How to Draw a Squirrel Cute & Easy
Learning how to draw a squirrel is easy and fun. We’ll show you how to draw, outline, and color your squirrel drawings with markers.
Art and drawing are skills anyone can learn. It just takes practice, consistently over time. But if it’s something you’ve been wanting to learn and get better at, you totally can.
So let’s grab some supplies and get ready to have some fun learning how to draw a squirrel in this easy step by step tutorial.
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Art Supplies
- Thin black marker
- Paper or cardstock
- Markers
- Pencil
- Click Eraser, Pink Pearl Eraser
- White Gelly Roll pen
Squirrel Sketch Practice
Doing a quick sketch exercise is a great way to warm up and get familiar with what your subject matter actually looks like.
Most of the time we think we know more about what something looks like than we actually do. This is because we assume things.
By doing a squirrel sketch practice exercise you’ll become much more familiar with what one actually looks like. And it only takes a few minutes to do.
- Get some paper and something to sketch with
- Pull up some reference photos
- Set a timer for three or five minutes
Then just sketch out as many squirrels as you can before you run out of time. Don’t focus on any fine details.
Just work on getting the shapes and proportions down and really look at the squirrel you’re drawing.
Another option is to simply sketch until you run out of room on your paper.
Either method is fine. Just be sure to keep your lines quick and loose.
How to Draw a Squirrel Step by Step
Learning how to draw a squirrel is easy if you break things down into simple steps. The first step is to begin by drawing some basic shapes to use as guidelines.
Start by drawing a circle for the head and an oval at the bottom for the cheeks.
Then draw ovals for the body, legs, and feet. You can also add a couple of triangles for the ears.
Draw another large oval for where the tail will go.
Step 2: Drawing the Details
Now we need to start drawing the details for the squirrel drawing. Let’s start by making a small triangle for the nose.
Under the nose, draw a couple of curved lines for the mouth. When drawing the mouth, you can connect it to the nose. Or, you can leave a bit of space between the nose and the mouth.
Next draw some teeth.
Then draw the bottom shape of the mouth.
Now draw the chin and a couple of chubby cheeks.
Before drawing the shape of the eyes, add a couple of small curved lines from the cheeks to the nose. Then draw the eyes.
Finish the eyes by drawing a couple more circles for the pupils and iris.
Now draw two curved lines that go from the cheeks to slightly past where the eyes are. And then draw the top of the head.
Finish drawing the head by adding a couple of ears. There are many different ways to draw the ears. Make them however you think looks good.
Now let’s start drawing the body. Begin by drawing an oval for his belly.
This squirrel will be holding a nut. So draw that next.
Then draw the arms and the hands.
Now add more definition to the leg and foot on one side.
Then repeat that for the other side.
Finish your squirrel drawing my adding the details for the tail and adding some grass for him to stand on.
Make any changes or add anything before moving onto the the next step.
Squirrel Outline
Making a squirrel outline is really easy. All you have to do is trace over your pencil lines with a black pen or marker.
You can make your lines thin, thick, or a combination of the two. Do whatever fits your artistic style.
Another option is to use a color other than black for your squirrel outline. Maybe try using brown or red. Again, do what fits your style.
Not sure what your style is? Don’t worry. It will develop over time with more practice.
When you’re finished with your squirrel outline use an erase to clean up your drawing and remove any pencil lines.
How to Draw a Squirrel with Markers
Learning how to draw a squirrel with markers is much easier than you might think. And there’s really only a few things to keep in mind.
First, if you want to be able to blend your colors together you need to use alcohol based markers. Bic, Sharpie, and Copic for example. As well as many others.
Second, you need to work while the colors are still wet or they won’t mix together. This isn’t a big deal. Just make sure you work on a section at a time.
Third, you need to use colors that are similar to each other if you want to create a smooth transition of color. If your markers are too different they will leave a harder edge.
To draw a squirrel with markers you’ll probably want to use a few different brown markers. You could use only two as well. One for the color and a darker one for some shadows.
But don’t feel like you’re limited to brown. You can make your squirrel drawing any color you want. Experiment and have some fun.
Follow this same approach for your background also. Avoid filling in areas with one solid color. It will make your drawings look boring and flat.
A white Gelly Roll pen can be used to add in some highlights.
Final Thoughts and Next Steps
Now that you know how to draw a squirrel, what’s next? If you want to get good at drawing and art you need to practice.
The more you practice the better you will get. Try making it part of your daily routine. Even if it’s for a few minutes each day. Those minutes will add up before you know it.
If you want to get really good at drawing squirrels, challenge yourself to see how many you can draw in a week.
Your creativity will improve along with your art skills.
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