Drawing on the theme of cranes flying away. How to draw a crane with a pencil step by step

Korin Ogata 1658-1716 - Cranes.

As an image and theme, the crane is found in all types of traditional Japanese arts, especially painting. The crane is the bird of immortality; it symbolizes longevity, happiness and prosperity. His image on screens or scrolls was of a benevolent nature and represented a huge variety of varieties, each of which conveyed the subtlest shades of meaning.

This is an engraving by Kitao Shigemasa - surimono - greeting card, they were made for holidays, significant dates, holidays. This surimono is presumably dedicated to some family date. The image of a pair of cranes means a long, happy family union and prosperity. The crane has a reputation as a leader among birds and has life wisdom. Therefore, a husband and wife, like two cranes, together are able to solve any problem and remove any obstacle that arises on the family path of life.

Shunsho Katsukawa 1726-1792 - Cranes, turtles and pine trees. The image of cranes against a background of pine trees symbolizes power and perseverance, because pine is a symbol of inner strength, perseverance and steadfastness.

The same plot performed by Hokusai.

Ichiryusai HIROSHIGE (1797-1858) - Cranes and pine trees.

Two scrolls from the triptych “A Thousand Cranes” - “Cranes among Pines”, “Cranes among Bamboo”, and unfortunately I do not have an image of the third scroll “Cranes among Plums”. The combination of these three plants was not chosen by chance. Pine, bamboo and plum, which blooms at the end of winter and is considered a symbol of purity, have been part of a benevolent system since ancient times, even among the Chinese, symbolizing longevity, perseverance, and fortitude. These plants are called "three friends of cold winter."
Bamboo symbolizes endurance and protection - it can withstand both hot summers and cold winters. The image of cranes among bamboo means good luck associated with a long and happy life.
The plum blossoms earlier than other plants, it blooms in late winter or early spring, therefore it symbolizes strength, perseverance, hermitage and purity. It was customary to decorate women's hairstyles with branches of blossoming plums, so this plant also symbolized beauty.
When these three trees are depicted together, they symbolize friendship that can withstand any adversity.

Yoshitoshi Taiso portrayed Minamoto no Yorimoto, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate and its first ruler, releasing a thousand cranes into the sky.

Triptych by Utamoro Kitagawa - Crane Release Ceremony. For an adequate impression, of course, these fragments are better
place nearby.

The theme is continued by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

Hiroshige II Utagawa 1829-1869. Flying cranes.

Sketches of cranes by Hokusai.

Well, it’s not just cranes here, of course)

More Hokusai - Cranes with Mount Fuji in the background.

A couple of works by Hiroshige

Photo 1. Meetings with these large and cautious birds became frequent for me as soon as I began to visit places more distant from Moscow. Flocks often fly high and often call to each other in a flock. It is impossible not to notice and hear large and loud-voiced birds. In the spring, I have never been able to devote enough time to them to find a nesting pair, find a nest, or photograph adults next to the chicks. While filming the currents of chicken birds, I had to choose to study them or the cranes. But in the second half of summer, when there is a lull in filming for photographers, gray cranes attract attention. By this time, crane families leave their nesting stations. They are easier to watch.

Photo 2. Chicks manage to reach adult size only two months after hatching. By the end of July, young cranes, those that hatched in the middle zone, are already flying. In early and mid-August, families can be seen in the fields. Two, or at least one of the adults, carefully looks in the direction of a person or car, and young birds swarm carelessly, bowing their heads to the ground. The latter are easily distinguished by the uniform gray color of their plumage with a reddish head, while the underside of the head and throat of adults are black.

Photo 3.

Photo 4.

Up close, the parents can be seen to have red, bare skin on the crown of their head. Very noticeable in adults are white stripes on the sides of the neck, which start from the eyes and go down the neck, ending with a black throat above the goiter. The chicks, despite the fact that they have caught up with the adults in size, still squeak like children. Therefore, often when birds fly in the air above an observer, their thin squeak is clearly audible. The joint flight of the family is also touching, when the parents fly on both sides of the young birds, as if protecting them from being shot.


Photo 5.

In the second half of summer, after the chicks of the gray cranes begin to fly, the crane families leave the swamps and damp swamps of the black alder forests. Birds appear in hayfields after the grass has been mowed, and then in grain fields, when the crops are harvested. At first, the families stay apart, the adults teach the young the various intricacies of crane life, and it takes time for the chicks to gain strength and get stronger before the long journey to warm countries. But from September, cranes begin to gather in some fields in larger and larger groups, and in October, after practicing flying and uniting in large flocks, they leave us.


