How to Draw a Wolf: 10-Step Beginner Pencil Tutorial

Hold your pencil on its side and use the flat edge to lightly sketch a circle in the middle of the page. Start at the top, work down the left side, across the bottom, and back up the right. Keep the pressure light - this is a guideline, not a finished line.

The circle is the skull. Everything you draw next - ear, muzzle, eye, neck - hangs off this single shape. Get the size right for the paper you're working on, and leave space on the right side for the muzzle to extend.

Draw a straight vertical line from the top of the circle down through the middle and out the bottom of the page. Then run a horizontal line through the center of the circle, left to right.

These two lines split the circle into four quarters. The top half is where the ear and forehead go. The bottom half holds the muzzle and mouth. The center cross is where the eye will eventually sit. With the guidelines in place, the rest of the features have an anchor and won't drift around the page.

From the top of the circle, just left of the vertical guideline, draw a straight line up and to the right at a steep angle. Stop about a third of a circle-width above the head. That's the tip of the ear.

Then bring a second line back down toward the head, landing just past where you started. The ear is a tall, pointed triangle - more like a coyote's ear than a dog's. The angle and the height of this triangle are what make the animal read as a wolf, so don't round it off.

From the base of the ear on the left side, run a straight line angled down and to the right - this is the top of the head sloping toward the snout. Then flatten the edge of the muzzle starting from that line, angling down and back toward the circle.

Repeat the same angled line on the lower jaw, then round out the bottom of the mouth so the muzzle closes into a soft point. The whole muzzle should look like a stretched-out triangle pointing right. The line for the bottom of the mouth bends in slightly under the snout to suggest the lower lip.

From the bottom of the muzzle, angle a line down and back toward the vertical guideline for the front of the neck. Then run another line from the base of the ear sloping down and out for the back of the head and the start of the neck mane.

Right where the lower jaw meets the edge of the circle, drop in a small circle for the eye. This is just placement at this stage - no detail yet. The eye sits high on the head, close to the muzzle, which is how a wolf looks alert and predatory rather than friendly and floppy.

Switch to the tip of your pencil for a finer line. Define the top of the eyelid with a soft curve from the right side of the eye circle bending across and down toward the corner. Round out the front of the eyeball below, working around toward the bottom.

From the base of the ear, draw a small fold running straight down toward the center guideline, then bend it forward under the chin. This crease separates the side of the head from the cheek and is what gives the wolf a sense of bone structure underneath the fur.

Now darken the inside of the eyeball. Press a little harder with the tip of the pencil to lay down a solid dark tone around the edge of the eye, then fade it across the middle so a small highlight stays bright.

Draw a small oval in the center for the pupil and fill it in completely. The wolf eye should look intense - one tiny bright highlight against a dark iris is what does the trick. Add a soft shadow above the eye for the brow ridge.

Build up the nose with heavy, dense shading. The tip of the nose is the darkest part of the whole drawing - go in with the tip of the pencil and press firmly. Add a small dark notch for the nostril on the side.

Then drop a soft shadow under the muzzle and along the mouth line. The bottom of the mouth should fade into a thin line that disappears toward the neck. Keep the cheek and lower jaw lighter so the muzzle pops forward.

Switch to the side of your pencil and lay down short directional strokes across the top of the head, the forehead, and the back of the ear. Every stroke should follow the direction the fur grows - forward over the brow, up toward the ear tip, back along the side of the head.

Add a dark shadow inside the ear all the way around the rim. The ear interior is one of the darkest spots on a wolf, second only to the nose. Build it up in passes rather than pushing hard on a single stroke.

Fill the rest of the head, cheek, and neck with the same short fur strokes, working in the direction the fur grows. The cheek fur sweeps back and down. The neck mane fur drops straight down. The fur along the brow runs forward toward the nose.

Once the fur layer is in, go back over the whole drawing with the sharp tip of the pencil and push the contrast harder. Darken the shadows in the ear, around the eye, and under the chin. Lift any fur strokes that got too heavy with the kneaded eraser. The final wolf should have a clear range from near-white highlights to deep black shadows.