How to Draw Pikachu

How to draw Pikachu

Let’s draw Pikachu from this picture. I think its pose is cute enough and I hope you’ll like it.

Observe the outlines for a while, curves of the body, position of legs, hands, and ears.
It is good if you have a light blue pencil for this framework, but also an HB pencil (or any other) will work well too.

Just make sure to draw the initial lines very thin so that you can easily correct or erase them later.

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1. Draw two intersecting circles placed on each other, approximately vertically. Upper – the head is slightly smaller than the bottom – the body circle. These circles are the bases for Pikachu’s body, very similar to a snowman. Add the ears and the outline of the head is ready.

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2. Draw a cross-hair on the head circle. The position of the cross-hairs serves as facial coordinates and will determine where Pikachu will be facing. While you draw Pikachu – before finishing the face - you can alter the position of cross-hairs as you wish.

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3. Now you can place the facial parts – eyes, nose, mouth on these coordinates….and… you have read the basics of the face.

These coordinates are only guidelines to help you keep a good balance, so you do not need to follow them exactly.

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4. Add hands and legs. See the hands carefully; one is lifted higher up to eye level. Draw them just roughly; do not mind much about the “exactness” or the proportions now.

You can also begin drawing weak pencil lines on the head.

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5. Now, observe a bit how the outer lines – how the curves of the body really look like. The bases are two round circles but here we have to re-shape them a bit.

By doing so, you will get closer to the real body shape of Pikachu. Then add the legs and draw a soft curve on the bottom between them.

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6. Only a part of Pikachu’s tail is visible behind the head. Draw it roughly either by blue or graphite pencil.

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7. When you are ready with the basic body outlines, curves, and tail, you can erase the help-lines so that only pencil outlines remain. You will have a basic outline to draw Pikachu really perfectly. Just like in this picture.

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8. Now it’s time to draw a firm dark pencil line and gradually create the necessary black and white contrast. I recommend you to start from the head and the face. Outline the entire head, eyes, and mouth first.

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9. Draw out the pupil of the eyes and make a small circle on the upper part of the eyes. This small circle will remain white (!), it is a highlight on the eyes. Darken the tip of both ears.

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10. Add more black to the eyes and leave small white circles as highlights on the top.

To make the eyes look more “alive” take a brief look at how to draw manga eyes.

It will give you a couple of best hints on how to draw Pikachu eyes and generally eyes. And, yes, don’t forget to draw the nose.

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11. To make the eyes of Pikachu look cuter and more animal-like, draw the iris of the eye large.

You can do it with gentle strokes, do not push the pencil too strong. The iris is always lighter than the pupil (the black center of the eye).

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12. Draw the round cheeks and shade the inside of the mouth.

Click the image to enlarge and see how the inner part of the mouth is shaded.

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13. the last step is simple and important. It is about adding shades to certain parts of the body to obtain more plasticity and a three-dimensional look.

Observe the places where shades are and draw the same (or similar) shades under the chin, on the tail, armpit, back, and the bottom. And, your creature is ready! I think you’ve learned the basics so far.

Repeat the whole process one more time without seeing the instructions, and you’ll completely memorize how to draw Pikachu.