Squirrel Sketch

I made a squirrel sketch in pencil as a study for a pen and ink drawing. I am going to reproduce that sketch for you. You can learn how to draw a squirrel by following this drawing tutorial. You can make your sketches of animals with anything you feel comfortable with but nothing beats cartridge paper and a 2B pencil.

1. Draw an egg shape for the squirrel's head.

2. A curving line for the arched back. See the two lines on the head? These will help us place the eye.

3. Place the eye between the lines as show. The ears are elongated domes.

4. Sketch the two visible legs. They are simply curving lines.

5. Forepaws. I think of them as mittens at this stage.

6. The tail is large in comparison to the size of the body. Two long, backwards "S" shapes.

7. Now we are ready to add more detail. Go over the eye as illustrated in the next four pics.

8. Add more weight to the head. Let your pencil skip over the paper surface without using much pressure. The shakiness this should add will create the illusion of hair.

9. Draw the nose and mouth. Take your time to capture the shapes properly.

10. Same idea with the ears.

11. The curving back.

12. Sketch in the foreleg. It has more in common with a human arm than most other rodents. The hand also can be thought of as human-like, especially when it is curled up. Copy it carefully.

13. The second hand is held differently. Note I began to add lines to add a little tone.

14. Define the back leg a little more.

15. Back foot and suggest the branch the animal is perched on.

16. Work on the bushy tail. Use lines to show the quality of the fur.

17. Add more weight to the forepaws with line and overlapping lines.

18. More definition as shown.

19. Add the suggestion of darker areas on the face.

20. Darken the eye, leaving highlights or making them with an eraser, whatever you prefer. Add whiskers.

21. Add as much detail as you wish. For me the aim of the squirrel sketch was to get the form and attitude of the animal ready for a more detailed drawing.

Don't forget to add your squirrel sketch here.

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