Caroline
Cows have been at our sides for thousands of years as a vital part of farming and agriculture.
These gentle animals also come in many different varieties, with different color schemes, patterns and body types.
Because of their distinctive look and many different color schemes, cows have been a favorite subject for artists for many years.
If you would also like to create a cow artwork, you are probably wondering how you can learn how to draw a cow.
We created this step-by-step guide on how to draw a cow to make it so that you can learn to do it yourself in no time!
How to Draw A Cow – Let’s get Started!
Step 1
For the first step in this guide on how to draw a cow, we will be starting with the outline of the head. To do this, we will start by drawing a long, curved line that will look like a stretched U.
Once you have that line in, you can draw another much smaller curved line above it, making sure to leave a little space between both lines, as you will be adding in the ears and horns at those spaces.
Step 2 – Next, draw in the ears
In the second step of your cow drawing, you will be adding in some ears to your cow. Just below the spaces that we left between the lines earlier, you can draw in the distinctive cow ear shapes.
These are thin at the base and get thicker the further they go out, as you can see in the reference image.
Step 3 – Now, draw in the cow’s horns
Now that we have the ears of your cow drawn in, you can add in the small horns in the space you left for them earlier.
You can draw in the horns using some curved lines that end in a sharp point like you see in the picture.
Step 4 – Next, draw in the cow’s body
For the next step in this guide on how to draw a cow, you can add in the top of the body.
To do this, we will be using a line coming from the head that curves slightly in the middle and then curves down strongly to form the back end of the cow.
Step 5 – Add in the legs and belly
Your cow drawing is really starting to take shape now! For this next step, we will be focusing on two of the legs and the belly of your cow.
Using some more curved lines, you can add in the neck and then the leg portions as you see them in the picture. For now, we will be leaving a space between the chest and the leg on our left.
Step 6 – Next, draw in the legs, udder and tail
To draw in the other legs of your cow drawing, you can draw in smaller versions of the legs that you drew in the previous step.
Once you have all the legs in, you can draw in the udder and tail as they appear in the reference picture.
Step 7 – Next, draw in the face of your cow
Your cow drawing needs a happy face, so we will be drawing in a cute face for your cow in this step!
We’ve shown you one way you could draw it in using some curved lines and circular shapes in the reference picture.
You could draw in the face of your cow as it appears in our image, or you could change up some elements to create a unique face for your drawing!
Step 8 – Draw in the spots and other details
Every cow needs some spots, and that’s what we will be adding along with some final details for your cow drawing! Simply draw in a few irregular shapes as you see them in the picture.
You can also change the positions of the spots if you prefer! Once you’re happy with how the spots look, you can add in some final details.
These include lines under the head, at the knees and above the hooves for some details to finish off your cow drawing!
Step 9 – Now finish it off with some color
With those final details added in, you have successfully learned how to draw a cow! While the drawing may be complete, there’s still one more step to complete.
Luckily, it’s a really fun step! For the final step, you get to unleash your creativity with your favorite colors.
We have shown one way you could color in your cow drawing in the reference picture, but for this stage, you should let your imagination run wild and use whichever colors make you happy!
You could also draw in a nice background for your cow drawing as well if you’re feeling extra creative.
It can also be a lot of fun to experiment with different art mediums such as acrylic paints, watercolors and colored pens for some wonderful different looks to your colors!
3 More tips to make your cow drawing easy!
Find out how to make this cute drawing even more of a breeze with these tips!
This cartoon cow is done in a really cute style! Just because it looks cartoony doesn’t mean you can’t use some pictures of real cows to help you when drawing it.
Using a photo online will help you get the proportions of the legs, body and tail looking even better. It will also help with the cow’s spots and facial details.
This would also be great if you wanted a more realistic look for this cow anyway. That being said, you could also use this method if you want to keep this cow drawing more cartoony but just need a bit more help!
Using some basic shapes drawn with a pencil would also help to make this drawing of a cow easier to draw. Using your pencil, look at the steps of our guide and then roughly draw the shapes.
These could be a shorter oval for the head and then a longer one for the body. This will help you to make the proportions more consistent.
Then, you can start adding finer details with darker pencils before drawing the final lines with your pen.
Finally, carefully erase all of the pencil once your pen ink is dry. Even the most accomplished artists use tricks like this, so there is no shame in using your pencil to lay some groundwork!
The best way to make this easy to draw cow is by getting a big stack of paper and plenty of drawing supplies.
Just keep following the steps in the guide and the tips we have provided here. If you find yourself stuck, just start again!
Perseverance is the key, and patience is always rewarded in art. No matter how many tries it takes you, you will eventually end up with an artwork you love. People will only see the end result, so there is absolutely no shame in making many attempts before you’re happy with it!
A Few Extra Ideas To Make Your Cow Drawing Even Better
You have made it through all of the steps, and we have also gone over a few tips that can make your drawing easier.
Before we finish off this guide for good, we have a few more ideas that can make your drawing even better!
For starters, you could add some additional details. These could be very simple, such as a bell around the cow’s neck.
You could also go a lot more complicated with it and add a whole background to the image. Adding some pastures and even a farmhouse to the background would really give this image a sense of place.
It could also be fun to add some text to the picture. Maybe you would like to give the cow a name, for instance.
Let’s say you name her Mabel, you could write the name out in big block letters beneath the cow to show everyone what her name is. These are simple ideas, but they can make a big difference!
If you feel really confident with this drawing, then you could even attempt different poses and facial expressions. These could also help to make this drawing even more unique.
Now that you know how to draw a cow, you could also add some friends for her to hang out with. You would merely need to follow the steps again and change a few details to make her new friends unique.
If you want to make your picture look unique, you can also go for interesting art tools and mediums. For example, let’s say you want a bell on her neck.
You could find a mini bell and stick it onto the picture for a 3D aspect! What other ideas do you have?
Your Cow Drawing is Complete
We really hope that this step-by-step guide on how to draw a cow in 9 steps was a lot of helpful fun for you to use! When taking on a new drawing challenge, it can often seem pretty hard at first.
Our goal with this guide was to make the process of learning how to draw a cow not only much easier but also fun!
By breaking down the task into smaller steps, it can be made so much simpler to learn. Now that you can draw a cute cow, you can personalize your drawing in many ways.
Whether it’s with the colors you use, drawing variations or maybe a nice background, the sky is the limit! You should really let your creativity run wild and see what you come up with.
We will be releasing lots of new step-by-step drawing guides constantly, so be sure to check in to our site frequently to never miss out!
Once you’ve finished your amazing cow drawings, we hope that you will share them to our Facebook and Pinterest pages for us to see!
We always love to see how incredibly creative you all are, and we can’t wait to see your cow drawings!
Here Is A Cute Cow Drawing To Inspire You!
There is such a lovely calm feeling in this cute cow drawing for kids. It was drawn by our artist Amanda to help you as you work on your own drawing.
This cow is drawn in a simple yet lovely cartoon style that allows you to see one way of doing it while also putting your own spin on it.
The cow looks cute on her own, but there is also a charming background.
The clouds and flowers in the background help to make this picture so calming to behold. Amanda kept it simple enough that you could add some more details easily if you wanted to do so.
Of course, you also may wish to keep the focus on the cute cow herself. This drawing is meant to get your imagination going, so try your best and see what happens!
