Foxes are unique creatures, easily recognizable, and suitable as drawing subjects. Whether you want to draw a fox in a cartoon style or more realistically, start by outlining its shape consisting of various ovals and circles using a pencil. Then, fill in the finer details and define the initial outline using a pen. Finish your drawing by adding color, then try to draw other cute animals!
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Method 1 of 3: Creating a Realistic Fox (Standing)
Step 1. Draw a circle in the center of the page as the fox's head
Instead of drawing a perfect circle, make a slightly flattened part of the fox's neck, for example the bottom right of the circle. Draw lightly with a pencil.
Use a pencil to draw all the initial sketches, and lightly stroke them. Thus, all mistakes when drawing can be easily erased
Step 2. Add 3 egg-shaped ovals on the head as ears and muzzle
If you think of the fox's head as a clock, the ears would be at 10 and 1 o'clock. Make the muzzle slightly larger than the ears and place it around 7 o'clock.
The narrower "end" of the egg should cross the outline of the circle's head. Make the left ear, the right ear, and the muzzle outside the circle
Step 3. Overlap the lower right part of the head with a slightly larger circle to make the neck
Make sure this circle is about 1/3 bigger than the size of the head, and make it slightly oval. About of this large circle overlaps the lower right of the head circle.
Step 4. Draw a larger oval to make the body of the fox
This oval extends to the right and is slightly below the neck circle. This oval also overlaps slightly with the neck loop and slightly touches the head circumference.
Make the body of the fox 1.5 times higher than the neck circle and 3 times wider
Step 5. Draw a set of long ovals as the feet and front paws of the fox
Make the shoulder oval extend vertically, and position it slightly overlapping the neck oval and continuing until it is slightly below the body oval, tilting it about 30 degrees in front of the fox. Make the leg oval twice as long, but only half as wide as the shoulder oval, and extending straight down. Draw an oval of the claw that forms a right angle with the foot.
After completing the outline of the forelegs on the near side, draw the front legs of the fox on the far side. Make the leg on the far side extend slightly in front of the leg on the near side
Step 6. Follow a similar process using 4 ovals as the two hind legs
Make the back shoulder 1.5 times longer and twice wider than the front shoulder. Instead of drawing one leg oval, make 2 ovals that meet at a 30 degree angle to draw the knee joint. Make the back paw oval the same size as the front paw.
- The knees of the fox's hind legs bend toward the tail, and not toward the head.
- Like the front legs on the far side of the fox, draw the hind legs on the far side of the fox in the same proportions as the back legs on the near side.
Step 7. Draw the fox's tail by making a long, banana-shaped oval
Start the tail oval from the fox's back and work your way down to near the feet. Make the oval wide enough so that it overlaps the back shoulder and knee on the near side.
- Draw the tail more or less at the same angle as the upper hind legs.
- Make the tail the same length as the body oval, but twice as narrow.
Step 8. Define the shape of the fox's body and add facial features
Once you've finished outlining the fox shape using various ovals, add detail to the various features. Make the fox's body slimmer on the belly, and contour the legs to give it a more muscular look. Make the tail slightly wavy, and apply small curved lines to give the appearance of fur on the tail and front of the chest.
The fox has narrow eyes that are shaped like american football balls, a slender snout with a slightly rounded nose, and angular but slightly rounded ears. Describing facial features can be the hardest part so it's a good idea to take a picture of the fox for reference
Step 9. Thicken the drawing of the fox with the pen, and erase the outline from the pencil
In other words, trace the outline of the body, legs, tail, head, and face you just created. Then, erase all the initial ovals used to draw the outline of the fox.
If you previously drew lightly with a pencil, the outline should be easy to erase
Step 10. Apply color, if necessary, to complete the image
Paint the lower half of the legs white, the lower third of the tail, the front of the chest, and the lower half of the fox's snout. A fox's fur can be red, orange, or brown, but it's usually the "burnt orange" color that closely resembles that of a real fox.
Method 2 of 3: Creating a Realistic Fox (Sitting)
Step 1. Start by creating a circle and a curved line that extends from the bottom left
These circles and curved lines will look like balloons blowing in the wind, or popsicles with bent stems. The circle will be the fox's head, and the curved line will be its back.
Draw a curved line about 3 times longer than the diameter of the circle
Step 2. Draw pointed ears and a round muzzle on the circle of the head
Make a "T" in the bottom half of the circle. Extend the bottom line of the "T" all the way through the circle, then make a "U" shape for the fox's snout around the vertical line that goes through the circle's edges.
