How to Draw a Polar Bear

Put a small dot for the eye on the left side of your paper, about halfway down. Keep it tiny, because this is a realistic bear. From the eye, draw a slanted line down to the end of the nose for the forehead. Curve around the tip for a small nose and color it in, then add a short mouth line and a little jaw underneath. Leave room to the right. The body is long.

Draw a wavy line over the top of the head that runs back into the neck and toward the shoulders. Add two small upside-down U shapes for ears, one in front of the other, and a little curve inside the near ear. Under the jaw, draw a curved neck line coming down, then a few zigzags so the chest fur looks thicker. Polar bears have long necks, so let this line run a bit.

The bear is walking, so one front leg sits ahead of the other. Bring a line down from the chest for the near leg and curve it out into a paw. Add a small zigzag for claws, a line back for the bottom of the paw, then go up for the back of the leg. Draw the second front leg behind it the same way. Its paw stops in line with the first, on the same ground.

Add a small bump above the front legs for the shoulder. Polar bears carry a hump there. From the shoulder, draw one long line across the paper for the back. Keep it fairly flat, then let it curve down at the far end where the rump starts. Watch the length. A back that runs too far gives you a stretched bear, though thick back legs can fix that later.

At the end of the back line, hook around and down for the bear's bottom. Leave a small gap or overlap so the tail can sit on top. Draw a small U shape on the rump for the tail. Polar bear tails are short and stubby, so keep it tiny. It should sit near the top of the curve, not low down by the legs.

This leg is mid-step. Start a line under the rump and bring it down and forward, crossing toward the front so the leg looks picked up. Curl it down into a paw, add a zigzag for claws and curl back for the bottom of the foot. Then come in for a wide thigh, starting low and curving up into the body in an S shape. A thick thigh makes a long bear look sturdy.

Connect the front leg to the back leg with a zigzag line along the belly. This looks like long, shaggy fur hanging down. Then draw a second zigzag a little lower so the fur looks thicker. It is fine if the lines start in slightly different places. Later, the gray shading will tuck right up to this line and make it look like a shadow.

Imagine the near back leg passes in front of a second one. Draw that far leg peeking out behind, ending at the same ground line as every other paw. Make its foot about the same length as the others, add a zigzag for claws and curl up and over for the top of the paw. Finish with a line back up into the body. Your outline is done.

Grab a light blue colored pencil. Color around the bear, pressing harder close to the outline and fading out as you move away. You don't need to fill the page. Stop the blue at the ground line and leave the area under the paws white, so the bear stands on ice. Fill the space under the belly and between the legs with blue too. Watch the bear pop off the page.

Use a very light warm gray. Start at the snout, darker near the nose, and blend up toward the forehead. Shade behind the ears and down the front of the neck in short back-and-forth strokes for fur. Work down each leg on the side away from the light, under every paw, and up along the belly fur. Add a thick shadow under the back leg and under the tail. Leave the tops white.