How to Draw a Hawk (Harris Hawk)

Please PAUSE the video after each step to draw at your own pace (scroll down to see the final harris hawk drawing).

For the first few steps, don’t press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.

Step 1: Draw a slanted oval as a guide for the harris hawk’s body. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s just a guide.

Step 2: Draw a smaller oval next to the first as a guide for the harris hawk’s head.

Step 3: Next to the small oval, draw an arc for the bird’s beak.

Step 4: Draw two curved lines that connect the head to the hawk’s body.
Step 5: Below the hawk’s body, draw a line that splits into four smaller lines as a guide for the bird’s feet.

Step 6: Draw two angled curves on the top side of the harris hawk’s body for wings.

Step 7: Draw another angled curve at the bottom of the body for the hawk’s tail.

That’s it for the initial sketch! From this point on, press harder with your pencil to get a more defined sketch.

Step 8: Draw the harris hawk’s eye inside the shape of the head. It’s basically a circle with a thick line above it. Inside of it, draw a circle and shade it in for the pupil. Draw some lines around it for detail.

Step 9: Using the initial arc as a guide, draw the harris hawk’s beak. The top portion should come to a point, and the bird’s mouth should stretch to the inside of the head. Draw a few lines at the base for detail and a nostril on top.

Step 10: Use quick, short strokes to shape the hawk’s head and neck.

Step 11: Using the initial line as a guide, draw the harris hawk’s feet. Draw the thick base of the leg that wraps around the guide line below the bird’s body. Then draw the foot by thickening the original guide lines using bumpy lines. Draw pointy talons on the end of each toe. The harris hawk’s left leg is hidden, so just draw a portion of it by modeling it after the first one.

Step 12: Tighten the shape of the hawk’s wings and add detail to them. Draw a series of U-shaped, curved lines and straight lines throughout the wings to represent the bird’s feathers. Draw a lot of curved lines and make some overlap each other. Have them face the same direction. Pause the video or use reference to get the feather pattern correct.

Step 13: Draw lines throughout the hawk’s tail for detail.

Step 14: Shape the rest of the harris hawk’s body by darkening the lines that comprise it.

Step 15 (original): You can stop here for a sketchy look or erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don’t worry about erasing all of them. It’s okay to leave some behind.

Step 16: Draw something (rock, ledge, branch) for the harris hawk to perch on so it doesn’t appear to be floating.

Step 17 (optional): Add some shading to give your Harris hawk drawing more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source when shading so that the shadows are consistent with it. Vary the pressure on your pencil to get different degrees of tonal value.

Step 18 (optional): You can add additional value throughout your harris hawk drawing for extra detail. If you like, you can add more detail like spots on its wings and a darker value all over. It’s a good idea to use a reference when drawing your harris hawk to be as accurate as possible.