Learn How to Draw Cartoons Step by Step

Cartoons have a long history, from newspaper strips to television shows. They convey messages, point out irony, and often exaggerate relatable aspects of daily life. Cartoons are also used in marketing and advertising. With practice and basic drawing skills, anyone can create quality cartoons. This article provides a step-by-step guide to cartoon drawing, covering basics, styles, and tips for creating a cartoon face.

The Essence of Cartooning

A good cartoonist extracts the main details of an object or person and represents them with simple shapes. Children are a primary audience for cartoons. This guide aims to help you understand how to assemble this puzzle, teaching you to draw characters using various illustration techniques. For inspiration, explore character designs on platforms like Envato Elements.

Understanding Human Perception

Before diving into cartoon face drawing, it's important to understand the basics of human perception. Human beings can synthesize complex details into basic and simple forms. Unlike artists, most people can't recall all the details that make up everyday objects, like cars or animals. Instead, they associate basic shapes with specific characteristics.

Cartoon Face Drawing: A Step-by-Step Guide

1. The Basic Shape: The Circle

The basic cartoon shape is a circle. The circle defines the basic proportions of your character's head. Once you have the circle or oval head ready, it's time to trace the face axis.

2. Drawing Cartoon Eyes

To draw the eyes, create an oval shape with a slight tilt to the side at the top, and repeat on the opposite side, leaving a gap approximately the same size as an eye between them. Thicken the top line slightly to represent the eyelashes. Place the eyebrows a bit above the eyelashes to create a surprised expression. Adding a small line below the eyes can simulate a wrinkle, giving more life and realism.

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3. The Creative Freedom: Jaw, Nose, and Mouth

This stage allows for the most creative freedom. In cartoon-style designs, the main structure of a face consists of the skull and the eyes. This is where you define the character's identification with the external world. The jaw determines whether you want a fat or thin character. Consider if they are old, young, etc. For a young character, when designing a nose from the front, it's common to use minimal details. Drawing just the tip can be effective. For a child's mouth, avoid drawing lips; in cartoon style, children have simple mouths regardless of gender.

4. Adding Cartoon Ears

Cartoon ears are easy to draw. Since the character faces the camera, only the side view of the ears is visible, so internal cavities are not shown.

5. Cartoon Hair: Defining Personality

The shape of the skull is already defined by the initial circle. Add a simple, childish haircut to bring your character to life. Hair is responsible for defining the personality of the character, expressing age, rebellion, or conservatism. To draw cartoon hair accurately and quickly, look for photos or cartoon character references online.

6. More Cartoon Characters to Draw

Older characters can be easy cartoon drawings. For the eyes, expand the eyebrow a bit, as older men tend to have thicker eyebrows. Increase the chin size slightly to give the character a different look. Position the ends of the nose close to the bottom of the eyes for larger and wider noses. Add some side hair and leave the top bald to create a totally different look, utilizing templates for efficiency.

7. Drawing Female Characters

Women tend to have more delicate facial structures. Make these changes to create female characters. Take elements from existing characters to maintain consistency.

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8. Emotions and Facial Expressions

Add emotions to your characters by adjusting facial expressions. For example, adding tears and changing the shape of the mouth can create a crying expression.

9. Eyes, Noses, Mouths, and Ears from Different Angles

Eyes, noses, mouths, and ears change shape when viewed from different angles. Cartoon characters often look in various directions with different camera angles to react to their surroundings. Simplify the eye format when converting it to cartoon style. A real nose is composed of several cartilages, but in cartoons, the basic shape of the lips is key.

10. Experimentation and Inspiration

Continue experimenting with facial expressions and study the face. Learn how the eyes and mouth behave in different situations. Try to give more realism to your characters by observing people in real life, looking at photos, studying artists, or searching for inspiration online.

Cartoon Drawing Basics

From Snoopy and Tintin to Calvin and Hobbes, most cartoon designs combine a clever understanding of behavior and personality with artistic finesse to create unique and memorable characters. With simple shapes, clever use of light and shadows, and an understanding of perspective, you can also create a unique cartoon character that is alluring and embodies a specific style.

