How to Draw a Hedgehog

Turn your paper sideways. Near the middle, draw a small circle for the eye and fill it in, leaving a tiny white dot so it looks shiny. To the left, draw a small C for the other eye. From the top of that C, draw a line that slopes down to a point for the nose, then curves back under for the chin. That pointed shape is the hedgehog snout.

At the tip of the snout, draw a little circle for the nose. Add two tiny dots inside for nostrils if you have room. Fill in the C shape to finish the far eye. Then draw a curved line under the snout for a smile, with a short tick at the end for a cheek. Your nose can be rounder or pointier than the one in the video.

From right below the far eye, draw a short line that goes up. Then switch to small zigzags. Go up and over the top of the head and down behind the eye, like a spiky fringe. This is the line that makes it look like a hedgehog. Keep the points short and close together. Bigger zigzags are fine too, as long as they stay pointy.

For the ear, draw a small upside down U that pokes out of the spiky fringe and comes back in. Put it on the back of the head, behind the eye. Then draw the other ear on the far side, near the snout. Only part of it shows, so it can be smaller. Both ears should sit in among the spikes, not on top of them.

Now the body. Start at the top of the head and draw a big rainbow shape that arcs up and over toward the right side of the page. Use the same short zigzags all the way. Let the line come down at the tail end and curl back in toward the bottom. It is a big round back, so make it much bigger than the head.

Draw a line down from the chin. Make a front foot that comes out like a big U and goes back up. Then draw a second front foot a bit higher, as if the hedgehog is taking a step. Connect the two with a short line, then keep going along the bottom for the belly until you meet the spiky back. Skip the part where the foot overlaps.

Under the back half of the body, draw two more legs. They are a little more curved than the front ones and point back. Then add toes: two or three tiny lines at the bottom of each foot. With the toes on, the hedgehog looks like it is walking. Your line drawing is done. You can stop here or move on to color.

Grab a dark brown oil pastel. Draw short lines that follow the direction of the spikes, starting at the head and working back. Keep them close together and cover the whole spiky back. Color the ears and nose solid dark brown too, pressing hard. This part takes a while, so put on some music and take your time.

Switch to light brown. Press hard at the tip of the snout and around the mouth. As you move up toward the eyes, press lighter and lighter until the color almost disappears. Then go over the whole face with a white oil pastel. The white blends the brown and makes it smooth. This is how you get a soft fade.

Use the light brown again on the feet. Press hard at the bottom of each foot and lighten as you go up the leg. Color the back legs all dark. Give the belly a very pale layer, then blend with white. For the last touch, add a little black in the middle of each ear and go over it with light brown to soften it.