Let’s start with the simplest form of animal cartoons. I will show some examples and explain how to initiate it step by step. It is better if you are already practicing to draw as you read this guide.
How to draw a Dog
• Draw an oval for the head.
• Draw a cone-shaped oval for the body, with its bigger side at the bottom.
• Place the ears on the upper-corners of the head.
• Draw a smaller circle inside the oval (head).
• Place small flat circles for the dog’s feet and make sure they are aligned. For the legs, make 4 diagonal lines as if you are writing the letter ‘W’ to draw the standing pair of legs.
And for the folded legs, connect it to his body by drawing two short straight lines on the inner sides of the flat circles, and then draw the dog’s knees as if you are writing a pair of upside down ‘J’s.
• Re-outline your drawing. Put more pressure on the edge of the pencil to make a darker line stroke.
• Clean up your drawing by removing the excess lines and leave only the dark- er outline.
• Start drawing the eyes by making two straight lines on both sides. And then draw the eyelids by placing two equal arcs open on the inner sides.
• Draw the nose and the mouth inside the smaller circle to complete the face of the dog.
Design your dog, you can just simply put a spot and darken his ears.
How to draw a Cat
• Draw an oval for the cat’s head
• Draw an upright oval, with the first one on top of it. This will be the cat’s body.
• Make her ears pointy and short.
• A cat’s tail is usually long and expressive, so if you draw it long you should make a simple but expressive curled line
• Make a sketch of her legs, draw the feet and use simple sticks to draw the legs.
When you already like the shape of your cat, get back on the lines and put a thicker outline.
• Darken your outlines. Overlap the lines you made with a thicker and darker line.
• Based on the sketch you made earlier, draw the legs with a better thickness.
• Erase the sketch marks and clean up your drawing, leave only the darker out- lines
• Draw the face of the cat starting with the nose, then mouth and whiskers, and give her big wide eyes.
Fairly crooked (outlines made in short and several line strokes) outlines fits a cat, it makes the drawing look like it has a furred body.
Cats have several body prints. Various cats are have different colors while some have artistic lines on their face and on their bodies, others are simply spotted or have stripes in random portions.
How to Draw a Kangaroo
Kangaroos have unique body features. They have long snouts and long ears. Their upper extremities or what looks like arms are unevenly small and short compared to the size of their legs.
• Draw a mango-shaped sphere for the kangaroo’s head.
• For the shape of the body, draw as if you are making a figure of a pear.
• Draw the big legs of the kangaroo, and then draw the arms which should be unevenly smaller than the legs.
• Add the other details. Draw the long ears and start drawing the face.
• Draw the shown eye (the other eye should not be seen because the head of the kangaroo is in side view), then draw a simple smiling expression.
Once all the details are drawn, clean up your drawing by re-outlining the entire illustration.
• Thicken the outline of your drawing properly, and once finished, erase all the other previous line marks.
How to Draw a Whale
Start by drawing a sphere/circle, then put a cross mark (reference lines) to where the whale should be facing.
Draw a freeform shape that encloses the sphere, like putting it inside a nar- row sack. This will be the body shape of the whale.
Using the cross mark as a reference guide, start drawing the facial features. Use the guiding lines to properly position the eyes.
Erase the excess lines and the sphere, then draw the additional features of the whale such as the fins.
How to Draw an Elephant
It is always easier to draw a face if you will use reference lines (the cross mark on the face).
• Sketch a circle and place the reference lines.
The vertical line is used to locate the center of the face, while the horizontal line is used to locate the leveling of the eyes.
• Draw the eyes first, and then sketch the long nose of the elephant.
You can erase the circle and the reference lines if you no longer need it, then continue drawing the elephant using thicker and darker line.
• Portray the graceful motion of an elephant’s ears by drawing few folds and curve the outlines below according to the lines of the folds you made (like drawing a curtain).
The ears of an elephant are big and wide, their thick skin waves like a fan as it moves back and forth.
• Don’t forget to draw their elephant tusk. The horns on each side of their nose are long and pointed.
• Once you finished drawing the head, start drawing the first pair of feet at the front, right below the head.
To avoid misalignments on the feet or an unattractively disproportionate body, start drawing the front pair of the legs first, in this way you can estimate the height of your cartoon elephant and how thick you want the legs to be. Just make sure that the legs aren’t as thin as the tusks and not as wide as the ears.
• Then draw the belly and the closer leg on the back.
Finish the whole shape of the elephant, clean up the sketch marks and draw the other details.
Drawing cartoon animals is a delightful way for beginners to explore their artistic potential. With simple techniques and imaginative designs, anyone can bring adorable characters to life on paper. Whether you’re just starting or guiding a young artist, these tutorials make learning to draw both fun and rewarding. Dive in today and create your own collection of charming cartoon animals!