Draw 2 high and pointed curved lines, more or less resembling the shape of the wishbone for the ears. Think of the circle of the face as a clock, and position the ears at 10 and 2 o'clock
Step 3. Add circles and other curved lines to outline the body and hamstrings of the fox
Basically, you create an inverted reflection of the circle and the first curved line so that the two curved lines connect the two circles. The two lines should form like brackets () with the bottom circle being more oval in shape.
Don't center the fox's hamstrings just below its head. Instead, position it around under the left ear
Step 4. Add ovals and lines to outline the tail and legs
For the legs, create an irregular oval that narrows on the front side of the fox and looks a bit flat as if it's squashed at the top. Overlap and extend past the lower half of the oval of the fox's thigh.
- For the front shoulder on the near side, draw a circle slightly smaller than the head and place it exactly between the 2 curves of the shape of the fox's body. Extend the line down from the circle at a 30-degree angle, then draw a parallel line that extends from the curve of the fox's belly.
- These two parallel lines determine the position of the fox's front legs.
Step 5. Thicken the fox's legs and add a triangle as the front paw
Draw parallel lines on both sides of each line drawn as legs. The thickness of each leg should be about the diameter of the upper shoulder circle. Make a triangle at each bottom of the foot as the paw of the forelegs.
Step 6. Draw the face and jagged lines as fox fur
Circle the fine lines of your fox sketch and apply jagged lines to the furry parts of the fox's body, such as the chest and back, inside the ears, around the tail, above the thighs, under the shoulders, and on the paws. Then, use the T shape of the face as a guide for the eyes, nose, and mouth of the fox.
Make 2 american football ball eyes on the bottom side of the horizontal line on the letter T. Also draw a nose circle in the middle of the U-shaped muzzle. Make a mouth with a simple horizontal line along the bottom quarter of the snout
Step 7. Thicken the detailed lines using a pen and erase the outlines of the sketch pencil
Trace the serrations that make up the fur, and highlight the features on the face, paws, and other areas of the fox's body for more detail. When all the important parts have been bolded with pencil, erase the outline of the sketch pencil.
Step 8. Add color to the image, if you wish
Foxes usually have a “burnt orange” color, but some are red, orange, or brown. Choose the fur color you like.
Foxes also have white fur, usually on the inside of the ears, the lower half of the snout, the underside of the neck and front of the chest, the tip of the tail, and (sometimes) the paws and the lower half of the legs
Method 3 of 3: Draw a Cartoon Fox
Step 1. Draw an egg-like oval in the center of the page as the fox's head
Make the oval slightly angled, for example so that the "pointed" end of the oval is pointing to the left. Since you're going to be drawing a cartoon, make a big fox head!
Sketch lightly with a pencil so that all mistakes can be easily erased
Step 2. Draw two smaller egg ovals on top of the head
Think of the head as a clock and make ears at the 12 and 3 o'clock directions. Make the far side of the "egg" ear pointing straight up, and the side near the ear pointing towards the (prospective) fox tail at a 30 degree angle.
Step 3. Create an oval for the body that is the same size as the head
Center the oval under the side near the ear so that it overlaps slightly on the underside of the head.
Since this fox is a cartoon, you can adjust the proportions to your liking. If you want the fox's head to be bigger than its body, draw it
Step 4. Sketch 3 pairs of ovals for the 2 front and 1 hind legs
For the legs, evenly space 3 upright ovals along the bottom of the fox's body oval. Arrange so that about the top half of each leg oval overlaps with the body oval. Add 3 small horizontal ovals on the lower ends of the legs to make the fox claws. Each of these small ovals overlaps in half with the lower leg.
For cartoons, only 3 are visible due to the point of view. The hind legs of the fox on the far side are hidden behind the hind legs on the near side
Step 5. Apply a tail in the shape of a cloud, thought balloon, or bean
It is difficult to describe the shape of a fox's tail; Just imagine a question mark balloon being filled with too much air! Anyway, extend this curved tail away from the back side of the body oval, and overlap it a bit.
Make the tail almost the same size as the head and at the same height
Step 6. Define the features of the fox in the rough outline
For example, make the tail twist up in the outline created. Similarly, define the inside of the ear and the claws. Draw a concave arch over the oval front of the head to help define the muzzle. Then, put a smiley mouth, nose, and round eyes.
Since you made a cartoon fox, feel free to express yourself. You can make the fox look more human, more realistic, or whatever you want
Step 7. Thicken the final outline and erase the initial pencil sketch
Trace the features you made so permanent using a pen or marker. After that, use an eraser to remove pencil lines from your initial sketch.
Step 8. Color the cartoon fox to complete the picture
Choose a “burnt orange” color for the closest look to a real fox, but you can also go for red. Dab white on the chest, muzzle, lower legs, paws, and tail of the fox.
