How To Draw Cartoon Bird

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Draw three circles as you see in this picture. Possibly in the same or similar size and position. Two big circles represent the head and the belly – the body of the bird and the smallest circle is the tail part.

Notice that these two big circles are almost identical. Use your free hand, don’t use a compass! This is a cartoon, not a photo. Remember that you are an artist, even if you may not feel so yet :) Practicing will make you a good artist :)

Use your pencil gently, do not push too hard. You are drawing the initial pencil lines that you will erase later.

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Draw two perspective guidelines over the head circle as you see in this picture. The horizontal guideline helps you to correctly set the eyes. The crossing point of vertical and horizontal lines will be the place for the beak.

Join the belly and the tail circle with two slightly curved pencil lines. Outline the tail feathers. Your cartoon bird now gradually starts to emerge.

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Draw the eye circles above the horizontal guideline as you see in the picture. Actually, they look more like half circles because cheeks overlap them.

Outline the cheeks and the beak. Notice that the beak is now only like a symbol, we shall modify it later. Draw the contours of the wings.

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Draw both legs and the branch on which this bird is sitting.

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Now, you can start to gradually erase unnecessary guidelines. Observe the picture well and do it. This should be an easy task. When erasing pencil guidelines on narrow places use a pencil-type-eraser.

Outline the feathers on the tail and the wings as you see in the picture.

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Now you can add a couple of feathers on the top of the head. These will create a cute-looking accent for your cartoon bird. Actually, here you can make a test. First, draw the bird without these feathers and then add the feathers. Compare which version looks better.

Work out the eyes, the cheeks, and the beak. Erase the rest of the pencil dust over the entire body. Now, the contours should look clear and distinct.

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Shade the body of your bird as you see in the picture. A large circle around the eyes, the cheeks, and the belly should remain white or brighter than the rest of the body. Darken the end of the wings and the tail feathers.