Simple Shapes

Understanding basic shapes is fundamental to drawing cartoon characters. Many objects and body styles can be broken down into geometric shapes that you can use to make cartoons. With simple squares, triangles, circles, and ovals, you can build entire characters that possess personalities and have the ability to express complex emotions. Circles and ovals are useful when drawing faces, eyes, mouths, and hands. These shapes convey softness and innocence and are typically used to frame the faces of young characters or children. Squares and rectangles are often used to frame faces for strong characters. They are also used to draw hands, torsos, and eyebrows. Lastly, triangles are used to draw noses, mouths, eyebrows, and feet. You can create many kinds of cartoons using a combination of these shapes. Different shapes convey different meanings to the viewer. The idea that shapes can have a psychological impact and generate feelings is called shape psychology and can be a handy tool for a cartoonist. A character’s body, posture, and stance can convey more about the character’s personality and state of mind than even their facial expression. In the film “Up,” for example, the character Carl is a grumpy old man who doesn’t like to go out much. He has a solid, squarish face that complements his stubborn and static personality.

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Light and Shadows

Understanding light and shadows helps turn two-dimensional shapes into three-dimensional drawings that seem to jump off the page. Simple 2D drawings lie flat on a page and have only two surfaces: length and breadth. In contrast, 3D drawings represent length, breadth, and height. In a three-dimensional object, part of its edges are hidden to give an architectural view of the object. For example, cylinders, cubes, and pyramids are 3D shapes with hidden edges and sides. Using light and shadow can help give your drawings a three-dimensional look. These two factors are the difference between drawing a flat circle and drawing a basketball that looks like it could be picked up off the page. Drawing tutorials will teach you that you must decide where the light source is in relation to the object you’re drawing. If an apple is sitting on a table, is the light coming in through the window or is it falling from the bulb hanging above? In either case, the light will reflect off the apple in a way that highlights one part of the fruit while leaving another part in relative darkness. If the light is harsh, it might even create a shadow. Knowledge of light and shadow and how to use them in your drawings is critical to giving your art depth and realism.

Perspective

Perspective in the field of art is used to draw three-dimensional scenes on a two-dimensional medium like paper. Perspective represents the spatial point of view you want to display in your drawing. This includes the vantage point and angle you give your cartoons on the page. It determines the spatial relationship between different characters and objects on the page and dictates the size of every element you draw. For example, if you’re drawing a scene as viewed from outside a window, your drawing will represent the scene exactly from the space and angle you occupy and your relation to other characters in the scene. The second way in which perspective works is that to the human eye, straight lines going away into the distance appear to converge at some point on the horizon. You might have noticed this as you drive down a long and straight road; the sides of the road seem to come together at a vanishing point. An understanding of these rules of perspective can help your art appear three-dimensional. For example, let’s say your perspective is that of looking at a group of kids in a playing field. Everything and everyone farther away will be much smaller than people and items near to the viewer, and the field will appear as though there is a vanishing point in the distance. It’s important to keep elements of the human perspective in mind when learning to draw cartoons. As with light and shadows, perspective helps give drawings a three-dimensional appearance, elevating them to the next level.

Common Cartoon Drawing Styles

All cartoons are different. Even a cursory glance at cartoons through the last few decades will show you that every artist has a different style of depicting their stories. Let’s look at some popular cartoon drawing styles.

Classic/Noodle Style

Classic is the old-school way of drawing cartoons and is often drawn in black and white. If you remember early versions of Mickey Mouse or Betty Boop, you’re already familiar with this style. Also known as the “Fleischer style” after the animation studio that helped develop memorable characters like Koko the Clown and Popeye, this style features bigger heads and shorter bodies drawn in clean ink outlines. Moreover, the characters’ bodies are never fully straight and seem to move as if they have no bones in their bodies (hence the name “noodle style”).

Modern

This is a more current style of drawing cartoons prominent in the television and digital space. The main features of this style are bold outlines, geometric shapes, and dominant colors. Most cartoon programs on animation TV channels are drawn in this style. This is because simple shapes and colors save time and money. Examples include shows like “The Powerpuff Girls” and “Dexter’s Laboratory.” Both cartoons have characters drawn in simple outlines and filled with colors that pop. The Powerpuff Girls have basic, round eyes and simple upward “U” shapes for mouths, for example.

Realistic

This is an unusual style of drawing cartoons. It attempts to represent reality in the cartoon format. This means the cartoonist doesn’t alter or add flourish to a character’s shape or color, but rather renders the character’s look with as much detail as possible. While other styles attempt to simplify, this style favors realistic depictions of characters and settings. The cartoon drawing in the show “Archer” best illustrates this style. For example, Archer’s face and body are drawn in a lot of detail, even featuring wrinkles and textural detail on his clothes.

