Art of Drawing Airplanes

Three-View of P40B Start with a three view drawing of an airplane. This example is of a P40B Warhawk, the plane flown by the Flying Tigers.	Step 1 Draw a reference grid and then create a scaffold for the plane. My scaffold is made of rectangles and lines that outline the wings and tail.
Step 1 Do the same thing for the side view. Draw a reference grid and then create a scaffold to identify the major parts of the airplane on the grid.	Step 2 Draw a foreshortened reference grid (FRG). This will help us to align and foreshorten our scaffold
Step 3 Transfer the scaffold to the foreshortened reference grid. Use the lines in the FRG to draw the scaffold accurately.	Step 4 Adjust the scaffold by projecting parts like the wings and horizontal stabilizer to their correct positions.
Step 5 Outline and shape the fuselage. The shape is conveyed by drawing the bulkheads.	Step 6 Outline and shape the wings and tail. Shape is conferred by drawing the airfoils.
Step 7 Clean-up and final details. Erase the scaffold and draw all the final details like shading, paint and markings.

Seven Step Overview

Below is a seven Step Process I use to draw airplanes. You can draw an airplane from any point of view using this process.

Check out my three part video that demonstrates a seven-step process for drawing airplanes using a Fokker Triplane as an example.

How-to Videos

Buy it on Amazon.com

My Recently published book that teaches you how to draw any airplane from any point of view. Available as a Kindle book for $3.99 or in paperback for $9.50.

Workbook

Download this free workbook to help you draw the Fokker Triplane demonstrated in the videos above.

Three-View of P40B

Start with a three view drawing of an airplane. This example is of a P40B Warhawk, the plane flown by the Flying Tigers.

Step 1

Draw a reference grid and then create a scaffold for the plane. My scaffold is made of rectangles and lines that outline the wings and tail.

Step 1

Do the same thing for the side view. Draw a reference grid and then create a scaffold to identify the major parts of the airplane on the grid.

Step 2

Draw a foreshortened reference grid (FRG). This will help us to align and foreshorten our scaffold

Step 3

Transfer the scaffold to the foreshortened reference grid. Use the lines in the FRG to draw the scaffold accurately.

Step 4

Adjust the scaffold by projecting parts like the wings and horizontal stabilizer to their correct positions.

Step 5

Outline and shape the fuselage. The shape is conveyed by drawing the bulkheads.

Step 6

Outline and shape the wings and tail. Shape is conferred by drawing the airfoils.

Step 7

Clean-up and final details. Erase the scaffold and draw all the final details like shading, paint and markings.

Seven Step Overview

How-to Videos

Workbook