Photo 6.

The weather has almost no effect on the daily routine of the cranes; be it sun or rain, they will fly to the field to feed. At the beginning of September, cranes collect the remains of the crop that they dropped during harvesting and peck small animals. After the stubble is plowed and winter crops are sown, they collect the grains lying on the surface, fortunately there are so many of them that there is no need to look for them. A little later, the winter crops germinate and the entire field becomes soft green with young shoots.
Cranes do not immediately arrive in a large flock. As soon as it becomes visible so clearly that one can confidently distinguish blades of grass from a bird's eye view, the first cranes appear over the field. It could be one or two birds or a family of three or four birds. They fly silently, without the usual purring. Their task is to find out if there is any danger on the field. The cranes make a circle over the field and sit down away from bushes, trees and weeds. A few minutes later the first flock of their relatives flies after the scouts. They sit down not far from the first ones.

Photo 7.

The first cranes looked around warily and listened, but the more birds there were, the more freely they behaved. Then flock after flock arrives and within an hour all the other cranes gather on the field. True, this does not mean that gray cranes no longer fly over the field throughout the day. On the contrary, it is quite normal that some birds fly in and out of here. Birds call in common with those who are in another field, fly to feed or to drink.


Photo 8.

Cranes fly in small groups or families. In autumn, a family is a strong and indivisible group of 3-5 birds, two of which are adults, and 1-3 chicks of this year. Chicks are easily distinguished from their parents. They do not have the plumage of adults. It is very interesting to observe how adults take care of their grown children, even in the fall, when each bird is looking for its own food in the field, one of the parents, having found something “tasty”, can feed it to one of the chicks.


Photo 9.

The chicks emit a thin squeak, which in no way matches the important appearance of the tall, long-legged bird. This voice always seems to haunt parents. Even in flight, young cranes scream tirelessly. And they rarely stray far from their parents.


Photo 10.

In addition to families, a flock of cranes may contain groups consisting only of adult cranes. These are unsuccessfully nested pairs or one-year-old birds that are not yet ready to breed. Such companies are interesting to the photographer because the behavior of birds not related to a family is more free and unpredictable.


Photo 11.

Either several birds suddenly begin to scream loudly and “trumpetically”, stretching out their necks and raising their beaks up, then a quarrel breaks out between two cranes, developing into an aerial duel with low jumps and attacks with legs and beaks. This spectacular spectacle rarely occurs near the tent, and it is not always possible to film it, but the resulting footage is all the more valuable.
The “discovery” that on a hot, sunny day, cranes definitely need a watering hole seemed very unusual to me. The birds are unpretentious and can be content with a puddle at the edge of a field, but if there are no puddles, then the cranes will find a river or ditch. When the sun gets hot, cranes in families and small groups will flock to the water. It is enough to show one bird a watering place, and others will flock here from different ends of the field.

Photo 12.

Overcoming long distances, the flock most often flies in a regular wedge. It has been experimentally proven that with such a formation, the first bird is in the most difficult position, and the rest have a much easier time flying. In open spaces, they can be seen and heard from afar.


Photo 13.

During the wintering grounds, young birds molt, but still stay close to their parents and, according to ornithologists, they fly together to our north in the spring. Only adults fly to the nesting site, and the young flock together and feed all summer in the meadows, where it is easy to feed. They reach sexual maturity after 3 years. It is believed that cranes form a pair for life, but if one of the partners dies, the remaining one finds a replacement.


Photo 14.

Gray cranes have a very difficult relationship with humans. Let me start with the fact that nesting birds do not tolerate the presence of people on the nesting site and quickly leave such areas. Until now, they are hunted only in Pakistan and Afghanistan (the West Siberian population flies there for the winter). I was greatly impressed by the report of the German nature photographer Klaus Nigge, who conducted a master class on December 18 as part of the “Nature Photography Day”. It was a bit of a shock to see how the gray crane behaves in Europe where it is not persecuted. This gullibility of nesting pairs of cranes, which have now densely populated all suitable biotopes for this species, when, for example, they nest completely openly on a small reservoir, in the middle of a cultivated field. Photographing gray cranes in Western Europe and Russia cannot be compared. They don’t even think about shooting such wonderful birds, but in special protected areas they are fed and, perhaps, photographed. There is another known wintering ground for these birds in Israel. There they treat this bird no less civilized and the cranes feel comfortable.


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Photo 19.

