1. Design & Illustration
  2. Drawing/Illustration
  3. Animals

How to Draw a Mouse

Learn how to draw a mouse step by step: the furry body, long scaly tail, tiny paws, and a cute little muzzle with long whiskers!
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This post is part of a series called Learn How to Draw.
How to Sketch the Human Body with Charcoal
How to Draw a Duck
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What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial I will show you how to draw a mouse step by step. Some people are afraid of mice, while others like to keep them as pets. Personally, I think they're very cute, intelligent critters, with a simple body that is perfect to draw for beginners! So if you're not afraid of mice, follow me to learn how to draw a mouse from scratch.

And if you're a little more advanced and you want to learn about all rodents, big and small, you can check these tutorials, too:

1. How to Draw a Mouse's Body

Step 1

Sketch a circle. It doesn't need to be perfect. Draw lightly, to keep these lines barely visible—it will let you cover them later, when they're no longer needed.

draw a circledraw a circledraw a circle

Step 2

Add a smaller circle in the front.

add a smaller circle on frontadd a smaller circle on frontadd a smaller circle on front

Step 3

Draw a curve over both circles, creating a curved back.

draw a curved backdraw a curved backdraw a curved back

Step 4

Connect both circles on the bottom, too, creating an outline of the belly.

draw another curve for bellydraw another curve for bellydraw another curve for belly

Step 5

Add a small circle in the back to create the base of the tail.

add circle for base of tailadd circle for base of tailadd circle for base of tail

Step 6

Outline it to connect it with the rest of the body.

outline base of tailoutline base of tailoutline base of tail

Step 7

Draw the curve of the tail.

draw curve of taildraw curve of taildraw curve of tail

Step 8

Draw circles over the tail's length, making them gradually smaller as you go towards the tip. You can draw as many circles as necessary to see the shape of the tail.

draw circles along taildraw circles along taildraw circles along tail

Step 9

Outline the tail.

outline mouse tailoutline mouse tailoutline mouse tail

Step 10

Additionally, you can draw lines along the tail to better see its 3D shape.

draw 3d lines along taildraw 3d lines along taildraw 3d lines along tail

2. How to Draw a Mouse's Legs

Step 1

Sketch the hind legs in a simple way, with the feet right under the body.

sketch mouse hind legssketch mouse hind legssketch mouse hind legs

Step 2

Add the curve of the forelegs, too.

add curve of forelegsadd curve of forelegsadd curve of forelegs

Step 3

Add the thickness of the joints.

add thickness of mouse jointsadd thickness of mouse jointsadd thickness of mouse joints

Step 4

Add the volume of the "hands" and feet.

add volume of hands feetadd volume of hands feetadd volume of hands feet

Step 5

Sketch the rhythm of the toes. Pay attention to perspective!

sketch rhythm of pawssketch rhythm of pawssketch rhythm of paws

Step 6

Sketch the curve of the middle toes—two in the front and three in the back.

sketch middle toessketch middle toessketch middle toes

Step 7

Add three circular joints to each toe.

add jpoints to toesadd jpoints to toesadd jpoints to toes

Step 8

Add tiny claws.

add mouse clawsadd mouse clawsadd mouse claws

Step 9

Outline the toes.

outline mouse toesoutline mouse toesoutline mouse toes

Step 10

Draw the outer toes the same way.

add curve of outer toesadd curve of outer toesadd curve of outer toes
add joints of outer toesadd joints of outer toesadd joints of outer toes
add claws of outer toesadd claws of outer toesadd claws of outer toes
outline outer toesoutline outer toesoutline outer toes

Step 11

Outline the rest of the paws.

outline mouse pawsoutline mouse pawsoutline mouse paws

Step 12

Add some muscle masses to the legs.

add muscles mouseadd muscles mouseadd muscles mouse

3. How to Draw a Mouse's Head

Step 1

Draw a circle where you want the head to be.

draw circle for headdraw circle for headdraw circle for head

Step 2

Add a smaller circle in the front to create a base for the muzzle.

add smaller circle for muzzleadd smaller circle for muzzleadd smaller circle for muzzle

Step 3

Add a tiny circle in the front for the nose.

add smaller circle for noseadd smaller circle for noseadd smaller circle for nose

Step 4

Outline the whole head and connect it with the body.

outline whole headoutline whole headoutline whole head

Step 5

Add a small oval below to create the lower jaw.

add smaller oval to create jawadd smaller oval to create jawadd smaller oval to create jaw

Step 6

Outline it.

outline lower jawoutline lower jawoutline lower jaw

Step 7

Add two ovals inside the big circle. They will help us see the proportions.

add guide ovals inside faceadd guide ovals inside faceadd guide ovals inside face

Step 8

Add the "eye socket".

add eye socketadd eye socketadd eye socket

Step 9

Add a circular eye.

add circular eyeadd circular eyeadd circular eye

Step 10

Modify the shape of the eye by adding the eyelids.

add eyelids to the eyeadd eyelids to the eyeadd eyelids to the eye

Step 11

Add the space for the whiskers in the front of the muzzle.

add space for whiskersadd space for whiskersadd space for whiskers

Step 12

Time for the ear. Draw a petal-like shape at the back of the head.

draw petal shape for eardraw petal shape for eardraw petal shape for ear

Step 13

Draw the base of the ear in the shape of a bean.

ad base for the earad base for the earad base for the ear

Step 14

Outline the ear.

outline the earoutline the earoutline the ear

Step 15

Draw the ear canal.

draw ear canaldraw ear canaldraw ear canal

Step 16

If you can, draw some lines inside the ear to better see its 3D shape.

draw 3d shape of the eardraw 3d shape of the eardraw 3d shape of the ear

Step 17

Add another ear.

add another earadd another earadd another ear

4. How to Finish the Drawing of a Mouse

Step 1

The guidelines are done! You can now add the final lines on a new sheet of paper, or simply take a darker tool to cover the base.

First, create the outline of the whole body and body features as the guidelines suggest. Draw the claws as a part of the paws—they're almost the same color.

outline the whole bodyoutline the whole bodyoutline the whole body

Step 2

The tail of the mouse is scaled. Draw rings all over it to create rows for scales.

create rows for scalescreate rows for scalescreate rows for scales

Step 3

Cross each row vertically to draw the scales.

cross rows to draw scalescross rows to draw scalescross rows to draw scales

Step 4

Add some hair to the tail.

add hair to tailadd hair to tailadd hair to tail

Step 5

Draw a shine dot in the eye, and a shape on the bottom (for the reflection).

prepare shine for eyesprepare shine for eyesprepare shine for eyes

Step 6

Darken the whole eye, leaving the shine dot white and the reflection shape not completely black.

darken the eyedarken the eyedarken the eye

Step 7

Add the "whisker holes".

add whisker holesadd whisker holesadd whisker holes

Step 8

Add a lot of long, thin whiskers.

add mouse whiskersadd mouse whiskersadd mouse whiskers

Step 9

Darken the inside of the ear

darken the mouse eardarken the mouse eardarken the mouse ear

Step 10

Add some detail to the fur. You don't need to draw all the individual hairs, just the "wrinkles".

add fur detailadd fur detailadd fur detail

Step 11

Shade the mouse subtly

shade mouseshade mouseshade mouse
how to shade animalshow to shade animalshow to shade animals

Step 12

Finally, add a shadow below the mouse, and darken the main outline.

add shadow and dark outlineadd shadow and dark outlineadd shadow and dark outline

So Cute!

Now you know how to draw a cute mouse! If you enjoyed this tutorial, you may also like these:

how to draw a mouse step by stephow to draw a mouse step by stephow to draw a mouse step by step