Manga

The popular Japanese cartoon drawing style, manga, is mostly found in serialized comics, graphic novels, and anime television shows. The manga drawing style developed in the late nineteenth century and features characters drawn with large and expressive eyes, long legs, small mouths, distinctive hair, and lean bodies, often depicted in black and white. This style is usually well detailed and attempts to render human qualities and movements into the art. Popular examples include “Dragon Ball” and “Hellsing.” Dragon Ball is the second-most best-selling manga of all time, featuring characters with innocent and big eyes and muscular bodies.

Minimalist

This type of drawing keeps stylizing to an absolute minimum and attempts to convey meaning and stories through simplistic line drawings. Vector art, based on mathematical formulas, is often used to aid in creating cartoon characters. This style is typically characterized by straight lines, geometric shapes, pastel colors, and disproportionate and unrealistic limbs. The immensely popular xkcd comics are drawn in a minimalist style with basic stick figures. This drawing style can usually be seen in video games, since simple artwork can quickly convert into animation. A great example of minimalist cartoon drawing is the video game Thomas Was Alone, which uses block figures to deliver clever dialogue.

How to Draw a Cartoon Face: A Detailed Example

After understanding these basics, you can begin to draw your first cartoon face! Grab a sharpened pencil, an eraser, and a blank sheet of paper. We will start this drawing lesson with an outline of the face shape and proceed to draw the eyes, nose, mouth, and hair. Your first attempt at cartoon drawing will likely not be perfect, but you’ll improve with time and practice.

Step 1: Start with the Face Shape

To create the face shape, draw a balloon-like shape rather than a perfect circle. It's OK if you don’t get it right on the first attempt. Keep doodling and try again until you’re happy with your shape. Lightly draw two lines across both axes of the face so they intersect in the center. Next, alter the shape of the jaw under the circle so it looks more natural. You can make the jawline sharper or the chin pointier by experimenting with your drawing. Tip: Start by using the pencil lightly. Darken the outline once you think you have the shape you want. Erase any extra lines you used for reference. This is the base on which we’ll now add other features.

Step 2: Draw the Eyes

Place the eyes on either side of the vertical axis, equidistant to each other. Additionally, they should sit on the horizontal line. Based on the drawing style you choose, you can decide what shape to give the eyes and how much detail you want to add. Next, add the pupils by using a white colored pencil or by erasing a part of the cartoon eyes where you want the pupils. Experiment with placing the pupils in different parts of the eyeball to see how this changes the character’s expression. The placement of the pupils, in conjunction with the shape of the eyebrows, allows characters to emote. The eyebrows and eyelashes come next. Consider what expression you want your character to have on their face. For example, if you want them to look surprised, the eyebrows will have to be raised and placed higher above the eyes. If you’re drawing a female character, you could exaggerate the length of her eyelashes if it works for your character.

Step 3: Add the Nose

Place the nose on the vertical axis, slightly lower than the eyes. The nose has three parts: the bridge, the ball, and the nostrils. You’ll need to draw two bracket-like shapes coming down between the eyebrows. Curve the two bracket shapes inward and draw a small circle at the tip of the nose. The nose’s lower width should equal the distance between the inside corners of the eyes. Last, use a darker pencil to draw small lines curved downward on either side of the circle to form the nostrils. A cartoon nose, however, does not always need so much detail. You can always draw a simple line, a triangle, or a small circle where the nose is supposed to be.

Step 4: Draw the Mouth

Place the mouth halfway between the bottom of the nose and the chin. Ensure that the central vertical axis equally partitions the mouth. The mouth should be as wide as the space between the two irises. You’ll need to pick a mouth shape based on the expression you want your character to convey. For example, if the character is happy, you would want to show a slight smile; if they’re laughing, the mouth will have to be drawn into a grin or laugh. You can also think about dimples, wrinkles around the mouth, and teeth. These features are important to convey age, mood, and style. Tip: When drawing a minimalist cartoon, you don’t need to add too much detail to the mouth-especially when drawing children’s mouths. A slanted, curved, or straight line is enough to convey mood and feeling.

