Sketching Wraiths

Wraiths are almost like ghostly figures that remind me of the ring wraiths from The Lord Of The Rings films, although they have no legs usually and they have lots of rags and bits of cloth that flows behind them to make it look even spookier, I have had a go at sketching a few wraith like figures below and all I've used is a HB and a 2B pencil to try and capture the energy of the wraith like ghosts!

I wanted to try and draw a wraith, because it is a superb example of a fantasy figure that has no real human form, it can be made up of the raggedy flowing cloak and bony hands of the undead, although I like to do a skeletal form under the cloak and suggest some form, but also try to balance the drawings as ghosts.

Take a look at this quick drawing below it only took 5 minutes to sketch, see how I've just sketched in the skeleton hands with claws and the skull peeking out of the cloak with rags all flowing behind it.(And I do so hope to get my scanner fixed as I can go back and add the proper artwork that would be nice and clear!)

Now obviously you have to do a few more sketches to get the look and feel of a wraith right, maybe by doing a head sketch and another couple of body sketches, so that you know the ins and outs of the wraith form and the way of drawing one.

Update - Here is the newly scanned version of the inked sketch I did with my trusty Sharpie Marker, it's heavy on the ink and rather sketchy, but it turned out quite well I think.

Below I quickly sketched out a head for the wraith and it shows a little bit more detail of the rotting skull form and the hood of the wraiths cloak flowing downwards, I enjoyed drawing this!

Update - Here is the inked version of this sketch, I used a fine point ink pen instead of the thicker Sharpie marker to get some detail in there.....

Have a go yourself at drawing a wraith, they are great to draw and if you are stuck for inspiration, just watch Lord Of The Rings or The Frighteners for wraith like references!

All fantasy art drawings Copyright Wayne Tully 2010