We currently have timid birds, but this caution was acquired through many years of negative experience. Despite the ban on hunting, people shoot at them (I heard it myself), either for fun or to test weapons. It's a shame that for the sake of the pleasure of a few stupid gun-wielding people, the majority of our fellow citizens cannot even get a good look at this bird. Unless you look at other people's photographs. Admire these majestic birds, see how gracefully they preen their huge feathers, how sedately they stride across the field, taking large steps, how they leisurely collect grains on the ground and how beautiful the flock of cranes is in the sky. How great this magnificent spectacle would look in relation to every corner of our country.


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Today we will draw a crane. Let's focus on the white crane, which is also called the Siberian Crane. Cranes are ancient and very beautiful birds. And very large - they can reach a weight of several kilograms. This is one of the heaviest flying birds.

The crane, as you know, is mainly engaged in standing knee-deep in water and waiting for fish or frogs that serve as food, or walking with clumsy grace along the river bank or hunting in a swamp. In general, the crane's body shape and lifestyle are similar to other wading birds - storks and herons. It is their habitat that determines their characteristic appearance.

The crane's body is powerful, but at the same time graceful, its neck is long and curved, its legs are also long and thin. The beak is large, especially in the Siberian Crane. A crane flies with its neck and legs stretched out.

The crane is the hero of many myths and fairy tales, most likely that is why we decided to draw it. Our crane is just hobbling through the swamp in search of food. By depicting him, we will kill two birds with one stone - we will combine the topics: “how to draw a crane” and “how to draw a walking bird.”

Let's draw a crane step by step

The body is large. The wings are folded on the back. The neck is long and curved almost like a swan, but there is a difference - a beak. It is large and tweezer-shaped - “grasping”. Now here’s a nuance: the legs, look at the drawing, are almost in the middle of the body, let’s compare it to a sparrow: its legs are honestly like that – literally at the end of the body. How so? So I think that the sparrow is helped by the fact that it is small, light and compact. And the crane needs to maintain balance on its long legs, and its neck also pulls forward, so that the tail part must provide a sufficient counterweight.

Of course, it does not follow from this that anatomically the crane’s legs grow from the stomach: this impression is created due to the wide, massive tail and croup.

And now there’s another crane, he’s pecking at something from the ground as he walks. A very interesting pose - the bend of the neck is simply uniquely graceful.

Let's draw a sketch with a pencil and then clarify the details. I first outlined the torso, then worked on the neck and, making sure that everything was in order with all the beautiful, but complex curves, I calmly drew the legs and powerful tail.

In general, in theory, you need to draw from large to small. In theory. In practice, sometimes, having decided on the main masses, I draw further exactly what seems to me the most difficult, and when this part of the work is completed, I draw further in the joyful confidence that the picture will “turn out” well.

There are many types of cranes. Now we were drawing a red-crowned crane. What does our native gray crane look like? The one who wooed the heron and made acquaintance with the fox?

How to draw a crane - lesson 3

It really is worth it, but what can you do? - don’t scare him away for the sake of a picture!

Cranes are beautiful, noble and very ancient birds, whose ancestors lived on Earth along with dinosaurs and managed to survive after all global cataclysms.

Israel: cranes in the Hula Valley.

Interest and respect for birds can be traced in the cultures of many peoples of the world. The crane is considered the national symbol of Armenia. In many Asian countries, the crane is a sacred bird, the embodiment of happiness and longevity. In Rus' they were considered messengers of God; our ancestors believed that the first person to see the crane dance in the spring would be blessed with happiness and good luck all year long. In Yakutia today they believe that the killer of a crane faces terrible misfortunes.

Aristotle began studying these birds, and today cranes are included in the extensive order of crane-like animals and the family of cranes. The genus of true cranes consists of 10 species of birds, distributed almost throughout the world.

What does a crane look like?

A person far from ornithology may confuse the crane with other long-legged, long-necked semi-aquatic birds. If we compare the crane in the photo with its very distant relatives the heron and the stork, then the legs and neck of the crane are longer, the body is more graceful, and the beak is shorter.

This is a tall, stately bird; the height of representatives of different species ranges from 90 to 175 cm and weighs from 2 to 11 kg. The body of the crane is elongated, teardrop-shaped. When the bird is standing, the long flight feathers of the wing create the impression that it has a long, luxuriant tail, which in some species resembles a train.

The wingspan of an adult crane is about 2 m. Birds take off with a running start in the wind, quickly pick up speed and spread their wings just before takeoff. The flight of the crane is smooth and rhythmic, with soft lowering of the wings and sharp upward strokes. Unlike herons, cranes fly with their necks stretched forward and tuck their legs in inclement weather.

