This cartoon deer is one of the friendliest animals you can draw. It comes from Art for Kids Hub, where a dad and his daughter draw side by side, and it is built from shapes kids already know: circles, a U, two leaves and a few J curves. You start with the big shiny eyes, build the head and ears around them, add a body with four legs, then finish with spots and color.
You need a black marker, paper and something to color with. Plan on about ten minutes, plus coloring time.
Drawing a baby deer (fawn) instead of a grown deer
A fawn is the easiest kind of deer to draw. Its head is big, its legs are short and it has no antlers to wrestle with. The white spots on its back are what tell people it is a baby deer and not a puppy or a fox. Skip them and the drawing loses its whole identity.
Looking for a deer with antlers for Christmas? That is a different drawing. Our how to draw a reindeer guide covers the antlers and red nose.
Why the eyes come first
Starting with the eyes sounds backwards. It works because the eyes set the size of everything else. Draw them big and on the left half of the page, and you leave room for the body on the right. Start with the outline of the head and many kids run out of paper before they reach the back legs.
Paper, markers and coloring supplies
Printer paper is fine for practice. For a drawing you want to keep, use a heavier sketch pad so markers do not bleed through. A fine point black permanent marker gives the bold outline you see in the video. The finished fawns are colored with colored pencils in two browns, a light tan for the face patches and belly, and black for the hooves. Washable markers are faster for small kids.
Leave the spots and the shine in the eyes white. White paper does that job better than any white pencil.
Ways to change your deer
- Add eyelashes for a girl fawn. The video calls it rule number one.
- Shade the back legs a darker brown so they sit behind the front legs.
- Give it a meadow with grass, flowers or a butterfly on its nose.
- In winter, draw snowflakes around it and a scarf on its neck.
- Draw a mother deer beside it. Use the same steps, with smaller eyes, a longer neck and no spots.
Deer and horses are built the same way, so this drawing is good practice for how to draw a horse. The big ears and pointy face also carry over to how to draw a fox.
Common deer drawing problems
- The ears do not match. Draw one ear, then watch how high it goes before you draw the second. Aim for the same height.
- The legs look flat. Make the two lines of each leg closer at the top and wider at the bottom.
- It looks like a dog. Add the spots and the little upturned tail. Those two details say deer.
- The body floats. Rest all four hooves on the same imaginary ground line.
Want more animals? Try how to draw a dog, or start with how to draw for the basics.
