Easy Guide to Drawing Kawaii Characters : Part 2 : How to Draw Kawaii Animals & Critters, Expressions, Faces, Body Poses

This is a huge guide to drawing in Kawaii Style (Super Cute Kawaii Animals and Critters : Faces and Body Poses). This is Part II to our Kawaii Style Drawing Guide (HERE IS PART ONE : DRAWING KAWAII PEOPLE). The first part was for people, and this second part is for animals and critters. We have several reference sheets below that will show you how to draw Kawaii animal poses, facial expressions / emotions, kawaii faces, and color palettes for Kawaii style as well. This is a page that you should bookmark and reference often. Have fun and Happy Drawing!

You Might Also Like Our Other Kawaii / Chibi Lessons

Easy Guide to Drawing Kawaii Characters : Part 2 : How to Draw Kawaii Animals & Critters, Expressions, Faces, Body Poses

Keep Things Simple -Simplify Every Feature to Make it Automatically Cuter

The reason I love Kawaii style is because you don’t have to draw every feature with great detail. In fact, with Kawaii-style you just simplify all the shapes. So if you look in the picture above, the Platypus has webbed feet. In our Kawaii version we almost completely ignore the curved, webbed parts of the feet. We just draw the basic shape of Perry’s feet.

Also the outside outline of the Kawaii style drawing should be recognizable on its own. In the outline above, we can tell that the animal has a beaver-like tail and by the shape of the outline, I would assume that it is either a beaver or a Playtpus. Keeping everything simple is the way to do it in Kawaii style. And this is what makes this style the easiest for kids to learn how to draw.

Kawaii Style Animals / Characters are Out of Proportions

In order to make the kawaii characters cute, you need to make them chubbier, shorter, and their eyes, nose, and mouth need to be lower on the body. Do you know why this works? Babies and children have chubbier, shorter bodies, and their eyes, nose, and mouth are lower on the face than an adult’s. On most Kawaii style animals, you will see large oval eyes. Larger eyes look cuter, so if you can, make the eyes larger, as we have.

Make Arms and Legs Stubby and Very Simplified

Arms and Legs in Kawaii style are very simplified, short, and chubby. So for example, notice in the picture above that you can’t see the toes of the paws. And the shape of the top paws are just triangle-like shapes…these are very simplified versions of what a normal cat’s paw would look like. This is one drawing style that you can get away with that you don’t even need to know how to draw well. Just learn a few simple shapes for legs and arms and you will be able to draw in Kawaii Style.

Notice in the drawing above, that the proportions of the head are way bigger than they should be for the size of the body. This is partially what makes kittens so cute (as well as babies). In Kawaii, we use this knowledge of what makes a baby or a kitten cute, and we use it to our benefit. Increase the size of the head and make the body smaller, to make sure your Kawaii characters look super cute.

Everything is Less Difficult to Draw in Kawaii Style

Look at the Mickey Mouse on the right. Doesn’t his hands look like they would be difficult to draw? Well, the good news is that in Kawaii you don’t need to draw those fingers or anything complicated. Just draw the hand as stubs as I have, and nobody will know the difference. Look at those humongous feet on the Mickey on the right side. Well this won’t do on a Kawaii Style Mickey, as the feet will need to stay tiny compared to his head. Just draw letter ‘C’ shaped feet on Kawaii Mickey and call it a day. Easy squeezy!

Kawaii Animals Love to Cuddle, Snuggle, and to be Stacked on Top of Each Other

You can’t fail at a Kawaii style picture if you decide to stack them. Kawaii style is all about cuteness and nothing is cuter than hugs and snuggles.

You can even stack them in an ice cream cone if you want to. You can turn them into any type of food, such as a layered cupcake made up of kawaii animals. That is what Kawaii style is all about…about being silly!

A Reference to Kawaii Animal Bodies / Kawaii Animal Body Poses

Here are some good Kawaii animal body poses that are good to keep as reference...remember to bookmark this page to come back to often. Unlike other styles of drawing…the feet and hands have almost not detail at all…this makes it very easy to draw Kawaii poses. Don’t think too hard about it…just try and I bet you can do it.

Guide to Drawing Animal Kawaii Facial Emotions and Expressions

As you will notice, these expressions are the same as in Part 1. That is because expressions are the same for people and animals in Kawaii style. Kawaii expressions are very easy to draw, which is one of the things that makes kawaii style such a great place for new drawers to start learning how to draw. Bookmark this page to come back to this guide often.

Use Simple Flat Colors – No Shading

Don’t shade the Kawaii characters. Just use one color in your kawaii drawings. The colors to choose from are below.

Colors to Use in Your Kawaii Drawings (Color Palette)

Here are the colors that are usually used in Kawaii style drawings. Colors are usually muted as in pastels. Other times bright colors are used in kawaii drawings.

So use what I have told you to draw some of your own characters. Have fun!!

If you didn’t see Part I …. here it is

You Might Also Like Our Other Kawaii / Chibi Lessons

(HERE IS PART ONE : DRAWING KAWAII PEOPLE).

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