You will find no bird as colorful as a Toucan. These interesting birds fascinate kids and adults alike because of their long beaks, squat little bodies, and large eyes.
So, you all must want to learn how to draw a toucan. That’s why I am sharing an eight-step guide for drawing a cartoon toucan for kids and beginners.
This guide will only take 20 to 30 minutes. So, squeeze out half an hour of your life to draw a colorful bird in your sketchbook.
How to Draw a Toucan Bird for Kids?
Grab all the important art supplies, collect all the reference pictures, have a brainstorming session to finalize the background of your bird, and delve into this drawing guide.
Materials:
- a piece of paper
- a pencil for the guiding lines and sketching
- an eraser
- a black sharpie or a pen for the outlines
- markers or colored pencils for coloring
- our printable drawing guide (Join my Email List below to get this Tutorial)
Here are my RECOMMENDED Art Supplies!
- Crayola Coloring Set (140 Pieces – Mega Value!)
- 24 Colored Crayon Set
- A4 Printer Paper
- Crayola Coloring Pencils
- HP Home Printer with Instant Ink!
Time needed:
15 minutes.
How to Draw a Toucan — Let’s get started!
Step 1 – Sketch the Base of the Head
Most of our drawings focus on sketching the base of the head in the first step. This guide is not an exceptional case so let’s sketch the bird’s head here.
For this, draw a smooth, rounded, curved shape going in a downward direction. Make sure the front part has a small line as shown in our reference picture.
Step 2 – Draw the Beak of Toucan
This step is going to focus on drawing a Toucan’s beak. In this bird drawing, the beak is the prominent feature. So, you have to make it large and strong.
To draw this, put your pencil on the front curved edge of the body. There, sketch a simple curved line that slopes downward. It makes the top part of the beak.
Now, continue from the slope and sketch another curved line coming back toward the back of the body. At last, sketch a curved vertical line joining both ends of the beak.
Step 3 – Sketch the Lower Part of the Beak
Our beak is incomplete without the second part. So, underneath the first beak, sketch a small and thin curved shape. It should start after the slope of the first beak.
Now, draw a vertical curved line, joining this second part of the beak with the first one at the back.
Step 4 – Sketch the Feathers
In this cartoon Toucan drawing, we are going to sketch feathers on both sides of the body. To do this, draw two long, narrow pointed shapes underneath the beak. Make sure these shapes combine at the end.
Repeat the process on the back side of the body, parallel to the first feather.
Step 5 – Add the First Feet to the Toucan
Now, it is time to draw the feet of the Toucan. This bird has a small foot and body so you have to keep the size of it small in the painting too.
Now, for drawing the first feet, add a small curve shape beneath the front wing. Now, at the bottom of the body, draw a small rounded triangular shape.
Inside the shape, sketch two to three curved lines to indicate claws.
Step 6 – Draw the Second Feet of the Toucan Bird
In this step of how to draw a cartoon toucan, we have to sketch the second small feet of this bird. For this, you have to repeat the process of step 5.
Put your pencil under the second feather, and sketch a small curve shape. Now, draw a rounded triangular shape with curved lines inside it.
In the end, make sure to join both feet with a straight horizontal line. It will complete the outline of the lower body.
Step 7 – Add Details to Toucan’s Beak
Toucan’s beak is a special part of it, so we need to give some depth to it by refining some details. To do this, we will make two major changes in the beak.
The first is to sketch a curved horizontal line at the bottom of the first beak. You should start this shape after the tip of the beak as shown in our reference picture.
The second thing is to draw a curved vertical line after the tip of the beak. You should draw it at the beginning point of the vertically curved shape.
Step 8 – Sketch the Facial Details
This is the last step, where we will focus on sketching the face of the Toucan Bird. To do this, add a large oval area inside the head of the bird.
Start this shape from the upper portion of the beak, extend it in the downward direction, and link it to the bottom line of the top beak. This oval shape should follow the natural flow of the bird’s body.
Now, beneath the beak of the bird, add a small dark circle to indicate the eye. If you want to give your bird a lively look, add a small white spot in the dark circle.
Step 9 – Color Your Toucan Bird Pencil Sketch
Though the sketch of your bird is complete, the painting is incomplete without vibrant colors. This bird is famous for the variety of colors on its body, so you should grab various crayons or watercolors to give life to your bird.
You can see how many colors we have used in our reference picture. Our bird is a keel-billed toucan, a special specie of this bird. If you don’t like these colors, you can grab your favorite ones too.
Some of the famous colors of this bird are purple, yellow, blue, green, red, and white. You can check the pictures of other species to get an idea of the colors.
Enhance Your Realistic Toucan Drawing
You can elevate your bird drawing after making a few adjustments in it. Some of these are:
- Adding a green color in the background of the bird to indicate forest.
- Sketch a stem beneath Toucan to depict it sitting on the tree.
- Drawing three to four Toucans in different poses together.
Pin it now, Draw later!
Conclusion
Once you have the adjustments and refined your Toucan drawing, you can share it with your friends and family members for their feedback. Moreover, you can post it on social media to share with your artistic family.
The one rule of becoming a perfect artist is to keep practicing. So, check out our other animal, insect, and bird drawing tutorials to keep going on your artistic journey.
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