A unicorn is a horse with a little magic added, and once you see it as a few curves and letter shapes it stops being scary to draw. Rob from Art for Kids Hub draws this cute unicorn side by side with his daughter Hadley, using a black marker and colored pencils. You start with the eye, build the head and horn, add a flowing mane, then four legs and a roller coaster tail. It takes about twenty minutes, coloring included.
How to draw a unicorn: the short version
- Draw a round eye with two small highlight circles.
- Add the forehead, a backwards J nose and an S curve cheek.
- Draw a sideways A ear and a curly forelock.
- Add the striped horn and the small back ear.
- Draw the neck, chest and mane strands.
- Add a front leg, the back, and a back leg with hooves.
- Fill in the two far legs, one bent like she is walking.
- Draw a roller coaster tail, then color.
What you need
A black marker and smooth white paper are enough to draw it. Rob colors with colored pencils, but markers, crayons, oil pastels or paint all work. A gold or yellow pencil makes the horn and hooves shine. If the marker makes you nervous, sketch lightly in pencil and trace over the lines you like.
The shapes that make it easy
Almost every line here is a shape kids already know. The nose is a backwards J. The ear and the horn are both sideways A shapes, so they look alike until you add stripes to the horn. The neck is a big question mark. The mane and tail are S lines. Saying the shape out loud before you draw it, the way Rob does with Hadley, helps a young artist know where the marker is going.
Leave room on the page
Start the eye in the upper left and keep the head small. The neck, body and tail need most of the page. If the horn runs out of room, that is fine. Hadley's did too, and she squeezed it in. A shorter horn still reads as a unicorn.
Sit together and draw at the same pace. Pause after each step so everyone catches up. Younger children can skip the bent leg and draw four straight ones. Older kids can add eyelashes, stars, a rainbow or a flower crown. Remind them that it will not look like yours, and it should not.
Make it your own
- Color the mane in rainbow stripes instead of one pink.
- Add wings and you have an alicorn.
- Draw clouds and stars behind her for a night sky.
- Cut her out and glue her to a birthday card.
Common problems
- She looks like a horse. Make the horn longer and add the diagonal stripes. Pink cheeks and lashes help too.
- Legs too skinny. Let each leg flare a little wider at the hoof.
- She tips over. Keep the far back leg shorter and higher. It sits further away from you.
Keep drawing
Practice the body with a horse, then try another magic creature with a dragon. Get smoother color with colored pencils, or draw a cat next. Want a unicorn you can hug? Crochet one.
