How To Draw A Peacock - Design & Illustration

1. How to Draw a Peacock

Step 1

Draw an oval. This will be the torso of our peacock.

oval for torsooval for torsooval for torso

Step 2

Draw a long, S-shaped neck with an oval head at one end.

head and neckhead and neckhead and neck

Step 3

Sketch the legs below the ankles ("reversed knees"). Drawing them this way can help you establish the pose without getting caught up in the details.

legs simple shapelegs simple shapelegs simple shape

Step 4

Draw the upper part of the legs. These will be hidden under the feathers, but it helps to know where they are.

how to draw bird legshow to draw bird legshow to draw bird legs

Step 5

Sketch the curve of the beak. Peacocks are related to chickens, so you can use a chicken beak as a reference.

simple bird beaksimple bird beaksimple bird beak

Step 6

Sketch the curve of the wings. Peacocks tend to keep them low when they fan their tail. The wings are covered by the tail mostly, but some parts may stay visible, so we need to know where they are.

bird wing foldedbird wing foldedbird wing folded
bird wing simplebird wing simplebird wing simple
peacock wingspeacock wingspeacock wings

Step 7

Draw all the toes. Again, these are just like chicken feet.

peacock feetpeacock feetpeacock feet

Step 8

Outline the neck, starting thin right by the head and then getting wider as you get closer to the torso.

peacock neckpeacock neckpeacock neck

Step 9

Finish the beak.

peacock beakpeacock beakpeacock beak
peacock billpeacock billpeacock bill

Step 10

Draw an oval eye.

peacock eyepeacock eyepeacock eye

Step 11

Add a nose hole.

peacock nosepeacock nosepeacock nose

Step 12

Draw the "crown" on the head.

peacock head crownpeacock head crownpeacock head crown
peacock head decorationpeacock head decorationpeacock head decoration

Step 13

Add details to the legs and feet.

peacock legs shapepeacock legs shapepeacock legs shape
peacock feet detailspeacock feet detailspeacock feet details
peacock clawspeacock clawspeacock claws
peacock legs detailedpeacock legs detailedpeacock legs detailed

Step 14

Finish the wings.

peacock wings featherspeacock wings featherspeacock wings feathers
peacock wing primariespeacock wing primariespeacock wing primaries
peacock wings finishedpeacock wings finishedpeacock wings finished

2. How to Draw a Peacock's Tail

Step 1

The body is done, so it's looking like a real peacock drawing. Now it's time to start drawing a peacock's fabulous tail. Its base is like a stiff cape that the peacock raises above its back.

peacock base of the tailpeacock base of the tailpeacock base of the tail
peacock base of tail shapepeacock base of tail shapepeacock base of tail shape

Step 2

For the peacock tail drawing, sketch the axes of the tail. Younger birds have smaller tails, so if you want to make this drawing less challenging, you can draw the axes shorter.

peacock tail simple axespeacock tail simple axespeacock tail simple axes

Step 3

Draw the rays of feathers.

peacock tail bottompeacock tail bottompeacock tail bottom
peacock tail toppeacock tail toppeacock tail top

Step 4

Outline the whole tail to make sure the shape made by the feathers looks regular.

peacock bottom shapepeacock bottom shapepeacock bottom shape
peacock tail fan shapepeacock tail fan shapepeacock tail fan shape

Step 5

Divide the whole shape of the tail into many regular sections. This will help you place the feathers regularly.

peacock tail rhythmpeacock tail rhythmpeacock tail rhythm

Step 6

Draw the "eyespots" around the tail's edge...

peacock outer spotspeacock outer spotspeacock outer spots

... and within the shape, but this time leaving regular spaces in between.

peacock inner spotspeacock inner spotspeacock inner spots

Step 7

The base of the tail is covered with little scale-like feathers. So you can use the method I use for drawing scales:

peacock base of tail scalespeacock base of tail scalespeacock base of tail scales
peacock draw scaly featherspeacock draw scaly featherspeacock draw scaly feathers

3. How to Draw a Peacock Feather

Step 1

With the peacock tail drawing almost done and the guide lines in place, so let's take a look now at the details of how to draw a single peacock feather.

