By CraftingStepByStepPublished
Based on a video by Art for Kids Hub.
This cartoon Rudolph from Art for Kids Hub is a little reindeer with one giant shiny eye, curly antlers and a bright red nose. You draw him from the side, so there is only one eye to get right. The whole drawing is made of curves, S-lines and a few L shapes. Kids can follow it in about seven minutes.
You need a black marker, paper and colored pencils. The video uses a Sharpie for the outline and colored pencils for the fur, ears and nose.
Our reindeer drawing is a front-facing reindeer with a brown nose. This one is different. Rudolph sits in profile, his nose is a round ball on the end of his snout, and it gets colored red at the end. That red nose comes from the 1949 song and the 1964 TV special, and it is the one detail everyone looks for.
The eye does most of the work. A big black circle with two white highlights makes him look friendly and a bit shy. Leave those highlights white when you fill the eye in.
Printer paper works for practice. A heavier drawing pad holds up better when you layer colored pencil. A fine point permanent marker gives the bold outline. For color, the video uses a medium brown for the body, a pale tan for the ears, eye patch, neck fur and tail, a dark maroon for the antlers and hooves, and red for the nose. Crayons and washable markers work too. Press harder on the edges and lighter in the middle for a soft, furry look.
Draw him big. The eye should sit near the middle of the page, with room above for the antlers and below for the legs.
Fold a sheet of cardstock and draw him on the front of a Christmas card. Shrink him down for Christmas gift tags. In a classroom, line up a row of Rudolphs on a bulletin board with paper snowflakes around them. Add a couple of trees from our Christmas tree drawing to build a bigger winter scene.
Want a more realistic animal? Try how to draw a deer next.
10 steps · about 7 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Start in the middle of your paper. Draw a circle about the size of a nickel. Inside it, draw a small circle near the top right and an even smaller one in the bottom left. Color in the big circle and leave the two little circles white. Those white spots look like light reflecting in his eye. You only need one eye, because Rudolph is drawn from the side.
Tip
Color around the highlights slowly. If you fill one in by mistake, the eye loses its shine.
Above and to the left of the eye, start an S-shaped line. Bring it down next to the eye and then curve it out to the left for his snout. On the end of that S-curve, draw a small round circle. That is Rudolph's nose. It stays white for now and turns red when you color him at the end.
Tip
Keep the nose round and a little big. It is the part everyone will look at.
From the top of the head, draw a line up, a small bump, then a bigger bump, and curve back into the head. Connect the front and back of the antler with a curved line at the bottom. Repeat it on the other side. The second antler looks a bit like the letter P with a smaller bump under it. Then carry the head line behind the antlers.
Tip
This is the trickiest line in the drawing. Pause the video and take your time.
On the right side, draw a diagonal line out from the head, then a big curve back down to make a pointed ear. Add a curve inside it and a little zigzag at the bottom for fur. Draw the second ear on the left side of the antlers, with the same inner curve and zigzag. Now he has two antlers and two ears.
Tip
Make the ears point out sideways, not up. That keeps them from crowding the antlers.
Imagine the head line going behind the ear on the right. Bring it down in a big curve under the eye and connect it to the nose. That closes his cheek and chin. Draw a small curved smile under the snout. Last, add a short eyebrow line above his eye. His head is done, and he already looks like Rudolph.
Tip
Tilt the eyebrow up a little toward the antlers for a happy face.
Right below his eye, draw a short curve coming straight down. Then start an S-curve further back under the head. Bring it down, curve it back up, and connect it to the bottom of the first line. This makes a fluffy fur collar around Rudolph's neck. It gets colored a pale tan later, so it stands out from his brown body.
Tip
Let the S-curve end in a soft point. It reads as fur instead of a smooth scarf.
Under the fur collar, draw a line straight down for the front of his front leg. Draw the back of the leg beside it and connect the two at the bottom with a curve. Add a curve across for the top of the hoof and a small line for the two toes. Draw the other front leg as an L shape behind it and give it the same hoof details.
Tip
Keep both front hooves on the same level so he stands steady.
Draw a curve from the front legs back for his belly. For the back leg, draw a curve like an L for the knee, curve the back of the leg in, then shape it like a 7 and close it with a hoof and toe line. Add the fourth leg as an L behind it. Finish with a small curve up and a zigzag back down for a fluffy tail.
Tip
The back leg sits a little higher than the front legs. That makes him look like he is about to hop.
Put the marker away and grab colored pencils. Color his head, body and legs medium brown. Use a pale tan for the inside of the ears, a ring around the eye, the fur collar and the tail. Press harder near the outlines and lighter in the middle so the fur looks soft. Leave the nose, antlers and hooves for the next step.
Tip
Color in one direction. Back-and-forth scribbles leave white gaps.
Color the antlers and hooves dark maroon. Then color the nose bright red, the one thing every Rudolph needs. With the black marker, draw a bumpy line of snow behind him, add a few snowballs, and draw two simple Christmas trees on either side. You can add more trees, falling snow, or tiny reindeer flying in the distance.
Tip
Leave a tiny white dot on the red nose. It makes it look like it glows.
Keep going
How to Draw a Squirrel
How to Draw Rudolph
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