How to Draw a Vampire

Vampires are mystical beings that have existed since time immemorial. They appear everywhere, in novels, movies, series and these mysterious bloodsuckers have always been fascinating.
But how do you draw a believable vampire?

THE STRUCTURE OF A VAMPIRE

When you look closely, there are always recurring similarities:
Vampires have pale skin, red eyes, pointed teeth and ears, wear a cape, and often have a very aristocratic style.

These are stereotypes that are embedded in people's minds (until Twilight added "sparkles in the sunlight" to the criteria) and we are going to use these stereotypes to create our vampire.

Finally, we will do character drawing using certain small details to transform this basic character into a vampire.

For this article, let your imagination take over and create the vampire you want.

We will start by creating a base for a "normal" character and gradually make it evolve into a "vampire". If you are already comfortable with character drawing, this will be even easier for you :)

If you want to perfect your character conceptualization skills to give them character, you can take our specialized course on "characters" taught by Yohan. ➜ DISCOVER THE CHARACTERS COURSE Please provide the text you would like to translate from French to English.

DRAW A VAMPIRE STEP BY STEP

To start, I'll define my vampire. For me, it will be a woman, with a bun, a cape (THE famous cape), and a dress in baroque style.

I will make it seen from a 3/4 view with its head turned back and its mouth open to show its fangs.

Once you have in mind what you want to do, we will start with the basics.
Use a light pencil and don't press down on your paper, you will need to erase the lines later!

DRAW THE BASE OF THE VAMPIRE

I start by making the base of the skull. I draw a circle which I divide into two with a slightly curved line.

The circle represents the top part of the face; if I draw it squashed, it's because my vampire will have its head tilted back and therefore the top of the skull less visible.

As for the line, it serves to define the direction of the face as well as its halves.

I continue the head by adding the jaw and the ear.

I deliberately made his jaw square to give him a dominating and tough look.

On the other hand, if you want to create a character with a softer tone, round off the edges.

Starting from the head, I'm going to animate the body movement of my character.

I draw a simple line to suggest the neck, chest, and torso.

I want her to have a slightly arched chest to show her superiority and self-confidence, so her chest is naturally pushed forward, then I emphasize the curve of her hips to give more dynamism to the pose.

Now that my basic silhouette is drawn, I'm going to refine it by adding more details.

Always without pressing, I adjust the shape of the face to my liking and modify the ear by adding the famous "bat" point.

I'm adding the cape and the dress.

For the cape, I'm keeping it simple and making a classic cape with the collar that goes up to the neck.

As for the dress, I made it with some fine lace, a bit in the style of the old aristocracy. (You know, that era when women wore dresses with tons of frills...)

For the hair, I chose a bun because it's a strict and elegant hairstyle that stays within the aristocratic theme.

I finally finish with the face.

As a well-bred vampire who feels superior, I had to give him a little haughty air.

In his eyes, feel free to make the pupils very thin. Like animals, it can give an impression of threat or that your vampire is getting ready to attack.

And of course, don't forget the famous fangs that make a vampire so renowned!

PUT THE DRAWING NEATLY

Once your base is finished, you can move on to cleaning up.

Whether using a pen, marker, or else, go over your base to create the final drawing.

Have fun varying the thickness of your strokes, it adds zest and depth to your drawing.

When you have finished cleaning up, you can erase your database.

You can choose to stop your drawing here or continue by adding more details, colors, shadows, or more, as you like 🙂

After doing several inconclusive color tests, I decided to leave my line drawing as it is.

Have fun creating several vampires with distinct characters, it's a good exercise to pick a well-known character with deeply ingrained stereotypes and remake it in your own way!

Illustrator and writer:Coralie