Caroline
When you hear the word ‘panda,’ you’re probably going to think of the giant black and white panda bear. The red panda is quite different from its namesake, however.
While the giant panda is a mighty animal, the little red panda is much smaller and very cute! This makes sense, as the red panda shares only a name with the bigger bear.
Its cuteness has made it very popular around the world, however, and many people would like to know how to draw a red panda.
If you are one of those people then this is the guide for you!
Our step-by-step tutorial on how to draw a red panda will have you creating one of these adorable animals in no time!
How to Draw A Red Panda – Let’s get Started!
Step 1
To get this guide on how to draw a red panda going, we will be starting on the cute little face! There are a lot of little details on this face and it may look complicated, but if you take it slowly then you should have no problems!
One thing that you can try is to use a pencil to draw some basic shapes. You could draw an oval for the head and then use some small triangles for the ears.
Then, using your pen you could add the finer details over this pencil to have it looking more like our reference image.
By following the image closely and taking your time with it then you will definitely be able to do it!
Step 2 – Add a branch and some fur details
Now that you have the head outline of your red panda drawing done, we can start to add some more aspects in this second step.
First, you can draw some thin branches with clumps of thin leaves on the end.
The red panda will be clinging to some bamboo branches in this picture, and that is what you’ll have drawn in this step.
Then, before moving on you can add some fur detail to the face using some small, jagged lines.
Step 3 – Now, you can draw the eyes and more of the branch
In this step of our guide on how to draw a red panda we will be adding the eyes and more of the branch that it is clinging to.
For the eyes, you can draw two small circles with a round line inside of them.
Then, once you have the eyes drawn then you can create some more of the branch by adding more leaves and the thicker part that it is holding on to. Finally you can draw a thick, furry arm drooping over the branch.
Step 4 – Next, draw the body of the red panda on the branch
Next for your red panda drawing, you will be drawing the body laying on the branch. The body will be made up of a combination of straight and more jagged lines for furriness.
Another leg will also be drooped over the branch, as shown in the reference image. Finally, you can draw more leaves poking up over the back of the red panda.
Step 5 – Now, you can add the tail and final details
Before you add some color to your picture, you can add the final details and elements in this step of our guide on how to draw a red panda.
First, you can draw the bottom of the branch that it is lying on and add some more leaves poking down. Then, you can draw a big bushy tail drooping down at the back of the panda.
That will take care of all of the details and elements in this guide! Before you move on to the final step, you can take some time to add your own touches, details and elements.
One great addition would be to create a cool background for this picture to show where this red panda is relaxing.
You could even draw some more animals into the background. Perhaps you could add a giant panda to show the contrast between how both of these pandas look!
What other fun details or background elements can you think of to add?
Step 6 – Finish off your red panda drawing with some color
Now that you have finished your red panda drawing, you’re ready to add some beautiful colors to it!
As the name suggests, red pandas have a lot of red to their coloring, and we incorporated that aspect into our reference image.
As well as red, we also used some browns and orange for some variation. For the branch, we used some darker browns and then some nice, bright green for the leaves.
This is just one way that you could color in this image, however!
Even if you keep the colors more realistic like our image, you can incorporate more colors that you love by coloring in the background elements and details that you may have added.
You can also get some amazing color variation by choosing which art mediums you will use. You could change it up by incorporating acrylic paints or colored pens for more vibrant colors.
On the other hand, watercolors and colored pencils would give a more subdued, pretty look to the picture.
Here’s how you can make your red panda drawing even better…
Hang on for some fun tips you can use to make your red panda sketch even greater!
This drawing of a red panda is done in a fairly realistic style that looks really great. You may want to experiment with different styles to give this drawing a new look.
One way of doing this would be by drawing the red panda in a stylized, cartoony style. This would be a way to make this drawing more fun and whimsical.
Maybe you could make a few versions of this drawing in different styles!
No matter what style you choose for this drawing, you could add some more to the branch that it is sitting on.
How much more you add to the branch would depend on how much space and patience you have.
Then, you could add even more background details to the jungle setting that this red panda would be living in.
You could look up some pictures of the kinds of environments a red panda would live in to help you.
It would also be fun to add some more animals to this red panda drawing. The red panda comes from China, so you could add other animals such as a regular panda.
You don’t have to stick to animals from China, though. You could also create a zoo environment and add any other animals you’d like to see with this red panda.
What are some animals you think you would like to add to this scene?
Finally, once you have the hang of this red panda sketch, you could try portraying it in some different poses.
If you wanted to try this, you could look up some photos of real red pandas and use them along with the guide.
That way, you could also look into including more than one red panda if you want to build a scene for this image.
There are so many fun little scenes you could create with some red panda shenanigans!
How many would you like to add to this scene?
Your Red Panda Drawing is Complete!
With that, you have successfully completed this guide on how to draw a red panda! We hope that this guide showed you not only how easy this drawing can be but that it can also be lots of fun!
By breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps you can make it so much easier on yourself, so that is what we aimed to do with this guide.
Now that you have mastered this guide, you can take it even further by adding your own details and elements!
We mentioned drawing a background or more animals into the picture, but what else can you think of to add to your drawing?
Once you’re ready for a new drawing challenge, you can visit our website for many more awesome guides! We upload new ones frequently, so we hope to see you there often!
We would also love to see your adorable red panda drawing once it’s done. You can let us have a look by sharing it on our Facebook and Pinterest pages!
