How to Draw a Zebra

Schritt für Schritt

1. Schritt 1

   Block in the ribcage as one big oval.

   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.

   Vorsicht! Drawing the chest small to leave room for everything else.

   Kontrolle The chest oval should take up around a third of the body's length on its own.

2. Schritt 2

   Draw the pelvis behind it, and mind the gap between the two.

   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.

   Vorsicht! Butting the pelvis directly against the chest.

   Kontrolle You should see clear space between the two ovals.

3. Schritt 3

   Draw the backbone as one line from chest to hips.

   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.

   Vorsicht! Drawing the spine as separate flat segments.

   Kontrolle The curve should touch both masses without a corner.

4. Schritt 4

   Sketch the head mass and the direction of the neck.

   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.

   Vorsicht! Hanging the head above the body instead of in front of it.

   Kontrolle The neck guide should leave the FRONT half of the chest oval.

5. Schritt 5

   Draw the neck as a solid, not a stick.

   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.

   Vorsicht! A thin stick neck, which makes any animal look fragile.

   Kontrolle The neck should be nearly as thick as the head is tall.

6. Schritt 6

   Close the body: one line over the back, one under the belly.

   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.

   Vorsicht! Ignoring the spine curve you drew and inventing a new back.

   Kontrolle The topline should agree with the spine curve underneath it.

7. Schritt 7

   Draw the line along the underside of the zebra.

   The belly is a separate decision from the masses: it hangs below the line joining them, sagging most midway, and how much it sags is part of the animal - taut on a deer, generous on a cow. Draw it as one curve, not two arcs meeting.

   Vorsicht! A straight line between the ovals, which reads as a table.

   Kontrolle The belly should dip below both mass bottoms at its middle.

8. Schritt 8

   Draw the front of the chest and the back of the hips.

   Two curves seal the body into one shape: down the front of the chest into the belly, and from the top of the hips around the rump to meet it. Without them the animal has no front or back and the legs float - this is the step that turns parts into a body.

   Vorsicht! Leaving the ends open because the ovals suggest them.

   Kontrolle You should be able to trace the whole body without lifting your pen.

9. Schritt 9

   Put in the forelegs - and remember they bend.

   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.

   Vorsicht! Straight tube legs with no joints, which read as furniture.

   Kontrolle Each front leg should bend at least once.

10. Schritt 10

    Draw the back legs, which bend in the opposite direction.

    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.

    Vorsicht! Back legs bending the same way as the front ones.

    Kontrolle Front and back feet should reach the same ground line.

11. Schritt 11

    Place the ears, and get their shape right.

    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.

    Vorsicht! Planting the ears on top of the head like handles.

    Kontrolle Both ears should attach behind the midpoint of the skull.

12. Schritt 12

    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.

    Vorsicht! A muzzle pointing down instead of forward.

    Kontrolle The eye should sit in the top half of the head mass.

13. Schritt 13

    Add the tail and the zebra markings.

    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.

    Vorsicht! Covering the body evenly in fur marks.

    Kontrolle Step back: the big shapes should still read first.

14. Schritt 14

    Give the zebra a real eye: three circles and a brow line.

    An eye is built in layers - iris, pupil inside it, one small highlight, and the brow line above that gives it a direction to look. The highlight and pupil must not touch, and the brow is what turns a circle into a gaze. This one feature carries more life than the rest of the head together.

    Vorsicht! A single black dot, which reads as a bead.

    Kontrolle The highlight should sit at the pupil's edge, not inside it.

15. Schritt 15

    Add a foot line and toe mark to every leg.

    A leg without a foot is a pole. One short base line at the bottom of each leg, angled with the ground, plus a single toe split, and all four legs suddenly bear weight. Feet are also where the ground line will attach, so place all four bases at nearly the same height.

    Vorsicht! Legs ending in points, or feet at four different heights.

    Kontrolle All four feet should sit within one pencil-width of the same line.

16. Schritt 16

    Put the ground in and shade beneath the body.

    The ground is one line through the feet, and the cast shadow is one flattened arc beneath the body, darkest between the legs. Together they anchor the animal - without them even a perfect construction floats in white space. Keep the shadow tight under the body; a wide puddle reads as water.

    Vorsicht! Skipping it, leaving the animal hovering.

    Kontrolle The shadow should touch at least two of the feet.

17. Schritt 17

    Break the outline with fur, where the coat actually hangs.

    Fur is an edge event: a few tufts where the coat genuinely hangs - chest, belly, rump - and nowhere else. Each tuft leans the way the coat grows, back and down, and the outline should still read as one body between them. This is also where the sealed construction line stops looking mechanical.

    Vorsicht! Scalloping the entire outline evenly, which turns any animal into a sheep.

    Kontrolle Most of the outline should still be smooth between the tufts.

18. Schritt 18

    Hatch the underside, all strokes one direction.

    Two or three patches of parallel strokes - under the belly, behind the shoulder - all leaning the same way, and the drawing suddenly has light in it. Keep the patches small: shading in a sketch is a note about where the dark lives, not a rendering.

    Vorsicht! Scrubbing tone everywhere, which flattens the sketch it took fifteen steps to build.

    Kontrolle All the hatch strokes should lean the same direction.

19. Schritt 19

    Press harder on the keepers; erase the ovals underneath.

    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.

    Vorsicht! Going over every line at the same weight.

    Kontrolle The outline should be clearly darker than the interior marks.