The long neck of the crane is crowned by a small, neat head with an elongated straight beak, 20-30 cm long. Part of the head is devoid of feathers, and the bare area of ​​rough skin is bright red or orange, so from a distance it resembles a cap.

The plumage colors of cranes are predominantly grey, white and black. Individuals of both sexes do not differ in any way in appearance; males are only slightly heavier than females.

Habitat and lifestyle

Cranes nest in Eurasia, North America and Australia. Residents of warm regions live sedentary lives; migratory populations winter in the south of France, Asian countries, Mexico and the southern United States.

Migrating cranes fly at altitudes from 900 m to 1.5 km, using rising air currents, and form a wedge only in headwind conditions. During their migration, birds make 1-2 stops in the same place, where they rest for several weeks.

Unlike herons and storks, cranes never perch on trees; they gather in large groups for the night and sleep in shallow water standing with one leg tucked under them. Therefore, the main habitats of birds are wet, low-lying, swampy forest landscapes or places near fresh water bodies. During wintering, the birds live in marshy areas with salt water. It is precisely because of the drainage of swamps and the destruction of habitats familiar to birds that most crane species are today on the verge of extinction.

What do cranes eat?

These birds are omnivores and equally successfully consume various parts of plants and animal food. The diet of cranes does not depend on the availability of certain food; if the usual food is not available, the birds switch to any food that they can feed on.

The plant diet includes stems, leaves, roots of various aquatic and terrestrial plants, seeds and fruits. Particular preference is given to grain crops. Often large flocks of cranes descend on corn and grain fields, causing serious damage to the land.

Animal food consists of worms and insects, amphibians, small rodents, reptiles, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish.

In places where hunting cranes is prohibited by religion and law, the birds are not afraid of people and willingly feed near settlements and livestock pastures.

Features of reproduction

Cranes are monogamous and remain married throughout their lives. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of 3 - 5 years, and pairs are formed before arriving at the nesting sites.

The union of two birds is celebrated with a mandatory mating ritual, which is called the dance of the cranes. Mutual courtship consists of bouncing, small dashes and bows. The male and female flap their wings, spin, throw twigs and tufts of grass into the air, and all this is accompanied by a drawn-out melodic song. After mating, the pair begins building a nest.

Outside the mating season, cranes are not aggressive, but they jealously guard their nesting territory from strangers, the area of ​​which varies from 1 to 40 km2. For the nest, a secluded, hard-to-reach place is chosen right in the water, in shallow water, often in dense thickets of reeds and reeds.

The finished nest of cranes is a large compacted pile of tree branches, dry grass, pieces of moss and peat, up to 3 m in diameter.

Cranes are clean and carefully care for their feathers, but immediately before incubation they are specially coated with silt and wet earth. If the crane looks downright dirty in the photo, it means the bird is trying to camouflage itself in order to become less noticeable to predators and humans.

The female lays 1 to 3 light beige speckled eggs weighing about 200 g. Both parents incubate, and the incubation period lasts from 28 to 32 days. The chicks are born naked and helpless, but after a day they are already firmly on their feet. In order not to attract enemies, parents often crush and hide the eggshells.

Despite the small number of chicks, competition for survival often leads to the death of the weaker one. The chicks become fully feathered 70 - 75 days after birth and acquire the ability to fly, but they always spend the first winter with their parents.

In the wild, cranes live up to 20 years, and in captivity, life expectancy increases to 80 years.

Types of cranes: genus true cranes

Of the 10 species of true cranes, most are extremely vulnerable or on the verge of extinction. Therefore, in 1973, the International Crane Conservation Fund was created in America.

An endangered species of cranes that nest exclusively in northern Russia and winter in China. These are large birds, up to 140 cm high and weighing from 5 to 8.6 kg. The main color of the plumage is white, only the tips of the flight feathers are black. A distinctive species feature is a very long beak of bright red color with a jagged tip. The long legs of Siberian Cranes are colored reddish-pink.

Siberian crane or white crane.
Siberian crane or white crane.

Numerous species, widespread in Russia, China and Mongolia. Adult birds grow up to 115 cm, the body weight of males is about 6 kg. The birds' legs are black, the beak is light. The plumage of the back is dark gray with blue, the belly and wings are light gray, the tips of the wings are black. The forehead and top of the neck from the chin are dark gray or black.

A small, rare species, discovered only in 1974. The birds nest in eastern Russia and northern China and winter on the Japanese island of Kyushu. These are relatively small cranes, no more than 100 cm high and weighing about 3.75 g. The main plumage is dark gray with blue, the head and neck are white. The tips of the tail coverts and flight wings are painted black. The limbs are black-brown. The beak is interestingly colored: pink at the base, gradually becoming greenish, and yellow-green towards the tip.

