How to Draw an Owl

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Illustrate the coolest bird around in minutes

Reviewed by Kelly Medford

Last Updated: December 7, 2024 Fact Checked

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Halloween draws nigh, and if there's any bird that symbolizes the Halloween spirit, it's the watchful owl, who sits at his perch high overhead as the undead, headless horsemen, witches, and hobgoblins make their nighttime rounds from house to house in search of sugary treasures. Besides its spooky ties to Halloween, the owl is traditionally known as a wise creature, and was one of the symbols of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. Best of all, drawing an owl is easy and fun!

Owl Drawing 101

Sketch the outline of the owl using a circle for the head and a longer oval for the body. Connect the two shapes roughly by smoothing the sides out like an hourglass. Add eyes and large wings that extend past the base of the body. Add some expressive eyes and feathers to finish.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Drawing an Owl on Paper

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Lightly draw a small oval for the head. Continue with a mango-shaped oval for the body. Next, draw vertical and horizontal lines inside the head oval, into 4 sections. Continue with the feet, drawing two small round shapes. Draw the shape for the wing, and add a tree branch where the owl is standing. For the tail, make a slightly curved line behind the branch.
Draw the chin, beak, eyes, and ears. Continue with curved lines to shape the owl’s body.

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Sketch short jagged lines for texture along the outline of the owl’s body as “guiding lines”, and draw two talons for each foot.
Draw additional short lines all over the owl’s body, following the guiding lines. Add the texture by quickly stroking the pencil downwards, repeatedly.
Add light strokes over the areas of the owl that would likely be shaded.
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Finish the drawing with important last touches.
- Shade the pupils solid dark, while lightly shading the iris.
- Draw additional tiny strokes around the eyes to enhance the feathers around it. Continue this motion for the entire body.
- Erase the guiding lines.
- Add some details to the tree branch.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Drawing an Owl Digitally

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1
Draw a large oval. It doesn't have to be perfect, but try to make it about twice as tall as it is wide. Draw a circle on top for the head, followed by vertical and horizontal lines inside the circle. making 4 sections.^{[1]
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1
Sketch the details of the owl’s head. Draw the chin, beak, eyes, and ears.
- Have fun with the eyes, if you want—you can make a serious owl, with in the middle straight ahead; an owl looking at something, by drawing the pupils pointed left or right; or a goofy, cross-eyed owl.
Guiding lines create the basic shape of the drawing.
3
Trace over the owl sketch with a darker brush to make the outline more neat and visible.
- Omit or add more details to the drawing as you go, for example a tree branch the owl is standing on.
- Experiment with backgrounds using a different layer.
4
Make few short lines using a smaller brush to create a feather texture.
- Add optional lines for details to the tree branch or other background.
Color in the owl on another layer of the drawing.

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How can I improve my owl drawing?

Community Answer

Just keep practicing, and you will get better.

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How can I make it more like a snowy owl?

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Make the owl as it is illustrated in part 2, but leave the face without any detail, except for the eyes and small beak. Also, do not add the ears to the owl, as snowy owl ears are less pronounced.

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How can I improve my shading to make things look more realistic?

Community Answer

Check out the tips in Shade Drawings and Draw with Realistic Shading.

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Tips

Use colored pencils for more detail.

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Add lines for more details and add different shades of the color for affect.

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Putting a branch under it makes it look better.

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

If you're feeling creative, draw a tree and make the owl perch on a branch, or on top of the tree!
For a more finished look, shade the owl with colored pencil and add extra details with a pen.

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