Model Airplane Color Design - How to Draw an Aircraft Paint Scheme

Tutorial : How to Draw an Aircraft Paint Scheme
	This tutorial is for those who want to design a paint scheme for their aircraft but lack the basic skills necessary to draw one. This tutorial will provide those basic skills needed to draw an aircraft paint scheme. We will use Microsoft Paint in this tutorial, but the same techniques learned here can be utilized when drawing with any other paint program.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Starting the Microsoft Paint program in Windows : This is one of the easiest paint programs to use and it's perfect for learning how to draw on your PC. Click on the Start button, select All Programs, Accesories, and then select Paint.
	The image on the left is a typical MS Paint program window. It contains the Menu bar on the top row and below that are the Tools, a Color Palette and the Drawing Area. The icons aligned vertically on the left side are the Tools we will use to draw with. The color boxes aligned horizontally are part of the Color Palette. Below the Color Palette is the Drawing Area.

The Tools in MS Paint : Before we start to draw, there are a few basic tools that we need to learn. These are beginner's tools and they're very easy to use. Other more advanced tools will not be discussed in this tutorial. Let's begin with the names and location of the 10 basic tools we'll be using. Note that there are 2 tools per row and they're aligned vertically.
	The first row contains the rectangular Select tool. It's the one on the right. Second row includes the Eraser tool and the Fill with Color tool. Third row has the Eye Dropper for picking colors, and the Magnifier tool. Fourth row contains the Pencil and the Paint Brush tools. Fifth row features the Text tool on the right for adding text to the image. Sixth row includes the Line tool and the Curve tool. These are the 10 basic tools we'll be using to draw our aircraft paint scheme.
How the Tools function : Now that we know the names and where the Tools are located, let's see what we can do with each one. Note that to use a tool, you need to click on it first to activate it. 1. The Select tool allows you to choose a rectangular area of the image so you can copy it, delete, move, rotate or fill it with color. It's very useful for modifying part of the drawing without affecting the rest of it. 2. The Eraser tool works like a pencil eraser. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer over the area you want to erase. 3. The Fill with Color tool, or paint bucket, serves by filling an enclosed shape with color. First you need to choose a color from the palette, and then click inside the area you want to fill with that color. 4. The Eye Dropper tool is used for grabbing a color from the image. Just click on any color in the image and it will become the color that you paint with. 5. The Magnifier tool is your friend and you'll use it a lot. For example, if you want to set exactly where a line begins and ends, you zoom in to mark the beginning and to mark the end. Then you easily draw the line between the two marks. 6. The Pencil tool is used for drawing freehand. Select a color from the palette, hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer over the drawing area. A line will be drawn until you release the mouse button. 7. The Paintbrush also works for drawing freehand, but the result is a thicker line or shape. You can select from different shapes to draw with. Then drag the pointer over the drawing area. 8. The Text tool serves for adding text to the drawing. It's good for adding your aircraft registration N-numbers to the fuselage. You can try using different fonts and font sizes as well as formatted text. 9. With the Line tool you can easily draw a straight line without messing up. It will be a straight line, not squiggly like when using the pencil. Select a color and line thickness then drag the pointer. 10. The Curve tool is for drawing curves. Select a color and line thickness, then draw a straight line. Now click on the line where you want it to bend and drag the pointer perpendicular to the line. A curve is drawn. End of Introduction to MS Paint : The introduction to Microsoft Paint is now complete. We know where the basic tools are and how they work. The next step is Beginning to Draw in the second part of the tutorial.