How to draw Star Wars characters – Always wanted to draw R2D2 from the Star Wars movies? This is your occasion to learn how.
R2-D2 (phonetically spelled Artoo-Detoo, and called “Artoo” for short), is a fictional droid in the Star Wars universe, an astromech droid.
How to draw Star Wars characters – Let’s get started!
This is a very difficult or a very simple drawing depending on how you tackle it. Because the droid D2R2 is very geometric and you want to be quite precise to convey that geometry feel. It can be easy if you can work with rulers and the such but it can be quite difficult if you are not comfortable with those and try to do everything without proper construction lines.
With this tutorial, we’ll show you a simple method to get R2D2 right from the start with a few basic construction lines.
Start by drawing a rectangle. that’s it. It is so simple. A rectangle like the one below. The rectangle is titled on the left slightly.
How to draw Star Wars characters – the geometry of the figure
The next step is to draw a circle that has its center slightly above the rectangle’s short size. You can see it clearly in the drawing below.
So far so simple. Now it starts to get a bit complicated.
First, divide the protruding part of the sphere into two equal parts but also be sure to cut two thin slices at the top and bottom of the head as indicated here.
Also, determine the midline of the body using a longitudinal line and follow the curvature of the head. Also, taper the rectangle at its base slightly.
Resourceful and spunky, the droid developed an adventurous personality during his many decades of operation. Inside of his cylindrical frame were many arms, sensors, and other tools that could be extended to fulfill various needs, such as slicing computers, extinguishing fires, projecting holograms, repairing starships, and flying.
How to draw Star Wars characters – building the legs
Divide the body-rectangle into three parts. The higher of these three sections will contain the hinges of the robot-legs.
These are built starting from a couple of elliptical shapes on each side as you can see here. The right one is self-explanatory but the right one is more complicated because is partially covered by the body itself so be very careful with it.
From those two joints, you want to draw straight lines going down and to the left. These lines must be parallel mind you because they are solid mechanical components and need to be reasonably precise.
This is an isometric view of the Droid D2R2 and all lines need to be parallel and coherent. Even though the right leg is mostly covered by the body it is useful to draw it anyway cause it gives a nice guide on how to position the feet.
the feet are two weird solids I know but not complicated to draw. Imagine you are just joining the smaller rectangles at the end of the legs with the bigger rectangles that form the base of the feet.
Do not forget the wheels!
How to draw Star Wars characters – the third foot
The third frontal foot is almost identical in size to the right foot just positioned in front of the body and aligned to the midline.
To finish this construction off, connect the third foot neatly to the body and get ready to finish the drawing and add the necessary details!
Along with his counterpart, the protocol droid C-3PO, R2-D2 constantly found himself directly involved in pivotal moments of galactic history. His bravery, coupled with his many gadgets, played large roles in saving the galaxy time and time again. Like other astromech droids, R2-D2 could walk on two legs or use a third leg to roll across the ground.
How to draw Star Wars characters – Let’s finish it!
At this point, it’s time to remove all those constructing lines and bring our final drawing to life!
So go ahead and remove all the lines that are not in view and are covered by parts of the robot that are in front of them.
Use this as a perfect background to draw your final line work and you’ll end up with a Droid-canvas ready to be filled with the many technical details that characterize this droid.
How to draw Star Wars characters – Complete the drawing
At this point to conclude it you need to go find a reference picture of R2-D2 on the internet or where you want. Look carefully at all the small details it has on its body and fill those up as much as you want.
You can be more or less detailed if you want but the point is you have built a solid outline upon which to add the detail typical of this droid and that makes it unique.
Stay tuned for the next tutorial on Star Wars characters on the Drawing Factory!