Step 5: Hair

Next, draw the cartoon’s hairline. Usually, the hairline is halfway between the browline and the top of the head. The hairline is simply a line that separates the top of one’s head from the browline. Add the hair, which can extend slightly over the shape of the head. How you draw the hair depends on the hairstyle you want to give your character. For example, if your character is a young boy, you might want to give him floppy hair that falls across his forehead. Similarly, you might give a female character longer hair with bangs. If you’re planning to draw long hair (especially on a woman’s face), you should add volume to the hair so it doesn’t fall flat. You can do this by drawing interconnected curved lines that meet in jagged points. These will look like locks of hair. If not covered by the hair, draw ears with the upper tips on the same plane as the cartoon’s eyes. To draw a cartoon ear, start with an elongated semicircular shape on either side of the head. You can draw a spiral shape within the semicircle to give some detail to the ear. Tip: An easy way to get out of having to draw ears is to give your character long hair. Have the hair fall on either side of the head to cover the area where you’re supposed to draw ears.

Creating Different Types of Cartoons

The world of cartoons is a wild and open field! Animate and inanimate objects alike can be turned into wacky and interesting personalities. One of the best examples of creating an entire world of cartoon characters is “Beauty and the Beast.” It's a master class in thinking about men, women, children, animals, cups, clocks, and teapots as cartoon characters! Different genders:

Men: Male cartoon characters may have muscular, lean, or pot-bellied bodies, depending on the personalities they embody. Homer Simpson, a lazy, gluttonous man, is drawn with a substantial belly. On the other hand, Johnny Bravo is drawn with a small head but a well-built body because he’s a character obsessed with his looks.
Women: Female characters can sometimes be drawn with elegant facial features. Their eyelashes are exaggerated or their long hair is highlighted to emphasize their femininity. For example, Disney princesses are often drawn with these characteristics.

