How To Draw A Coyote

Today we are going to learn how to draw a coyote, howling at the moon! Which is the best way to draw this wild dog animal that I can imagine.

We used to hear the coyotes at night in the canyons behind our house. It’s fun to imagine what they looked like.

We are going to start with using simple shapes to create the structure and drawing the lines around them, then erasing. So make sure to draw lightly!

Supplies:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Crayons or colored pencils (brown, black, & yellow)

Let’s get started:

First, let’s make sure our paper is portrait, that means tall like a tower.

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 put a small dot where our finger just was.

2. We are going to be using circle shapes to help keep the proportions with the body shape. These do not have to be perfect, we will erase them.

Make sure to draw lightly. Draw a medium sized circle/oval, using the dot as a reference point for the top of the circle/oval. This will be the head.

3. Now, just to the right of the first circle, more towards the bottom, draw a slightly larger circle. This will be the backside of the coyote.

4. In between these two shapes, aligned under the first circle; draw another medium size circle. You may not see it now, but this will become the chest area.

5. Add a small V shape to the top left area of the head circle. This will become the mouth. Add another V shape to the back side of the head circle, this will become the ears.

6. Now, for a tricky but fun part. Draw a light line from the top of the V shape, curved around the top of the head circle, to the top of the ear V shape. Do you see it coming together?!

1. 1. Add another line from the bottom of the ear V shape going over the chest circle and the backside circle, ending the line off of the last circle. *Remember these are guidelines, not part of our final image.

7. Next, for the front of the coyote, draw a line coming off of the mouth V shape, down past the chest circle and draw that line straight down to where you want the feet to be.

How to draw a coyote easy step by step instructions

8. Now for the feet area, draw the feet just a little past the length of the bottom circle. Make it just a little half circle, not details yet. This will keep them aligned. At the top of the front leg, draw the line out towards the chest circle, curving it at the end. Repeat that leg and foot line, so our coyote has 2 front legs.

9. Keep checking the examples! Now for the back legs, starting one the backside circle, outline almost half of it, coming down off the bottom to create the foot shape. Let’s keep it simple, like a long oval shape. Repeat that shape in front of the foot/leg area again.

1. 1. Draw a curved line to connect the front legs to the back legs.

10. Finally, the last part of the outline, the tail. Draw a long V shape connecting the backside circle and the back feet. YOU DID IT!

11. Now add some details: darken the nose and draw a closed eye, a small curved line in the eye area. Add some teeth, small triangle shapes inside the mouth area.

When searching for how to draw a realistic coyote, I love these step by step details and after erasing the circles know one will guess your easy cheat!

12. Then ERASE the circles we drew. This is a fun step, those circles were tricky.

13. I’ve added a horizon line, to show the coyote is sitting on the ground. Also, a circle for the full moon.

14. Make the outline for the coyote jagged zig zag lines, this will help our coyote look furry. Add some shadows, behind the head, front legs, on the back, tail and back hind leg.

15. Finally, COLOR!

There you go! You’ve done it! A Coyote!

Let’s see what else we can draw together…next time.