How to Draw A Cute Duckling. It’s hard not to love ducks because they are full of personality and charm. Because of this and their distinctive looks, they have become popular in art and as cartoon characters.
Also, check our cat coloring sheet.
Ducks are great, but they’re even cuter than little ducklings, and you can’t look at a duckling without melting your heart a little!
Since they are so cute, many would like to know how to draw a cute duckling.
However, that’s easier said than done, and it can be challenging to know where to start. Fear not, and this guide aims to help!
Next, we will show you how to create your own cute duckling drawing in 6 steps. We also review some additional fun details and additions you can draw.
How to Draw A Cute Duckling
Step 1
“There is no duck without a duckbill” is a saying made up for this guide just moments ago, but it still rings true.
This means that a duck’s beak is probably its most recognizable feature.
A duck’s beak (or, more accurately, its beak) is quite long, flat, and orange. Let’s start this guide with Duckbill.
A duck’s beak is quite simple, but it looks a bit more complex, thanks to the angle we’re drawing it from. You can start with a slightly curved vertical line at the top of the beak.
This is where the banknote will later be connected to the face. The left side of the beak is a fairly long, curved line that is fairly smooth.
The left side of the beak extends to the curved base of the beak, which is also the tip of the beak.
You will see that the beak on the right is not a single smooth line like the outline of the beak on the left.
Instead, a small bump will be on the right side, as you can see in the reference image. Finally, we’ll add the bottom of the beak with a curved line at the base.
That’s all the beak has to offer, at least for now. In the next step, we’ll start adding this cute duckling’s head and facial features, so let’s continue with that.
Step 2
You’ve drawn the duck’s beak, and then we’ll draw the head it’s attached to. When drawing the head, we want to recreate the fluffy look of real ducklings.
We do not use a smooth line but an outline with many bumps integrated into it. The duckling’s head is thinner in the upper half and broadens around the beak.
The beak will also look quite small compared to the rest of the head, but not so small that it looks odd. Try to reproduce the size difference that we show in our reference image.
Now that we’ve outlined the head, we can add some facial features to this cute duckling. We’ll start with the duckling’s eyes.
These look simple and are attached to the opposite ends of the face. To draw each eye, start with a simple oval shape.
Next, draw a smaller white spot in each eye to show a glimmer in the eye. Finally, color the eyes solid black except for the small white ovals.
Finally, we’ll add some feathery texture detail to the duck’s face and some small, simple line detail on the face. Having drawn them, we have completed the second step and can proceed to part 3 of the guide.
Step 3
In this third part of your cute duckling, we will add the body of this adorable duckling.
This outline follows the outline of the head you just drew and is mostly a single rounded shape.
This body outline will be drawn with a line style similar to what we used for the head outline.
This means we use a frayed line that gives the duck a fluffy look like a real duckling.
Before you start to outline the body, you can take a pencil and carefully trace the outline of the body and wings to ensure you keep the proportions of the duckling.
If you decide to do this, we recommend pressing down very gently with the stylus and following the general shape you will see later in the guide.
Then you can draw the oval shape of the body. It will be much thinner at the top of the body than at the bottom, as you will see in the example.
We’re also going to add a small wing sticking out from the left side of the body. Just like a real duckling, it will be small, definitely too small to fly.
Once you’re happy with the body’s appearance, you can move on to the next step in the guide.
Step 4
We’ve finished the outline of the head and body of this cute duckling, and then we’re adding some small details to make the duckling look a little more realistic.
Let’s start by adding the duckling’s second wing. This will be done on the right side of the duckling’s body, and because of the perspective, it will look a lot smaller than the one on the left.
Otherwise, it is quite similar and is drawn using the same rough outlines that the rest of the duckling was drawn with.
Now that we’ve drawn the last bit of the body outline, we can focus on adding some details.
These details should be minimal, and you shouldn’t overdo it. Otherwise, the image will look messy. We want to give the duckling’s body and head a fluffy texture.
This can be accomplished by adding small lines inside the outline. These will mostly be close to the duckling’s inner contour to make it look more fluffy.
We’ve shown you where we put these details, but you can always add more details wherever you like. With these final touches, we are ready for step 5!
Make sure everything is how you want it so far because we will work out the final details and ideas in the next step of the guide.
Step 5
It’s time to finalize the final details, tweaks, and ideas for this drawing before we move on to the final phase of this how-to-draw cute duckling guide.
A duck’s beak is one of its most notable physical features, and its feet are probably the second most notable.
The reason for this is the characteristic webbed feet of ducks.
This is the last part of the design that we need to add before adding any more details or elements. You may not believe it, but legs and feet are difficult to draw.
The left slightly overlaps the right one, making this duckling even cuter. The legs are obliquely drawn and very thin.
So each leg has three long, pointed toes, as shown in our reference image. You can then connect your toes with a simple, slightly curved line.
These lines act as a web between your toes. When the outlines of the legs are done, we can add some small line details to make them look more textured.
With that done, you can now add some extras to the image! For example, you can draw a calm lake in the background or add any other settings you like.
Now that you know how to draw this duckling, add some duck friends to spend time with. Or you may want some more birds or small animals for some friends!
Step 6
This is the last step in this guide. Finally, we add some colors to your artwork.
Although the two primary colors of this composition are yellow and orange, we kept them a little more muted.
The beak and feet are orange, while the duck’s feathers are various shades of yellow. Darker shades of these colors can be used to emphasize shade and texture.
If you want to reproduce the lighter look of colors, you can use mediums such as watercolor or colored pencils. These give the colors a friendly soft tone.
If you prefer colors that are a bit more eye-catching, you can use colored pencils, markers, or darker colors.
There are many options, and you can experiment with different mediums and combinations.
You could opt for colors similar to the ones we chose for our example, but feel free to try any other colors you like. They don’t necessarily have to be realistic.
When coloring, don’t forget to fill in the background as well! You already have something to color in when you’ve added details to the background. If not, you can fill it with solid colors or shapes, for example. Now it’s your turn!
Your Cute Duckling Drawing is Finished!