Please PAUSE the "How to Draw a Zebra" video after each step to draw at your own pace.
For the first few steps, don't press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.
Step 1: Draw two
circles as guides for the zebra's body. They don't
have to be perfect. They're just guides. The
circles should be roughly the same size and pay
attention to the space between them. If they're
too far apart, the zebra will be too long.
Step 2: Draw a
circle that's about half the size of the first
circle on the upper right side as a guide for the
zebra's head.
Step 3: Draw a long
U-shaped arc on the lower right side of the head
as a guide for the zebra's muzzle.
Step 4: Draw a
smaller arc on top of the head as a guide for the
zebra's ear.
Step 5: Draw two lines under
the zebra's body (one below each circle) as guides
for the legs. Bend the line in front near the
bottom and the line in the back close to the top.
Step 6: Draw a
series of curved lines that connect the major
shapes to form the body and add a line on the left
side as a guide for the zebra's tail.
That's it for the initial sketch!
From this point on, press harder with your pencil
to get a more defined sketch.
Step 7: Draw the
zebra's eye inside the circle near the top of the
muzzle. The shape of the zebra's eye is similar to
a less-than sign (<) with a curved line on the
right side for the zebra's actual eyeball. Shade
in the inside of the eye except for a tiny circle
to represent glare. Darken the edges of the eye a
bit and draw a few lines surrounding it for extra
detail.
Step 8: Draw the
zebra's nose at the tip of the muzzle. The nose
consists of an oval that's shaded in and a line to
the left of it for structure.
Step 9: Draw the
rest of the zebra's muzzle by using the U-shaped
curve as a guide. Darken the arc at the bottom and
draw a line under the zebra's nose for its mouth.
Step 10: Use the
arc on the head as a guide to draw the ear. Make
the ear thinner and pointier.
Step 11: Draw the
rest of the zebra's head using the circle and arc
as guides. Draw a bump over the eye for the brow
and a couple underneath for the jaw.
Step 12: Draw the
mane along the top of the zebra's neck and head. A
zebra's mane stands straight up, but don't draw
every individual hair strand. Instead draw the
basic shape of it using quick, short strokes.
Step 13: Using the
line as a guide, draw the zebra's front legs. Draw
lightly at first to get the structure right. When
you're happy with what you have, go ahead and
darken it. The top of the leg is thicker and the
bottom is thinner. Draw a couple of bumps near the
middle for the zebra's knee. Draw a couple more
bumps near the bottom for the lower joint and draw
a square-like shape below that for the zebra's
hoof. Use the same shape to draw the leg on the
other side. Most of it is hiding behind the
zebra's front leg, so only draw the visible
portion.
Step 14: Use the
other line as a guide to draw the zebra's hind
legs the same way. Remember to start drawing
lightly and only darken when you get the structure
right. The top of the hind leg is wider, and it
bends back at the hock joint. Draw the square-like
hoof at the bottom. Draw the visible portion of
the leg on the other side using the same basic
shape.
Step 15: Use the
remaining lines as guides to draw the rest of the
zebra's body.
Step 16: Draw the
zebra's tail using the line as a guide. Draw a few
long strokes for the long hairs at the end of the
tail.
Step 17 (optional): For a cleaner look, erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don't worry about
erasing them all. It's okay to leave some behind.
Also re-draw any final sketch lines you may have
accidentally erased.
Final Step (optional): This zebra
looks nekkid! Quick, add the stripes! To draw the
stripes, just sketch out a thick line, then shade
it in. The placement of zebra stripes is tricky,
so use reference or pause the video when drawing
them. The zebra's stripes get thinner the farther
down the leg they are. Drawing the zebra's stripes
can be very time-consuming, so be patient and take
a break every now and then. If you don't really
care about accuracy, then just have fun and draw
the stripes any way you want.
Every zebra has an individual set of
stripes. No two are exactly alike, so you can make
yours as different as you want! Did you know that
a zebra's coat is not really white with black
stripes? Their background coat is actually black,
and the white portion goes over the black. The
zebra's stripes on the face are thinner, and they
surround the eyes. The zebra's muzzle is all
black.
Add some shading to your zebra drawing to give it
more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of
the light source when shading so that the shadows
are consistent with it. Vary the pressure on your
pencil to get different degrees of tonal value. Add a cast shadow underneath. This helps ground
the zebra so it doesn't appear to be floating.
Thanks for watching! Subscribe to the
How2DrawAnimals YouTube Channel for a new tutorial every Tuesday.
To learn how to draw popular cartoon characters, visit
EasyDrawingTutorials.com.
