How to Draw Cartoon Animals (Easy Method for Kids)

Chances are your child can do even better.

This is a simple method to draw cartoon animals such as bunny rabbits, cats, & dogs. It works well for those of us whom, unfortunately, were born with no artistic talent. Kids will feel especially proud that they can draw recognizable animals. I've included illustrations in order to make the directions easier to understand.

Things You'll Need

• paper
• pencil
• eraser
• crayons (optional)

Instructions

1. 

   Draw a peanut shape.
   This is the animal's cheeks.

2. 

   Draw a bump on top of the peanut.
   This is the animal's head

3. 

   Draw two tall bumps inside on top of the cheeks, and one small bump in between the two tall ones.
   These are the animals eyes and nose.

4. 

   Now, you'll draw the teeth or tongue. If you're making a bunny, then draw a little rectangle coming out of the bottom of the cheeks, for a puppy or kitty, round the edges of the rectangle so it looks like a tongue. Draw a little line down the middle of the rectangle.

5. 

   Draw two short lines on either side of the teeth or tongue. These create the neck. Go ahead and draw two more lines coming out of the neck now. Make them curved so the meet at the bottom. This is the animals body.

6. 

   Time to draw the legs. Draw one line coming straight down from the middle of the body. Then draw another, slightly shorter, line on either side of it. The space you put between the lines will determine the thickness of the legs.

7. 

   Draw the feet. It's basically just a big loop that comes out from the shorter line and then back to the middle line. It's ok if they're big, this is a cartoon.

8. 

   Draw the ears. This will be different depending on which animal you are drawing. Cat ears are the easiest, just triangles on top of the head. Puppy ears are rounded and hang down. Rabbit ears are tall, rounded, triangles. The ears are the trickiest part, but with a little practice, it gets easier. Draw a smaller triangle first for the middle of the ear, and then a larger one around it.

9. 

   Add the details. Extend the neck lines down the body to create arms Make little slashes at the bottom of the arms, and feet to create paws. Fill in the nose. Draw three dots on each side of the cheeks, then draw three whiskers coming out from the middle of the three dots. Draw pupils in the eyes to give your animal some character. Finally, draw a belly button. If you were drawing a bunny, you don't need a tail, but for a puppy or kitten, draw a tail coming off the side.

Tips & Warnings

• As you can probably see, I have no artistic ability. My mother, however, is an extremely talented artist. When I was a little girl, this is something she taught me so that I could draw with her. Over the years, I've taught many children that I've babysat for, and my own children, this method. It's fun to watch them get excited when they create something. I hope the children in your life enjoy this technique.

Resources

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