How to Draw a Rabbit
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Draw the ribcage first. It is the biggest mass in the rabbit.
The chest oval should take up around a third of the body's length on its own.
Drawing on paper instead?
We straighten and clean up the photo for you. Paper counts exactly the same.
About this drawing
A rabbit is drawn back to front: the biggest mass is the hindquarters, not the chest, and once you flip that one expectation the whole animal falls into place. Big haunches, small chest, and ears that are longer than the head that carries them.
Like every four-legged animal on this site, it is built from two masses and a spine: a ribcage, a pelvis, and one curve joining them. Get those three right and the rest is placement.
Step by step
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Step 1
Draw the ribcage first. It is the biggest mass in the rabbit.
The ribcage is the largest single mass in almost every four-legged animal, and drawing it too small is the most common structural error in the whole category. Draw it in one motion and make it bigger than feels right.
Watch out Drawing the chest small to leave room for everything else.
Check The chest oval should take up around a third of the body's length on its own.
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Step 2
Draw the hindquarters as their own oval.
The gap between the two masses is information: it is most of what separates a long animal from a compact one. Decide the gap deliberately rather than letting it happen.
Watch out Butting the pelvis directly against the chest.
Check You should see clear space between the two ovals.
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Step 3
Run one curve through both masses for the spine.
One continuous curve, drawn in one pass. The spine sets the whole animal's attitude, and a spine assembled from three short strokes reads as three different animals stitched together.
Watch out Drawing the spine as separate flat segments.
Check The curve should touch both masses without a corner.
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Step 4
Put the skull in, and mark the line from chest to head.
Note where the neck leaves the chest before you place the skull - on most animals it comes off the front of the chest mass, not the top, and that single angle carries the species.
Watch out Hanging the head above the body instead of in front of it.
Check The neck guide should leave the FRONT half of the chest oval.
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Step 5
Turn the neck guide into a real form with two curves.
A neck is a solid with real thickness, and on most animals it is thicker than you think - nearly as deep as the head itself. Two curves, one over, one under.
Watch out A thin stick neck, which makes any animal look fragile.
Check The neck should be nearly as thick as the head is tall.
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Step 6
Draw the topline and the belly to join the masses up.
This is where the animal stops being two eggs. Let the topline follow the spine you already drew and keep the belly line taut - a sagging belly is a decision, not an accident.
Watch out Ignoring the spine curve you drew and inventing a new back.
Check The topline should agree with the spine curve underneath it.
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Step 7
Add the front legs, joint by joint.
Legs are chains of segments with a joint at each bend, and every leg bends somewhere. Draw joint to joint in straight strokes first; curves come later if at all.
Watch out Straight tube legs with no joints, which read as furniture.
Check Each front leg should bend at least once.
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Step 8
Add the hind legs - they fold the opposite way.
The hind legs fold the opposite way to the front pair - the hock points backwards. Compare their length against the front legs rather than judging them alone.
Watch out Back legs bending the same way as the front ones.
Check Front and back feet should reach the same ground line.
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Step 9
Draw the ears - this is a big part of what makes it a rabbit.
Ears attach further back on the skull than feels natural, and their shape is one of the strongest species signals you have. Draw the second by comparing it to the first.
Watch out Planting the ears on top of the head like handles.
Check Both ears should attach behind the midpoint of the skull.
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Step 10
Draw the muzzle projecting forward from the head.
The muzzle projects forward from the lower half of the head mass. Its length relative to the skull is the proportion to measure - it is the one that changes species when you get it wrong.
Watch out A muzzle pointing down instead of forward.
Check The eye should sit in the top half of the head mass.
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Step 11
Finish the shape: tail, and whatever else a rabbit has.
Detail is suggested, never itemised. Put the marks where they identify the animal and stop early - texture spread evenly everywhere flattens the drawing back out.
Watch out Covering the body evenly in fur marks.
Check Step back: the big shapes should still read first.
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Step 12
Go round the keepers heavily, then erase the guides.
Press harder on the outline and the face, leave the small marks light, and erase the construction ovals. That weight difference is what makes the drawing look decided.
Watch out Going over every line at the same weight.
Check The outline should be clearly darker than the interior marks.
What it looks like finished
The same drawing with every guide erased and only the lines you meant to keep, at the weight you meant them to be. If yours still has centre lines and blocking-in shapes in it, this is the step you have not done yet - and it takes about thirty seconds.
Yours will not look like this, and it is not supposed to. This is the construction with the scaffolding taken away, not a drawing somebody made to be admired - the point is to show you which of your lines were guides.
What this one actually teaches you
The skill under the subject is comparison: each new part is judged against one already on the page, never against your idea of the animal. That habit is what fixes proportion everywhere.
The rabbit is the exception that proves the two-mass rule: pelvis bigger than chest. Drawing it immediately after any other quadruped makes the point better than a paragraph can - the same two masses, swapped in importance.
Practise these: Line confidence Proportion Value range
What you need
Anything that makes a mark. On paper, press lightly for the first few steps - most of what you draw early is scaffolding you will erase.
If it's going wrong
If it looks like a cat, the hindquarters are too small. A rabbit's haunches are the largest mass in the body - bigger than the chest, which is the reverse of most animals.
If the ears are wrong, they are too short. Rabbit ears are longer than the entire head, and they attach close together at the crown.
If it looks stiff, the back is too straight. A sitting rabbit's spine is one continuous arch from nose to tail - the roundest topline of any animal on this site.
Print the steps
Take it away from the screen. The step sheet prints on one page.
Questions people ask
- How long should rabbit ears be?
- Longer than the whole head, attached close together at the crown. Short ears are the most common reason a drawn rabbit reads as a rodent.
- Why does my rabbit look like a cat?
- The haunches are too small. A rabbit's hindquarters are the biggest mass in its body - bigger than the chest, which is backwards from almost every other animal.
- How do I draw a rabbit's face?
- A rounded muzzle with a Y under the nose - the nose triangle, one short line down, and whiskers. The eye sits high and far back on the head.
- How many steps does it take to draw a rabbit?
- Twelve here: two body masses, the spine, the head and neck, the silhouette, four legs in two pairs, then features, detail and line weight. About 10 minutes at a comfortable pace.
- Where do the legs attach on a rabbit?
- To the two masses, not the outline - front legs to the chest oval, back legs to the pelvis. Legs hung from the belly line are why animal drawings collapse.
- Can a beginner draw a rabbit?
- Yes - the construction is two ovals and a curve, and there is a finish-early step marked partway through that leaves you with a complete drawing rather than an abandoned one.
- Do I need to draw fur on a rabbit?
- Only at the silhouette edge, and only where the coat is genuinely long. Fur drawn all over turns any animal into a rug.
- What should I practise before drawing a rabbit?
- Five minutes of ellipses or line control. The whole build is ovals and committed curves, and warm hands make it a different exercise.