cover all of the primaries.

14. These are the primaries! This is where any feather patterning will shine; they’re the largest and widest when I draw them. Their tips should slowly turn into flatter shapes more resembling the secondaries (11). These are really fun to draw; your design/shape doesn't have to match how I draw them. These should be straighter than the other feathers, and they spread out during flight to improve gliding. I choose to make the longest feather the second to last. This makes the wing look less aggressive, and less like combined shapes. Personal choice; I like how it looks.

Speaking of feather markings: Thank you to Blue-Hearts for creating this wonderful feather pattern/shape compilation! This was so useful to me; go look at their art and give them a favorite!
www.deviantart.com/blue-hearts…

Wow, you're still here. I hope this is useful to you!