How to Draw an Ogre – Learn to Draw a Fantasy Ogre

Welcome to another step by step tutorial. In this piece, you will learn how to draw an ogre.If you grew up with folktales and mythological movies, then ogres would not be alien to you. They are usually portrayed as gigantic and hideous flesh eating monsters. From movies like Shrek to Odyssey and Beowulf, ogres are very popular features in mythology and fairy tales.

If you are interested in learning how to draw an ogre, then you will find this step by step tutorial very helpful. I will teach you step by step how to create an impressive and realistic rendition of the monstrous human-like creature.We will start by drawing a dummy, which will serve as a base over which we will draw our final sketch.

So, how to draw an ogre?

If you want to draw an ogre, follow this simple 8 step guide;

·       Step 1- Drawing the Rib Cage

·       Step 2- Drawing the Abdomen and Hips

·       Step 3- The Legs

·       Step 4-The Arms

·       Step 5 – The Head

·       Step 6- The Weapon and Armor

·       Step 7- The Final Line art

·       Step 8- Detailing and Shading the Drawing

·       Step 9 – Painting more Shades

Step 1 – Drawing the Rib Cage

We will start by drawing the rib cage of our ogre. We will be drawing the character from a 3/4 angle and the way we draw the ribcage is going to help put the rest of the body into perspective. Due to the angle, the right side of the ogre is in the viewer’s perspective while the left side is slightly concealed. Use curve lines to draw the ribcage and remember to demarcate the pectoral muscles from the rest of the upper torso. Draw ellipses on top of the ribcage and on the side to indicate where the head and the right hand will be placed.

Step 2 – Drawing the Abdomen and Hips

Next, we draw abdomen and the hips. I recommend drawing the hips to look like our ogre is wearing some type of male underwear. Simply draw curve lines from the ribcage to the hips to represent the abdomen, this should give it a slightly round shape. You can draw a short vertical line on the abdomen, closer to the left than the right to put the abdomen in a 3/4 perspective.

Step 3 – The Legs

Our ogre’s legs are slightly pulled apart and positioned such that while the right leg is fully frontal, only the side view of the left leg is seen.

·       The thighs

We will draw the thighs using massive tubes. The wider end of the tube will be connected to the hips while the narrower end will be connected to the knees.

·       The knees

Demarcate the knees from the rest of the leg and draw ellipses to represent where the kneecaps are meant to be.

·       The calves and shins

The calves on both legs will be represented by a curve line from the knee followed by a descending line that ends at the ankle. The shin on the right leg will be drawn as a concave curve line and a short straight line on the left leg.

·       The feet

We will draw the feet using curve lines and simple triangular shapes.

Step 4 – The Arms

The arms of our ogre will be drawn in two different positions. While the right arm is held casually by the side of the torso, the left arm is held up but bent at the elbow. We will start by drawing the shoulder as egg shaped spheres then we will proceed to draw the rest of the arm.

·       The biceps and triceps

On the right hand, we will draw the biceps as a convex curve line and the triceps as a concave line. Both lines will start from the shoulder and end at the elbow.The biceps on the left hand are completely concealed behind the forearm due to the position of the arm. The triceps which are visible will be represented by a straight line from the shoulder to the elbow. Pay attention to how the left arm is drawn almost horizontally unlike the right arm. The elbows will be aligned to the abdominal area more or less.

·       The forearms

Next, draw the right forearm as a tube, just like we did with the thighs. The wider part will be connected to the elbow while the narrower part will be connected to the wrist. For the left arm, the forearm will be drawn using curve lines such that it has an almost round shape.

·       The hands

Both hands are clenched in a fist. While the back of the hand is visible on the right, only an outline of the fingers can be seen on the left hand. Use simple geometric shapes to draw the hand, rectangles for the back ofthe hand, smaller and narrower rectangles for the fingers and circles for the nails.

Step 5 – The Head

Remember the ellipse we drew on top of the ribcage? Now draw a sphere with slightly flattened sides on top of it to represent the head. You can draw vertical and horizontal lines across it to help indicate where we will place the facial features.

Step 6 – The Weapon and Armor

In this step, we are going to draw our ogre with his weapons and armor. On the left side, placed on the shoulder as you can see in the image above is a long sword. You can draw the weapon using simple geometric shapes like cylinders and triangles, remember to pay attention to how the ogre grips the sword.

Next, we will draw the armor of our character. Worn over the shoulder as a protective armour is a pauldron, it completely covers the shoulder and parts of the upper arm. On the forearm is a vambrace while a gauntlet with long spiky protuberances is worn over the hand. The head is protected by a type of helmet which covers just the back of the head leaving the face fully exposed. Draw a belt around the ogre’s waist andconnect it to a “U” shape drawn over the groin to represent the groin guard. Regarding the drawing of the armor, draw the outline as you see on the image above. I recommend using simple shapes to avoid complicating the final drawing.

Step 7 – The Final Line art

This is where we breath life into our drawing. For this step, we will simply define the features of our character. We will use small darkened spots to represent the eyes and a thin straight line for the mouth. You can use simple geometric shapes like circles, triangles, and rectangles to add details to the body like on the forearms as seen in the image above. Pay attention to how the upper end of the shoulder guard is serrated as if it were made of fur.

Step 8 – Detailing and Shading the Drawing

For this step, I will show you how to shade your drawing. Shading helps to create an illusion of volume and depth to make a drawing more realistic and three dimensional. There are various shading techniques but there are two styles I personally like to use – Hatching and Crosshatching. Hatching simply makes use of closely packed parallel lines all drawn in one direction to darken a specific area.

In cross-hatching, as the name implies, we will use different sets of parallel lines to darken an area such that one set crosses another set. I usually use cross-hatching when I want to darken an already shaded area, especially one I shaded using the hatching technique. I simply go over the first set of lines with another set in a different direction. As you can see in the image above, I shaded the interior part of the thighs, the crotch, the forearms, around the neck and the helmet.

Step 9 – Painting more Shades

Finally, we will paint some shadows on our drawing using grey tones. If you are drawing on a traditional medium using pen and paper, you can add shadows by making use of grey markers. If you are drawing with a digital software however, you can use a soft brush to create this effect.

Conclusion

That brings us to the end of our tutorial on how to draw an ogre. You can try to draw the ogre in as many styles and attitudes as you want, provided you follow the above 9 steps closely you can get results as good as mine. You can find references online for your ogre’s weapons and poses if you like. I hope you find this tutorial very useful in your drawing. If you have any questions, please drop them in the comment section, this will encourage me to keep working on new tutorials and articles.

If you are interested in more free step by step drawing tutorials similar to this one, feel free to visit the Drawing Tutorials section.I hope this tutorial was useful to you. If you have any doubt or question please leave it on the comment section, this will encourage me to keep working in new tutorials and articles.

Writer: Eseandre

Artist: Toni Justamante Jacobs