A bald eagle and an American flag are commonly paired together as a symbol of the United States. In order to keep this drawing easy, the flag should not be waving or blowing in the wind but straight and upright, as it would be if it were displayed in a case in a museum. The eagle is best drawn only over the half of the flag with stripes because that half is less complicated to draw.
Instructions
The American Flag
1. Draw a rectangle 7 1/4 inches wide and 4 inches high. Use a ruler to do this.
2. Draw the right-hand half of the flag lightly so that when you draw the eagle over the flag, parts of it can be erased. You will darken it once the eagle has been drawn.
3. Draw a rectangle 3 inches wide and 2 1/4 inches tall in the upper left-hand corner of the first rectangle. Use a ruler.
4. Draw five evenly spaced rows of six 5-pointed stars inside the smaller rectangle.
5. Draw a row of five stars in between each row that has six stars.
6. Draw a horizontal line 1/4-inch above the base of the large rectangle.
7. Draw another horizontal line 1/4 inch above the line drawn in Step 6, and continue drawing lines at 1/4-inch increments until you reach the top of the flag.
The Eagle
8. Draw two ovals lightly in the right half of the flag. Make the first oval 3 1/2 inches tall and slanted to the right. Make the second oval touch the top of the first oval; it should be 1-inch tall and pointing to the right as the first oval does. The first oval represents the eagle's body and tail, while the second represents the head of the eagle. The eagle will face right, away from the stars.
9. Draw the slight curve of the eagle's back over the first oval, and extend it down in a straight line pointing toward the bottom of the flag. This is the eagle's tail.
10. Extend the just-drawn curve upward and into another straight line, representing the neck.
11. Extend the neck line up, and then into a sharp curve over the front of the eagle's face.
12. Draw the line over the face of the eagle straight into the top of the eagle's beak, which will be long, pointed and extend over the bottom jaw.
13. Draw an S curve from the bottom jaw to the breast of the eagle, then continue to draw the bottom of the eagle with a line that gently slopes upward and back to the point of the tail.
14. Draw two V shapes, pointed down and overlapping each other, half way between the eagle's tail and breast. These V shapes are the legs.
15. Draw a thin stick from each leg. Make the sticks fork downward into two parts, the talons.
16. Draw pointed claws on each talon.
17.Erase the stripes of the flag that are inside the eagle.
18. Add several rows of V-shaped feathers (pointing down) over the back of the eagle. You need not draw all the feathers, but imply that there are many rows by distributing the feathers in clumps all over the eagle's body.
19. Draw the outline of the eye of the eagle in the middle of the head, behind the beak. Make the eye an almond shape.
20. Shade the circular pupil in the center of the eye.
21. Color blue or shade the rectangle that contains the stars in the left-hand corner.
22. Shade the body of the eagle, excluding the head, which remains white.
23. Color red or shade every other stripe of the flag. Start with the top stripe and move down from there. Leave alternating stripes white.