A pair of black cranes in flight.

A rare species, representatives of which live in the Tibetan Plateau of the Chinese province of Qinghai. For the winter, birds descend into the valleys of Tibet or migrate to Bhutan and northeast India.

The height of the black-necked crane is about 115 cm with a body weight of 5.35 kg. The back and wings of the birds are gray-ashy in color, the belly is dirty white. The upper part of the neck and head are black, a white or grayish spot is clearly visible under the eyes. Legs and tail are black.

Black-necked crane: photo of head and neck.

Rare cranes belonging to an endangered species. The birds live in Russia in the Amur River basin and in Japan. The Japanese population leads a sedentary lifestyle, the rest of the birds spend the winter in Asia.

These are large cranes, up to 158 cm tall and weighing about 7.5 kg. In autumn, males of the species can gain weight up to 11 kg. Adult birds are distinguished by their snow-white plumage, including their wings, which distinguishes them from other relatives. The birds' legs are lead-gray. The tail and neck are black, and a wide white stripe runs from the eyes to the back of the head and down the neck.

Japan, Hokkaido island. Red-crowned crane natural park.
Dance of Japanese cranes.

Another name for the birds is the Antigone crane, which is the largest species of crane. Birds live sedentary in India, Indochina and parts of Australia. The average height of representatives of the species is 176 cm with a body weight of 6.35 kg.

The plumage color is bluish-gray. In the photo of the Antigone crane, the almost completely bald head and upper part of the neck catches the eye, making the red “cap” of the birds seem especially large. Stubborn, coarse hairs grow on the throat and neck. The birds' legs are reddish, the beak is long, pale green. Today, the Indian crane is classified as a vulnerable species.

A pair of Indian cranes with a chick.

In appearance it is very similar to the Indian crane, but smaller in size and darker in color. The height of the birds is about 161 cm, body weight reaches 6 kg. The general color of the plumage is gray with blue, only part of the tips of the wing feathers are almost black. Gray, strongly elongated flight feathers cover the tail and form a kind of long train. The birds' legs are black, the beak is gray. This is a numerous species living sedentary in Australia and New Guinea.

Sandhill cranes on the swamp.
Australian crane in flight.

These are the rarest cranes, a small population of which lives in northwestern Canada. The birds winter in the southern United States and Mexico.

Birds grow up to 150 cm and weigh from 6.4 to 7.3 kg. These cranes are completely snow-white with black wing tips and black "whiskers" located on either side of the head from the beak to the throat. The birds' legs are black, the beak is pale yellow with a greenish tip.

A wedge of whooping cranes in flight.
Whooping crane in flight.
Head of a whooping crane.
A pair of whooping cranes.
A whooping crane caught a crab.

The most numerous species, representatives of which are widespread in Canada, Cuba and Chukotka. The birds go to Mexico and the USA for the winter.

There are 6 known subspecies of sandhill crane, whose height ranges from 80 to 150 cm and weight from 3 to 6.5 kg. The plumage color of all subspecies is different shades of gray, the head and top of the neck are light, the cheeks are white, and the legs are black.

Sandhill crane in flight.

The birds, classified as endangered species, nest in China, Mongolia and eastern Russia, and winter in Japan.

Large crane, weighing up to 5.6 kg. In adult birds, the plumage is dark gray with a silvery tint to the wings. The main difference between these cranes is the bright red “glasses” around the eyes, formed by areas of bare skin, as well as pink legs and white longitudinal stripes running along the neck.

Head of a white-naped crane.
White-naped crane in flight.



White-naped crane in the Amur region.
Transbaikal region, Onon district, Daursky reserve, 2001.

Types of cranes: genus crowned cranes

The crowned crane lives in West and East Africa. The number of this species is declining, although it is still quite numerous.

Crowned Crane at the Jerusalem Zoo.

The Eastern crowned crane lives in eastern and southern Africa. This is the most common of the six species of cranes found in Africa.

Types of cranes: demoiselle crane genus

The demoiselle crane is the smallest and third largest member of the crane family.

Demoiselle crane in Mongolia.
Demoiselle cranes in the Kurai steppe.
The face of a demoiselle crane.

Demoiselle cranes on the shore.
Demoiselle crane in flight.

In this species of cranes, a pair, as a rule, remains intact throughout its life.

The paradise crane or African demoiselle lives in South Africa and leads a sedentary lifestyle. 99% of the paradise crane population lives in South Africa.

Some of the closest relatives of cranes are herons; we have many photos of different types of herons on our website.