This is not the Stormtrooper pencil drawing that you’re looking for… Wait, no, I think I said that wrong. Anyway, I made this classic Stormtrooper pencil drawing quite some time ago, but I’m still pretty proud of it. If you’re new to my site, you’ll discover quickly that Star Wars (specifically pre-Disney) is a passion of mine. And the classic Stormtroopers are a particular favorite of mine.
This drawing of a stormtrooper from the original movies turned out better than I’d expected, but you can still tell there are some proportions that are off. So, keep that in mind if you plan to utilize this as a reference.
Here’s a better shot of the image. You should be able to click on it to zoom in as needed:
Materials Used
This particular drawing was made with the following materials:
- Faber-Castell Pencil Set
- I have a tendency to use mechanical pencils, but in this case, I went with a set of Faber-Castell pencils. They worked incredibly well and helped tremendously with getting darker shadows and lighter highlights.
- Blending Stumps
- I linked a highly-rated, inexpensive one on Amazon, but most of these are pretty generic and I literally just used some tightly rolled-up paper throughout high school, and it worked almost just as well.
- GPBM2-BP Factis Pen Style Eraser
- This is my go-to fine-tip eraser for highlighting and fixing small mistakes. I’ve been using this particular mechanical eraser for over a decade now and highly recommend it.
- Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser
- You really knead this… Ok, but seriously you’ll want to have this on hand for any bigger mistakes or adjustments you’ll knead to make. Highly versatile tool.
Tips for Drawing the Classic Stormtrooper
I would rank this drawing as an intermediate-level pencil drawing. Of course, depending on your current skill level you might feel entirely different. But based on where I am in my growth as an artist, I rank it as intermediate. Here are some tips to help you if you’d like to try to draw it.
Use A Good Pencil Set
If you bothered to look at what materials I used, you may have already read that I used a decent pencil set to draw this. It helps tremendously when it comes to adding darker shadows if you have good pencils.
If you’re anything like me, you lean towards using a mechanical pencil for basically anything you create. While it’s not impossible to make this classic Stormtrooper pencil drawing using a mechanical pencil, you’ll find that it’s not easy to get your shadows as dark as you’d like, which makes a big difference for areas such as the eyes of the Stormtrooper helmet or its shadow.
Using a mechanical pencil will also pose a greater risk of accidentally creating harder lines in areas that you don’t want them.
Don’t Fear Mistakes
Mistakes are a part of becoming a better artist. I’m sure that you constantly see all the flaws in your artwork as you create it, but it shouldn’t keep you from moving forward.
I know that this Stormtrooper pencil drawing isn’t perfect, and I can tell that there’s many areas I could have changed to improve it greatly. But instead of hiding it away and never showing anyone, I’m publicly displaying it for the world to see – mistakes and all.
Don’t be afraid of people “calling you out” on your mistakes, either. Even if the critic is unkind in how they present the information, you can use it to become a better artist. Never faint in the face of adversity. Push forward, and keep striving to be the artist to desire.
Make it Yours
While I give full permission to use my art as a reference, I strongly encourage you to change it in some way. Maybe try creating it on black paper and using a white pencil. Or, perhaps you could add a reflection in the stormtrooper’s eyes of a lightsaber, showing that he’s facing a Jedi. Maybe create it with a unique art medium you haven’t tried, and see how it turns out.
Whatever it is, it’s something that I’ve started striving to do more. Now that I’ve gotten a lot of “copying” under my belt, I’ve started doing my best to really make things unique rather than copying it as-is.
Speaking of which, don’t be ashamed of copying someone else’s work if it’s just for practice and your own growth. I went through a phase where I felt guilty for doing that, but a book called “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon helped me realize that everyone will plagiarise in some capacity. Your goal should just be to gradually make it more of your own as you grow as an artist.