Imagine the setting. When and where is the fight taking place? Is it in a town, an open field, a small village, or somewhere else? If the battle is in a town, make sure to draw houses or buildings. Keep in mind that depending on the time period the town was built in, the buildings and paving will be different - if the town resembles a Medieval European setting, the roads may be paved with stones. Conversely, if the battle takes place in a futuristic city, the buildings may be illuminated in manners that they wouldn't usually be. An open field can be useful if you want to show different fighting types, such as trench warfare or using new weapons for the time. However, it can be unrealistic if the battle is taking place somewhere important, such as a country's capital. Keep in mind the time and weather of the battle. Are the soldiers fighting under the cover of darkness, or are they battling in broad daylight? Is it storming or snowing, mildly cloudy, or is the sky clear? Plan out the militaries. Make sure that the members of each army can be distinguished. When drawing people, make sure that they look somewhat real. A soldier without eyes, hands or arms wouldn't be drafted into the

military. How many sides are fighting against each other? Is it a simple one-against-one war, or are certain sides being backed up by their allies? A lot of soldiers wear uniforms, as opposed to normal clothing or metal armor. If these are added into the picture, it should make it easier to tell which side is which. Think about the weapons. How are the sides fighting each other? Are they using swords and shields, guns and tanks, planes and ships, or computers? If you want it to be realistic, try to make the weapons match the time period - a medieval setting wouldn't have highly advanced guns. Likewise, a sword in a futuristic time period wouldn't make a lot of sense, and the soldier wielding the sword would likely get killed very quickly to the opposing soldier with a gun. However, keep in mind that if one side isn't as technologically advanced, while the other is much further ahead, it would make more sense for an army to have somewhat older weapons while another army has extremely advanced weapons. In a futuristic time period where everything is dependent on computer technology, this could make cyber warfare an interesting prospect. Holograms could intercept one army, or messages

wouldn't make it through to another. However, there are limits to what computers can do. It's extremely unlikely that a computer hacker could put up a solid wall on a battlefield through the computer. Draw the background. Do a light sketch, in order to make sure it can be easily erased if needed when drawing the battle. Don't have flat landscapes - unless the soldiers are fighting in something such as trench warfare, it's not likely to be that simple. If the battle is taking place in a major city, such as a country's capital, keep in mind that armies will likely be targeting buildings, as well. The city is not going to look perfect. There are many different things that can be done to buildings - they can be bombed, set on fire, vandalized, you name it. Do what feels right for the scene. Keep in mind that most landscapes are not perfect. Open land will likely have some hills or dips, and cities may be sloped due to being located on hills. There may be obstacles on the battleground, such as trees, vehicles, boulders, or debris. If the battle site has been the site of marches or other destruction, there will already be some damaged parts of it, and any low-growing plants and trees

will be trampled, ripped out, or just broken. Keep in mind that if the site was set on fire at some point beforehand, whatever burned will be scorched, and what little wildlife remains will not be blooming. Draw the militaries. You may want to draw the militaries first to avoid having to erase too much of the background. Drawing the soldiers first can also make it easier to determine where the focus of the picture will be. Make sure that the members of each military are somewhat distinguishable. You don't need to draw every single soldier, but make sure that it's easy to tell which side is which. You can accomplish this in different ways - it can be something as big as an entire uniform, or as small as a band wrapped around their arms or legs. Keep in mind how people will be fighting. Unless the battle is taking place back when shotguns didn't have very good aim, it's unlikely that everyone will be standing in a row and firing at the other side. Depending on the time period, make sure you include different weapons, not just swords or guns. Not everyone has to be fighting. Some people can be ducking under cover, some people can be getting the injured off the battlefield, and some

could be helping civilians escape. A battle isn't dependent on simply firing at people. If you want, add details to the soldiers. Keep in mind that if a soldier is a veteran, they may already have some scars. Maybe one soldier can have unusual eye colors, or one could be wearing a small trinket that's special to them. It helps to give them some more individuality. You don't have to add in details, but adding in details can make the picture tell a bit more of a story. A soldier fighting in a war is good, but a soldier fighting in a war with a scar on his hand and a snarl on his face shows that he's dedicated to winning the war. Draw the weapons if you haven't already. Some weapons are usually best to draw while drawing the soldiers, such as swords or guns. However, some weapons aren't used with the hands. Keep in mind that there are other fighting styles than just person against person. Try adding war vehicles. Airplanes, for example, can be used anywhere at all. On land, tanks and cannons can give advantages to one side. If the battle is at sea, ships and submarines can be commonplace, depending on the time period. Certain weapons, such as grenades or bombs, are usually not thrown

by hand, but rather dropped by plane, due to the injuries that the soldiers would get from their detonation. Other types of weapons, such as flamethrowers or poison gas, are usually not used due to the inhumanity of them. If the battle is futuristic and is using cyber warfare, there can be many different "weapons". Holograms could cause one army to retreat, or another army could learn how to use machines to change weather patterns and make it difficult to fight. Keep in mind, though, that if a hologram is put up, it is not solid, and can be easily walked through.