How to Draw a Cartoon Cactus
Cartooning is a fun and relaxing activity, because you can bend the rules of reality a bit and play with forms and shapes, making them into comical representations of real-life objects. A cactus is one such object that can give a desert feel to your drawings, and it is very easy to draw.
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Instructions
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Start by drawing a tall cylinder as the center portion of the cactus. Place it where you want the cactus to appear in your drawing, being careful to allow space on either side of the main cylinder shape for two other shapes that will come off the sides.
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Draw a "j-shaped" cylinder coming off of one side of the main cylinder. Don't make it so tall that it seems higher than the main cylinder. You can start this cylinder from about the center point of the main cylinder.
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Create a new "j-shaped" cylinder which attaches to the other side of the main cylinder. You can place this one a little lower or a little higher than the one on the other side. Again, watch how tall it is.
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Round off the ends of all three cylinders now, giving them an organic, curved shape. Indicate the ground under the cactus by drawing a few blades of grass here and there.
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Add little lines, one here, two there, all over your cactus, to indicate the spiny prickly parts that cause so much pain to anyone who happens to get too close. Add a few vertical lines, two or three perhaps, to show some texture, and give the illusion of the organic form.
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Use ink pen, magic marker or crayon to darken in the lines you want to keep, color it green, with a few vertical streaks of yellow or white to indicate the reflection of the sunlight, and you've got a cactus.
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Introduce a few creatures of the desert around your cactus to make the scene more realistic. A bunny here, a camel there, maybe the stereotypical skull of a cow, and you'll have created the picture of a dynamic environment.
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Tips & Warnings
Remember to draw very lightly at first; don't commit to any dark lines at all until you know exactly where you want to put the shape of the various parts of your cactus. You can erase any unwanted lines later.
Have fun, and remember that cartooning is often about exaggeration, so it's not only okay that the picture not look photo-realistic--it's expected.
Check out the Internet by doing image searches for cactus. Create a collection of photos of the real thing and practice drawing cartoon versions of them. Do it over and over until you develop fluidity with them.
