How to Draw Rainforest Animals

The rainforests are packed with an abundance of diverse life. This life comes in many forms, from life-saving medicinal plants to the tiniest insects to beautifully feathered birds. One of the rainforest's smaller inhabitants is the red-eyed tree frog. This frog is a beautiful creature marked by its distinct eye coloration, large head and grasping fingers. Drawing a red-eyed tree frog can be done by breaking it down into its most basic shapes, creating a skeletal frame, and then building layers of detail and color over it.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil Pen Green Marker Light Green Marker Dark Green Marker Red Marker Yellow Marker Brown Marker

Instructions

1. 

   Draw a large oval for the head of the tree frog. Attach a cylinder to the back of the head for the body. Draw the eyes with large circles. Add the arms and legs with simple lines. Add small circles for the shoulders and elbows. Draw two small circles for each finger pad and each knuckle that is exposed. The frog will have four visible fingers on the front legs and two on the back.

2. 

   Add a small, thin oval inside the eye at the center. Flesh out the arms and legs by adding cylinders to the upper arms and forearms. The forearm cylinders should be wider near the fingers than the elbow. Add a cylinder to the upper and lower legs.

3. 

   Draw the eyelids with crescent moon shapes on the tops of the eyes. Connect the finger pads to the knuckles with lines that dip in at the center. Add the exposed nostril with a curved line in between the eyes. Add the nose ridge--two small curved lines in a reverse "L" shape.

4. 

   Erase the guidelines. Draw a parallel line on the upper half of the back leg and across the belly of the frog. This will separate the two types of skin of the tree frog. Ink the entire drawing. Let the ink dry and erase the pencil lines. Darken in the pupils of the eyes.

5. 

   Add scaly bumps to the top of the frog's skin on its back and forearms with small semicircle lines. Color the back and forearms of the tree frog with a green maker. Color the face of the frog light green, and color the arms and fingers yellow. Use a red marker to color in the tree frog's eyes. Use a dark green marker to add shadow to the left sides of the forearms, back of the eyes and legs. Use a brown marker to add shadows under the arms, legs and fingers.

Tips & Warnings

• Now that you know the basic frame of the tree frog, try drawing it in different positions.

Resources

• Check out allaboutfrogs.org for more information on the red yed tree frog.