Learn with us how to draw a bear step by step with photos & easy to follow directions.
Today we will be drawing a bear. We know bears are BIG animals with dark eyes and claws for catching fish and picking berries, but the BEST part about a bear is that they are FURRY! That’s why Teddy Bears are so lovable. (We can actually hold those!).
Bears can be many colors, some are brown, black or reddish. Polar bears are white. It is up to you what kind of bear you draw! We know that bears are mostly solitary, but certain times of the year they gather in groups. You could draw the whole group, if you wanted to!
Remember, most things we draw start with simple shapes. Bears are mostly oval, lines and circles, with a triangle-shaped head. We will add details before we color.
Supplies: See all my favorite drawing supplies right here.
- Paper
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Crayons or colored pencils, or even water colors if you wanted to paint it.
To get started:
First, let’s make sure our paper is landscape, that means sideways like a train.
Artist tip: point to the middle of your paper with your finger. This will tell your eyes how much space you have to draw in. It does not have to be exact!
1. Let’s draw! The first line is a wide U shape on one side of the paper, a little lower than the halfway mark. Make sure it’s big enough for a good size bear! Now, on top of this shape, make a gentle curved line. Start on one side, go up then over, a very small curve. This will be the top of the head shape.
2. Now, from the middle of this shape, down past the bottom line, draw a triangle with curved edges. Smaller at the top and bigger at the bottom. Sometimes, I draw the triangle with pointy edges and then curve them after. This will be our bear’s snout.
3. Next, let’s add the nose to this triangle shape. The nose is exactly the same shape as the head, but smaller! A wide U shape with a curved top. While we’re here let’s add 2 ovals for the eyes and half circles on top of the head for ears. We will color them in later.
4. Now for our bear’s BIG strong body. We are going to start at the middle of the head and draw a LONG curved line. This will be the bear’s back.
5. To figure out how long our bear’s legs will be, let’s use 2 or 3 fingers from the bottom and make a little mark. Do one for the front paws and one for the back paws.
6. For the legs, draw a line down from the back line of the bear and a line from the bear’s head to meet our marks. Next, draw a short diagonal line *almost* meeting the front leg line. Then draw two curved lines towards the back leg line. The space here will give our bear strong looking legs.
7. Next, the belly line. A gentle “smile” curve meets the two closest leg lines.
8. Now, to give our bear two legs in front and feet. Draw a line in the middle of the front leg shape. Then, add an oval at the end of each leg shape, there should be 4 feet. OH! And a cute little tail at the back line, it’s a half circle.
9. YAY! There’s a bear on the paper! Phew!
10. The BEST step: COLOR! I am starting with black for the eyes, nose, claws and mouth area.
Artist Tip: to create the FURRY/FUZZY look for my bear I am tracing all my pencil lines with a brown ZIG-ZAG line. (Except, the snout) Then color the whole bear brown.
As the artist you can choose any colors you like. Take your time and try not to leave white spaces. Don’t forget to color the background too!
I have added a wavy line across the bottom of the page near the bear’s paws. So, they are standing on the ground. As well as one towards the top of the page for the background. I’ve also added pine trees. Background details can be so important.
There you go! You’ve done it! A FURRY BEAR!
Let’s see what else we can draw together…next time.