Drawing Inspiration from Existing Cartoon Characters

Minnie Mouse: She's the cutest mouse in the house.
Piglet: Piglet can be brave with the help of his friend Pooh.
Captain America: During World War II, he was the hero America needed.
Bart Simpson: With spiky hair and yellow skin, Bart is an iconic cartoon character. You can draw Bart along with his whole family from Springfield.
Winnie the Pooh: He's a tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.
Ladybug: Fiery redhead by day, foxy crime-fighter by night. She's an ordinary girl with extraordinary abilities, thanks to the Ladybug Miraculous.
Homer Simpson: Homer Simpson is an American icon. You can draw him along with his whole family - his wife Marge, daughter Lisa, and son Bart.
Felix the Cat: Felix is an easy character to draw because he's made of overlapping geometric shapes.
Lucky Luke: Lucky Luke is a wild west gunslinger who shoots faster than his shadow.
Bugs Bunny: What's up, Doc? Bugs Bunny is always ready to munch on a carrot and outwit the bad guys.
Rick Sanchez: Rick is the quintessential mad scientist. As you can see from his frown and scowl, he's not feeling happy.
Thomas the Tank Engine: Who's that friendly train pulling into the station?
The Dalton Gang: They're a band of desperados and they're out to get Lucky Luke! Can you tell Joe, William, John, and Averell apart?
Cuphead: Classic cartoon art styles are alive and well! Cuphead, the star of a "rubber hose animation" style video game, is proof of this.
Squidward Tentacles: Squidward's got class - even though he lives next door to Spongebob and Patrick and works at the Krusty Krab.
Goofy: With a big smile and a recognizable laugh, Goofy is one dog who lives up to his name. In books and cartoons, Goofy has played many sports, fallen from great heights, and even raised a son.
Pete the Cat: Pete the cat is really cool in his red tennis shoes. In the storybooks, Pete goes on lots of adventures - from pizza parties to the great outdoors.
Snoopy and Charlie Brown: Is watching the Peanuts cartoons featuring Snoopy and Charlie Brown a tradition in your family?
Bob the Minion: Every villain needs his minions. Bob is an adorable, banana-loving yellow minion.
Dog Man: Part dog, part man, 100 percent crime-fighting hero - that's Dog Man!
Wonder Woman: She's no damsel in distress. This daughter of the gods can rescue herself from peril!
Stitch: Experiment 626 started out as a dangerous mistake.
Supergirl: She stood in the shadow of her sister, the alter ego of Supergirl. Then, she received powers of her own!
Woodstock: Woodstock never speaks a word, but his smile says it all.
Catwoman: Who's that black cat prowling the city streets at night?
Charlie Brown: Brain blast! You're a good man, Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown often laments that bad things always happen to him, but it's your comic strip - you control the narrative.
Eeyore: Eeyore is a gloomy old donkey. You can cheer each other up with this cute cartoon.
Lisa Simpson: Lisa, Bart's younger sister, is the moral fiber that holds the Simpson family together.
Stewie Griffin: "Mom! Mom! Mommy!" Stewie may look cute and innocent, but this villainously intelligent toddler is here to cause trouble. Will Stewie finally reach his bad-guy goals?
Gru: Gru is an impressive inventor but often failed at a career in super-villainy. His wife and children keep him on the side of the good guys - but can he resist the temptation of mischief and mayhem?
Lilo: Ohana means family, and you can invite Lilo into yours.
Tom and Jerry: No cartoon is more classic than a game of cat and mouse.
Shrek: Shrek may look scary, but he's actually a friendly (though somewhat grumpy) ogre.
Spongebob Squarepants: Spongebob lives in a pineapple under the sea, but Patrick lives under a rock.
Poppy: Poppy is a happy, music-loving pink troll princess. What sorts of adventures will you send Poppy on?
Bendy: Bendy may look cute, but watch out for his sinister side!
Snoopy: Snoopy the beagle has stolen the hearts of generations.
Viperion: Viperion is as cool as a cold-blooded reptile. Can this cute superhero win the heart of his superheroine, Miraculous Ladybug?
Tigger: The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things! But this time, there doesn't have to be just one.
Spider-Gwen: She's bold, beautiful, and mysterious. Enter the Spiderverse and try your hand at Mies Morales' updated Spidey costume.
Daisy Duck: With her long eyelashes and love for bows, Daisy Duck is the perfect counterpart for Donald.
Garfield: Do you hate Mondays? Make them a bit better with this smiling sketch.
Hello Kitty: Called "the epitome of Japanese cuteness," Hello Kitty is sure to delight with her simple lines and oval-shaped facial features.
Grinch: He may be wearing a Santa hat and a fur-trimmed suit, but this character is definitely not merry.
Yoda: Yoda may be small, but he is mighty. The aged Jedi master has large triangular ears and clawed feet and hands.
Hulk: Hulk smash! Get ready to draw this raging monster with bulging muscles.
Loki: The things the god of mischief does aren't always cute, but this chibi version of him is!
Sonic the Hedgehog: In cartoons and video games, Sonic's speed was key. Draw this picture of him in motion.
Woody: If you need a friend, this old-fashioned cowboy will always be there for you.
Minions: Everybody needs a minion - or several hundred.
Twilight Sparkle: Twilight Sparkle hasn't always been a winged alicorn, but she is now.
Yosemite Sam: What in tarnation? You can learn to draw the toughest hombre this side of the Rio Grande.
Mr. Skunk: Mr. Skunk straddles the line between realism and anthropomorphism.
Peter Pan:Dressed in an elfin hat, tunic, tights, and shoes, Peter has his arms crossed in boyish rebellion.
Sweetie: Sweetie is a West Highland terrier.
Snoopy: Snoopy's happy dance is pure joy. His smile is broad.
Everest: Everest is a husky. Her hat and vest are lined with warm fur.
Bingo: Bingo is smaller than Bluey since she is younger.

Resources for Learning to Draw Cartoons

Online Tutorials: Numerous websites and platforms offer step-by-step drawing tutorials.
Drawing Courses: Consider enrolling in a cartooning course for structured learning.
Books: Explore books on cartooning techniques and character design.
Practice: Consistent practice is key to improving your cartooning skills.

Famous Artists Cartoon Course

The Famous Artists Cartoon Course is a comprehensive guide that covers the skills needed to become a professional cartoonist. It includes chapters with homework assignments to help readers practice the techniques they learn.

Overcoming Drawing Challenges

Many people believe that drawing is a gift, but it's a skill that anyone can learn through practice and effort. Don't be discouraged if you think you're not good at drawing. Trust the process, make mistakes, and learn from them.

Embrace Your Unique Style

Cartooning is as individual as handwriting. The way you hold your pencil and the pressure you apply to the page will contribute to your unique style. Don't try to copy someone else's style; instead, focus on developing your own.

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