How to Draw an Animated Turtle and Rabbit

"The Tortoise and the Hare" is a famed children's fable.

Drawing an animated turtle and rabbit is limited only to one's imagination, although certain qualities should be considered to render the animals in the popular cartoon style. Basic geometric shapes and exaggerated features are among the hallmarks of many cartoonish critters and should be included as cornerstones in your art. Whether drawing the two animals is to provide a basic art lesson, to entertain kids or as a reference to the famed children's fable of "The Tortoise and the Hare," creating the animals can a be an enjoyable art project.

Things You'll Need

• Drawing tablet
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Black ink

Instructions

The Rabbit

1. Open the drawing tablet to an unused page. All subsequent pages should be unused as well to provide for the animation. Draw a sideways oval in the left center of the page. Since this shape serves as the animal's head, size it according to how large or small you want your final art to be, but leave enough room on the right for drawing the turtle.

2. Draw a vertical oval underneath the head to create the basis for the rabbit's body. Add two inverted crescent shapes, side by side, in the center of the head to create the eyes. Add in the pupils, and draw in lines above the eyes to signify eyelashes to indicate your rabbit is female if desired. Draw a small circle slightly below and between the eyes to make the nose.

3. Add in three horizontal lines to each side of the nose to make the whiskers, then draw a square underneath the horizontal oval to signify the animal's trademark bucked teeth. Draw two elongated ovals on either side of the top of the head to make the ears.

4. Draw two large horizontal ovals on either side of the bottom of the body to make the feet, then draw two vertical ovals, slightly smaller than the feet, on either side of the body to make the front paws. Erase any overlapping lines.

The Turtle

1. Draw a circle next to the rabbit's body to create the body/underbelly of the turtle, then draw another circle, smaller than the first circle, on top of the body to make the head. Add in crescent shapes with pupils to make the eyes, similar to the eyes you drew for the rabbit.

2. Draw two tiny blackened ovals underneath the eyes, close together, to create the turtle's nostrils. Draw in a smile or mouth expression of your choice underneath the nose. Draw a circle, slightly smaller than the first, inside the body to create the turtle's underbelly, then add three to four horizontal lines through the circle to signify the turtle's belly plating.

3. Draw in small, rounded rectangles underneath the body to make the turtle's legs, then add a semi-circle to each side of the body to make the turtle's arms resting at its side. Erase any overlapping lines you may have, then trace both the rabbit and turtle in black ink to make the art stand out on the page.

Animation

1. Draw both characters on subsequent pages, making small changes to stance or gesture, such as having each character turn their heads toward one another. Make each change in small increments.

2. Complete the number of pages needed to complete the characters' movements.

3. Flip the pages rapidly from first to last to perform the animation.

References

• "Cartooning, Caricature & Animation Made Easy"; Chuck Thorndike; 2003