How To Draw Raccoons
Raccoons are some of the most beloved creatures of the wild with their bright eyes, bushy tails, and inquisitive nature. Watching raccoons scurry around the backyard brings joy and delight to everyone who gets to witness it. Drawing raccoons takes practice but it’s incredibly rewarding! With a few simple supplies and patience, you too can learn how to draw these little critters.
Bring out the imagination and create a sketch of your raccoon! First, think about the pose that your raccoon should take. Should they be standing? Sitting? Tumbling? Thinking of an interesting pose will help make your raccoon look unique and special. Next, draw the basic shape of your raccoon by sketching out the body, four legs and two arms, and the big bushy tail. Now, you can start adding details like fur, extra lines on the arms, and claws.
Time to add facial features to strengthen the look of your raccoon! Start off by drawing the eyes, oval-shaped and with a bit of a squint, then draw the ears and the nose. Don’t forget about the iconic mask around the eyes. Use what you know about raccoons to make their face look realistic.
Shading your raccoon will add more depth to its look! Use what you know about raccoon coloration and markings to decide where there should be shadows. Ink your sketch if you’re confident enough to do so. If you’re feeling bold, you can also mix other colors in order to achieve different hues and shades to give your raccoon’s fur a unique texture.
Adding extra background will make your raccoon’s drawing look complete! What should the background look like? A forest? A park? Whatever you choose, make sure to draw it out then color it in. This will make your drawing look full and captivating.
It’s time to finish your raccoon’s drawing! Now that all the elements are added, it’s time to step back and admire your work. Have fun putting in tiny details to make your raccoon lifelike. When you’re happy with your drawing, you can add your signature to the bottom right corner of the page and show it off to friends and family! With patience, practice, and imagination, you can be a master raccoon artist!
Tips To Enhance Your Raccoon Drawing
Learning how to draw a raccoon is an exciting and rewarding adventure, and it’s important to remember that there’s tons of techniques you can use to help improve your artistic techniques. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when you’re drawing raccoons:
• Use what you know about raccoons to make your drawing more realistic. Add movements and expressions to your raccoon that will make it look alive and invoke emotion.
• Try looking at photos of other raccoon drawings to get some inspiration and ideas.
• Don’t forget to bring out the details by adding shadows and highlights.
• Don’t be too hard on yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your raccoon become a masterful piece of art super quickly. Take your time, and practice until you get it right!
Creating Depth Through Perspective
Using the rules of perspective when you draw will give your raccoon and its background more depth which will make your work look much more professional. There are two types of perspective when drawing: linear perspective, and atmospheric perspective. Linear perspective creates the illusion of depth on a flat piece of paper, while atmospheric perspective gives a realistic sense of distance by adding hue, contrast, and less detail in the distance.
When drawing with a linear perspective, it’s important to add lines of receding to give your drawing the illusion of distance, while when drawing in atmospheric perspective, we use color. Warmer, brighter colors like yellows and oranges should be used closer, while cooler, bluer colors should be used for more distant objects. The farther away an object gets, the more faded and less detailed it should look.
By using the principles of perspective, you’ll be able to create a lifelike and professional raccoon drawing.
Perspective In Your Background Art
Adding a background to your raccoon allows for more creativity and variety in the details you can bring in. It gives the feeling of a scene, an environment where you can imagine your raccoon in. When drawing your background, it’s important to keep in mind the same principles of perspective that you use with your raccoon.
Whether you’re drawing a miniature woodland scene or a sprawling cityscape, you’ll still want to utilize lines of receding and muted color palettes to create illusions of depth. Trees, rocks, mountains, and buildings all can widely vary in shape and contrast to add more reality to your work. Don’t be too hard on yourself when it comes to making it perfect; adding your own unique touches here and there help make your art one of a kind.
Inking To Give Your Raccoon Life
When you’re happy with your sketch and ready to make your raccoon come alive, take out your inking tools and start inking! Inking will give your raccoon a better shape, texture, and contrast. You can use either traditional ink pens or ink brushes for a softer feel. As you ink, keep an eye on the points of your raccoon where there should be shadows and highlights to give more life to your drawing.
If using ink pens, the standard H and B ratings apply: the higher the letter, the softer the pens will give you. As you go along, pay attention to the thickness of the lines you’re creating. You’ll want to emphasize thick/dark lines on the body while giving thin lines to the fur. Remember, practice makes perfect! Be patient and bold when inking your raccoon and soon enough you’ll have a masterpiece in front of you.
Coloring For A Pop Of Personality
Coloring your raccoon can be a fun and exciting way to give it a unique look! There are a few things to keep in mind when coloring your creation: use colors that match the raccoon’s natural habitat, blend colors to ensure unity with the background, and use highlighting to make your raccoon stand out from the rest of the art.
Start by shading your raccoon. Knowing the basic raccoon colors, such as dark brown for the fur, pink for the nose, and black for the eyes, will help you decide where shadows should be placed. Experiment with different gradients, from dark to light and light to dark, to give your raccoon more depth and dimension.
After you’re done with the basic shading, you can add the more intricate details like the ears and eyes. Highlighting will give your work a more professional feel, and adding a simple gradient of whites, yellows, and oranges will add a fiery flare to your creature and make it unique.
Coloring your raccoon will also help bring out the background. If your background contains a complicated palette of colors, use the same palette when shading your creature to create unity between the two elements. Spend some time playing with the colors and tones, and you’ll soon be done!
Raccoons, though small, can be some of the most enjoyable creatures to draw. With practice and patience, you can go from a beginner to a pro in no time! Remember to use your imagination, to create depth with perspective, and to be bold when coloring and inking. With these skills, you’ll have everyone asking for your raccoon masterpieces!