Every feather must start with a straight line. Peacock feathers can be very long, but only the top has a visible vane.

peacock feather shaftpeacock feather shaftpeacock feather shaft

Step 2

Draw an egg shape. It will be the basis for the whole eyespot.

peacock feather spot shapepeacock feather spot shapepeacock feather spot shape
peacock tail with spotspeacock tail with spotspeacock tail with spots

Step 3

Draw the same shape inside, leaving a little space in between.

peacock inner spotpeacock inner spotpeacock inner spot
peacock tail with inner spotspeacock tail with inner spotspeacock tail with inner spots

Step 4

Cross the smaller oval with a gentle curve. This will create the shape of the "iris".

peacock spot irispeacock spot irispeacock spot iris
peacock tail with irispeacock tail with irispeacock tail with iris

Step 5

Draw a smaller oval inside the "iris"—the "pupil".

peacock feather pupilpeacock feather pupilpeacock feather pupil
peacock tail with pupil markspeacock tail with pupil markspeacock tail with pupil marks

Step 6

Draw a reversed "V" inside this small shape.

peacock feather pupil detailpeacock feather pupil detailpeacock feather pupil detail
peacock tail detailed spotspeacock tail detailed spotspeacock tail detailed spots

Step 7

Outline the whole shape, creating a triangular base for the eyespot and a thick outline on its sides.

peacock feather spot outlinepeacock feather spot outlinepeacock feather spot outline
peacock tail feathers with outlinepeacock tail feathers with outlinepeacock tail feathers with outline

Step 8

This outline is copied on top, but here it starts to turn into individual barbs.

peacock feather full shapepeacock feather full shapepeacock feather full shape

Step 9

The whole tail must be drawn with a slightly different approach, so let's focus on a single feather for now. The "pupil" is dark, but there's a subtle gradient inside.

peacock feather shadingpeacock feather shadingpeacock feather shading

Step 10

The top of the feather is the densest, and it follows the shape of the eyespot:

peacock feather shapepeacock feather shapepeacock feather shape
peacock feather top partpeacock feather top partpeacock feather top part

Step 11

The lower part is sparser:

peacock feather lower partpeacock feather lower partpeacock feather lower part

Step 12

If you want to draw a detailed peacock feather, make the barbs fluffy and gently shade the eyespot.

how to draw peacock featherhow to draw peacock featherhow to draw peacock feather

Step 13

We're focusing on black and white drawing here, but if you want to draw a peacock feather in color, there are three colors that are the most important: green, blue, and brown.

peacock feather colorspeacock feather colorspeacock feather colors

4. How to Finish a Drawing of a Peacock

Step 1

All right, we're almost done with our real peacock drawing! Let's draw the final lines now. 

Let's start detailing our peacock outline drawing. Draw the details of the head. Because the head looks so insignificant in comparison to the impressive tail, you don't have to make it too detailed—these details will not be that visible anyway.

peacock head detailspeacock head detailspeacock head details

Step 2

Outline the body and the legs.

peacock leg detailspeacock leg detailspeacock leg details

Step 3

Outline the scaly feathers at the base of the tail.

peacock base of tail detailspeacock base of tail detailspeacock base of tail details

Step 4

Add some scales to the legs.

peacock leg scalespeacock leg scalespeacock leg scales

Step 5

Cross each "scale" on the base of the tail with a vertical line.

peacock tail scales detailspeacock tail scales detailspeacock tail scales details

Step 6

Now shade the peacock. It must look dark in comparison to the tail.

peacock simple shadingpeacock simple shadingpeacock simple shading
how to shade peacock how to shade peacock how to shade peacock

Step 7

Let's go back to the tail now. Draw the spots as explained earlier, except looser here—because there are so many of the spots and they're so small that each individual one matters less.

peacock simple spotspeacock simple spotspeacock simple spots
peacock detailed spotspeacock detailed spotspeacock detailed spots
peacock spots with shadingpeacock spots with shadingpeacock spots with shading
peacock spots full shapepeacock spots full shapepeacock spots full shape
peacock spots how to drawpeacock spots how to drawpeacock spots how to draw
peacock tail spots drawingpeacock tail spots drawingpeacock tail spots drawing

Step 8

Draw the shafts of the feathers. Because the feathers are mostly thin, they look almost translucent in contrast to the thick and solid shafts. Add shafts to all the eyespots, but also in between, to fill the empty spaces.

peacock feather shaftspeacock feather shaftspeacock feather shafts

Step 9

The lower part of the tail has a lot of eyespots concentrated in one place. It makes this area look thick and fluffy.

peacock tail detailspeacock tail detailspeacock tail details

Step 10

Now draw all the feathers. It may take a while, but remember that you don't need to be very strict here—just draw a lot of lines in the same rhythm along each shaft.

peacock full featherspeacock full featherspeacock full feathers

Step 11

There's also one more type of peacock feather, mainly visible at the edge of the tail. They look like open 'V's.

peacock special featherspeacock special featherspeacock special feathers

Step 12

Accentuate the shafts some more to make them more visible.

peacock bigger shaftspeacock bigger shaftspeacock bigger shafts

Step 13

Since we're drawing in black and white, it's hard to create the contrast between colorful eyespots and dull feathers. However, we can use value for this—make it even denser to make the areas between the eyespots darker. 

