Caroline
The cactus has to be one of the weirdest plants in the world. These prickly plants certainly do not look very inviting, and they can be found in some of the harshest environments on the planet.
They have also come to be associated with cowboys and Western films, and learning how to draw a cartoon cactus can be a fun way to add some flair to your drawings!
We will be showing you how you can do that as we work through the six steps of this guide. Drawing these curious plants isn’t always easy, but it can be made much easier when you have some steps to follow!
Now you’re ready to begin this step-by-step guide on how to draw a cartoon cactus in just 6 fun and easy steps! We hope you enjoy recreating this weird and wonderful plant with us.
Prepare For This Cartoon Cactus Drawing Before You Begin
We’re sure that you’re eager to get started with this drawing of a cactus, but we have a few suggestions that will help you to prepare for your drawing journey.
One way that you can prepare is by getting your drawing tools that you will be needing. If you’re intending to draw with a pen, then you may still wish to get some drawing pencils anyway.
These can be used to sketch out the drawing before you begin, and they can help to make your drawing neater and even better later on. Then, you should get any reference materials you would like for the drawing.
This could include some pictures of real cacti that you would like to use along with the images of the guide. If you’re planning a background, then you can gather reference materials for those as well.
We always think it’s a good idea to use a pencil to sketch out a drawing first, we just touched on. You could start with a few of these sketches to get the hang of the drawing.
Once you feel more confident, you can then start working on the steps of the guide. The more you prepare, the more confident you will be when you do the drawing!
You can also start thinking about the additional elements and ideas you would like to add to the drawing. If you need to, you could practice drawing these as well.
Let’s say you want to add a cowboy to the drawing, you could do some sketches of the character and gather reference materials to help you.
These are some of the things you can do to prepare for this guide. Now you’re ready to begin, so let’s start with the first step!
How to Draw A Cartoon Cactus – Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
We will start things off nice and simple for the first step of this guide on how to draw a cartoon cactus!
We will be drawing the central body of the cactus, and it should be fairly simple for you to do.
First, we will draw the dirt that the cactus is growing from by using three curved horizontal lines connecting to one another.
Then, the cactus itself will extend from this dirt. You can draw this using a long, curved line that curves over.
This will form the shape that you see in the reference image, and you will notice it is thinner at the base than at the top.
That’s all there is to is, so let’s proceed!
Step 2 – Now, draw the first arm of the cartoon cactus
For this next part of your cartoon cactus drawing, we will add the first arm of the cactus.
This one will go on the left-hand side of the cartoon cactus, and it will be rather similarly shaped to the body of the cactus.
The main difference is that it will be more curved and at more of an angle. Other than that, it will be very similar! Then it’s on to step 3 of the guide.
Step 3 – Next, draw the other arm and some grass
Vegetation in desert environments is rather sparse, but you will see little tufts of grass and other plant life here and there.
We will be drawing some of this at the base of the cactus while also finishing off the other arm in this step.
First, let’s draw that arm. This will again be very similarly shaped to the body and other arm that you drew, but it will be even more sharply curved and a bit smaller than the other one.
Then, we will use lots of curved lines with pointy tips at the ends for the grass poking up at the base of the cartoon cactus.
Step 4 – Now, draw the base of the cartoon cactus
Before we add some final touches in the next step of our guide on how to draw a cartoon cactus, we will draw the sandy base at the bottom of the cactus.
This detail will be simple yet effective! All you need to do is draw a curvy line around the base as it appears in the reference image we have provided.
Then, we added some small rounded shapes and dots to give it a sandier texture. You could go for some similar details, but don’t be afraid to add some of your own!
Also, feel free to make this sandy base bigger or smaller depending on your personal preference. It’s up to you, and then you will be ready for those final touches!
Step 5 – Add the final details to your cartoon cactus drawing
What would a cactus be without some spiky texture? Incomplete would be the answer to that, so we will add some needles onto this cactus before coloring it in the final step.
These don’t need to be positioned identically to our example, but you should try to make them fairly consistent.
You’ll notice in our example that they all angle upwards, and this helps them to look more realistic.
When finishing off, you could also draw a background!
These could be as simple as adding some cloud or weather details, but you could also draw a cool cartoon cowboy to hang out by this cactus. What other ideas can you think of?
Step 6 – Finish off your cartoon cactus drawing with color
You’re ready to finish off this cartoon cactus drawing with some colors! In our example image, we showed you one way that you could color this amazing cartoon cactus.
We used a light green for the cactus with streaks of darker green going along the body and the arms.
Then, we used darker greens for the grass and finished off with rich browns for the base. You could go for the same colors, but you could also go ahead with any other color choices you may like!
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different art tools and mediums as well. Let your creativity run wild and see what happens!
Here’s how you can make your cactus drawing even better…
This cactus drawing doesn’t have to be painful with the help of these tips!
This drawing of a cactus is quite simple yet effective. You could use a number of tricks and ideas to make it a little more whimsical and fun!
One way to do this would be by turning the cactus into a cartoon character. This could be as simple as adding a facial expression or some limbs to the cactus.
What sort of cartoon style would you like to create if you were to turn this cactus into a cartoon character?
Whether you turn this cactus into a character or not, it could also be fun to add another cartoon character to the image.
The cactus is often associated with the Wild West, so that could be a good place to start.
For instance, you could draw a cowboy or a bandit hanging out with this cactus. What are some other characters you can think of that would go well with this cactus?
A cactus can come in many different forms, shapes and sizes, so you could make this cactus drawing a bit more interesting by showing different kinds of cacti.
This could be done by altering the design of this cactus in one way. Or, you could surround it with different kinds of cacti.
Looking up different cactus species could be a great way to get some inspiration for different ones you could add to the picture. You could even write what each cactus is called for an educational element to the picture.
Finally, using a background would be a perfect way to finish off this cactus sketch. This is something you could do in conjunction with many of the previous tips we suggested.
For example, if you added a cowboy then you could draw a background that goes well with that character. It could be a dusty town setting or maybe a scorching desert.
Adding a background would also be a perfect way to incorporate different cactus species and other elements!
Your Cartoon Cactus Drawing is Complete!
You did an amazing job working on this guide on how to draw a cartoon cactus! Hopefully you found the guide to be fun and informative as you worked through it.
We wanted to make sure that it would not only be easy to work through but that it would also be loads of fun as well.
We also wanted to leave it open for you to add some extra details and elements of your own as well!
There are so many great extra details you can add to the background to create a whole scene around this awesome cartoon cactus.
We can’t wait to see what kinds of amazing ideas you can come up with!
If you had a great time working on this guide, you can head to our website for even more artistic fun to enjoy!
We have a massive library of free art content to enjoy, and more is on the way that you won’t want to miss.
Lastly, we would love to see how your cartoon cactus drawing turned out! Please share your prickly artwork on our Facebook and Pinterest pages for us to see.
