How to Draw Charizard
We have all played Pokémon at least once, the franchise that has been making headlines since 1996 and has made us dream with its cute or impressive monsters.
After Pikachu, Charizard is probably the most iconic Pokémon in the franchise. Ash's eternally cranky companion is a timeless classic that any fan should know how to draw!
I've chosen a reference image that I will modify later:
This is a classic representation of Charizard, with the head in profile for simplicity and the wings fully spread.
CREATE THE BASE OF THE DRAWING
We will start by creating the "head + body" base.
You will draw a figure "8" with the top smaller than the bottom.
The first ring is the base of our head and the second is the belly.
Connect the two loops with curves. The first curve is on the left and follows the shape of the middle line. The second curve is on the right and is shorter. It will form a triangle.
We will position the shoulders and thighs. To do this, we'll draw arcs.
Two circle arcs at the top, with a rather narrow angle, and two rounder, larger arcs at the bottom for the thighs.
ADDING DETAILS TO MY CHARIZARD DRAWING
We will deal with the most complicated part of the drawing: the head.
Our reference point gives us the shape of the upper part of the head.
We start by making the ears. For this, we draw two acute-angled curves starting at the top of the circle.
For the head, we start at the top of the circle, at the base of the ear, and then descend slightly to form an acute angle. This angle is the eyebrow arch.
Next, you draw the muzzle by making a half rectangle, the lower line of which must be curved towards the end: this is the upper part of the mouth.
To make the lower part of the mouth, you make a rounded triangle, then go up towards the ears and end the line with a curve to mark the jaw.
We move on to the arm and feet.
To make the arms, you will create a tube that extends outwards from the body, then another that goes up. At the ends of the arms, you will place a circle with waves; these are the hands. We will make them later.
For the feet, Charizard has 3 toes on each foot. Therefore, you will make a rounded corner inwards and then draw three toes in the shape of a triangle outwards.
Unlike the basic model, I decided to draw both feet on the ground for simplicity.
At the ends of its hands and feet, Charizard has huge claws.
We'll start with claws of the hands.
Start by drawing the fingers. Like the toes, he has three on each hand.
The left hand is seen from the front, so the fingers are ‘squashed’. To draw them, simply make a semicircle. To draw the claws is the same, except that the circle ends with a dot.
The right hand, on the other hand, is seen more laterally. The fingers are therefore elongated and shaped like small tubes. The claws are drawn in the shape of a triangle.
To make the claws on the feet, simply add the lines separating the fingers in two.
Before making the tail and wings, we'll make the face, which is relatively simple.
For the eye, simply make a triangle with slightly rounded corners.
Inside, you will make a central circle, then a smaller one on the side.
Inside the mouth, you can add the tongue, as well as the teeth.
Add some lines on the face to create contours.
Charizard's wings are the ones most commonly drawn. We've all done it at least once, even as a kid, because they are simply bat wings.
To make them, start by drawing the upper part of the wing starting from the neck, going up to a point like a triangle and then coming back down, outwards, with curves.
Underneath, you will make three connected circular arcs.
For the tail, make a flattened circle on the right to show the beginning of the tail. Separate it with a line to show that it is folded in half.
On the left side, make a tube ending in a point.
At the end of the tail is the fire. To create it, you start at the end of the tail, then shape it randomly, it's up to you, making waves and cutting in ‘spikes’ from time to time. The longest spike should be at the top of the flame.
Erase the construction lines and you're done, you've drawn Charizard!
You can colour it using orange, yellow, red, and dark blue or leave it in black and white.
THE COLOUR DRAWING
Here's what it looks like with a very simple colour setting.
I deliberately left the Charizard as it is, without intervening on shadows and lights for the simple and good reason that, logically, this design will be of interest mainly to young people. I therefore wanted to leave an accessible final version in order to have a good reference point.
It's your turn now!
Editor and illustrator: Coralie