Keep in mind that the closer you are to the edge of the tail, the sparser the feathers.
peacock more featherspeacock more featherspeacock more feathers

Step 14

Take a final look at your drawing and see what else you can fix. I accentuated the shading some more to increase the contrast.

peacock final fixespeacock final fixespeacock final fixes

There it is! Now you have a beautiful peacock outline drawing made from scratch.

Your Beautiful Peacock Drawing Is Complete!

And that's how you make a realistic peacock drawing. Now you know how to draw a peacock with an open tail from scratch. Drawing a peacock isn't as hard as you thought—it just takes some time and attention to detail. 

Experiment with different angles and postures by looking at peacock images for drawing. After working with plenty of peacock images to draw, you'll make more room for experimentation. Become an expert in turning peacock pictures into drawings! 

5 Top Peacock Logo Designs From Envato

Learning how to draw a peacock is the first step towards finding different creative applications for it. Your peacock illustration could turn into a fun print, a poster, a T-shirt, or even a creative peacock logo. Let's see some examples of how a peacock simple drawing can turn into an original peacock logo:

1. Modern Peacock Gradient Animal Logo Design (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PDF)

Modern Peacock Gradient Animal Logo DesignModern Peacock Gradient Animal Logo DesignModern Peacock Gradient Animal Logo Design

Let's start by checking out this simple peacock drawing logo design. A cool gradient can make shapes and colors stand out. Tell your brand's story through some of the peacock's traits, such as confidence and friendliness. You can start creating your next peacock logo PNG design with this high-quality vector gradient logo. Just customize it to fit your brand's design needs.

2. Peacock Color Logo (AI, EPS)

Peacock Color LogoPeacock Color LogoPeacock Color Logo

Transform a beautiful peacock drawing into an abstraction for a logo. It could start with a simple peacock drawing and selecting the most representative body elements. This a fully editable vector design for you to add your brand's name and slogan. The peacock logo comes in Adobe Illustrator and EPS formats for you to edit. 

3. Peacock Gradient Colorful Logo (AI, EPS, PDF, PNG, PSD)

Peacock Gradient Colorful LogoPeacock Gradient Colorful LogoPeacock Gradient Colorful Logo

Looking for an elegant alternative? This is how a peacock simple drawing can turn into a beautiful logo. This peacock feather logo template is perfect for any kind of industry, especially media and entertainment. Start working with this vector-based logo to be the face of your brand. All the items included are editable and scalable without losing resolution. You'll have a ready-to-use peacock logo PNG design.

4. Blue Elegant Peacock Gradient Logo Design Template (AI, EPS, JPG, PNG, PDF)

Blue Elegant Peacock Gradient Logo Design TemplateBlue Elegant Peacock Gradient Logo Design TemplateBlue Elegant Peacock Gradient Logo Design Template

You can turn a realistic peacock drawing into a beautiful peacock feather logo. This elegant blue peacock logo is a perfect example. The template is fully customizable. With this download, you'll get a high-quality peacock logo PNG design for you to resize and adjust to your needs. 

Cute Peacock Cartoon LogoCute Peacock Cartoon LogoCute Peacock Cartoon Logo

Create a logo from a cute and beautiful peacock drawing. This cute peacock cartoon logo could be a great source of inspiration for your brand's logo. You'll get a fully editable and scalable peacock logo PNG file that won't lose resolution as you customize it. You'll just need to add your brand's name and tagline to make this peacock feather logo all yours.

Discover More Bird-Related Tutorials

Keep practicing and looking for peacock images to draw. Now that you know how to draw a peacock, try drawing other animals. You may also be interested in one of our many bird-related tutorials:

  • Create a Vibrant Peacock in Adobe Illustrator Yulia Sokolova 25 Apr 2014
  • How to Draw an Elegant Fantasy Bird with Colored Pencils Hellobaby 04 Sep 2013
  • How to Draw a Flamingo Eugenia Hauss 22 Jun 2018
  • How to Draw a Duck Eugenia Hauss 26 Jun 2018
  • How to Draw a Chicken and a Rooster Eugenia Hauss 16 Jul 2018
  • How to Draw a Hawk Monika Zagrobelna 09 Oct 2018
  • How to Draw a Bird Step by Step Eugenia Hauss 26 Jul 2017

More Drawing Tutorials for You

Once you've mastered the peacock outline drawing, experiment with other animals or objects. Check out these tutorials to get started:

  • How to Draw a Lion Monika Zagrobelna 02 Jul 2022
  • How to Draw a Fish Eugenia Hauss 07 May 2022
  • How to Draw a Sheep Eugenia Hauss 28 May 2022
  • How to Draw a Star Step by Step (Multiple Points!) Eugenia Hauss 05 Mar 2023

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