Use the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to draw a grizzly bear. Follow along with the video, or use the images in this article. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a completed drawing of this majestic animal!

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To draw this grizzly bear step by step, follow along with the video tutorial below and pause the video after each step to go at your own pace. You may find it easier to follow the step-by-step images below the video. You may want to open the video in a new tab and use both drawing methods.

Materials You'll Need Before starting, gather these basic drawing supplies from Blick Art Materials. If you choose to purchase through these links, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Pencils (an HB lead pencil is best for light sketches)	Kneaded Eraser	Drawing Paper

Step 1: Sketch the Initial Guidelines

For the first few steps, do not press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes for sketching. Begin by establishing the basic foundational shapes for the bear's body structure.

Proportional Circles

• Head Guide: Draw a circle as a guide for the head. To easily draw a circle, first make a couple of small marks to indicate the desired height of your circle. Then create small marks on the sides for the width. Connect these small marks with curved lines, and you have a circle! If you have trouble drawing circles freehand, you can trace an object with a circular edge, such as a coin or bottle cap. Inside the head, add a curved horizontal construction line and a curved vertical construction line. These lines will help you place the facial features later on.
• Front Body Guide: To the left, draw a bigger circle as a guide for the front part of the body. Do not overlap the head. This circle should be about one and a half times the size of the first circle.
• Back Body Guide: Farther left, draw another circle as a guide for the back portion of the body. Draw this circle slightly lower than the first two and do not overlap the front body circle.

Muzzle, Ears, and Limbs

• Muzzle & Ears: On the bottom half of the head, draw a small circle for the muzzle, letting the bottom edge extend outside the head. On top of the head, draw two small arcs for the ears. Keep the ears small in relation to the head.
• Front Legs: Under the left side of the front body circle, draw two long vertical lines for the front leg, making the top wide and the bottom narrow. Add a small oval foot at the bottom. To the right, draw a shorter, large U-shaped line for the stepping front leg with a short curved line at the bottom for the foot.
• Hind Legs: Under the leftmost circle, draw two long curved lines for the hind leg (wide at the top, narrow at the bottom) with an oval foot guide. To the right, draw an angled line as a guide for the final hind leg.

Step 2: Add the Facial Features

Now it is time to build upon your guidelines. Begin by adding the grizzly bear's facial features.

Eyes, Nose, and Mouth Details

• Eyes: Lightly sketch two small football-shaped eyes on top of the horizontal construction guide and on either side of the vertical line. Darken the shapes, point the corners, draw tiny dots for pupils, and add crease lines.
• Nose: Inside the muzzle, sketch a large nose near the bottom right. Darken it with a flat top, curved nostrils with inner arcs, and a pointier bottom edge. Add a couple of short crease lines between the nostrils.
• Mouth and Head Outlines: Draw a horizontal line under the nose for the mouth, curving the left side of the muzzle up toward the eye. Use short strokes along the paths of the initial shapes to form a furry texture for the muzzle, chin, ears, and outer head. Make the sides of the head slightly wider and the top a bit taller than the original guide circle.

Step 3: Draw the Legs and Paws

Move on to the lower half of the drawing to sketch the thick limbs and long claws.

Leg and Paw Outlines

• Front Legs & Claws: Darken the leg guides using short strokes to produce a realistic furry appearance. On the front feet, add thin, sharp, triangular claws, making them smaller as they move to the right. The stepping front foot should remain higher than the resting foot.
• Hind Legs: Darken the guides for the hind legs using short strokes, making the strokes on the right slightly longer to enhance the texture. On the front of the foot, add thin triangular claws with pointy tips, then darken the remaining portion of the foot.

Step 4: Finish Sketching the Body

Complete the main form of the grizzly bear by connecting the head and limbs with its large torso.

Body Shape and Texture

• Shoulder Hump: Outline the upper rest of the body using short strokes, drawing the top part of the back slightly higher than the initial guide circle to establish the bear's distinct shoulder hump.
• Underside: Keep the back portion slightly flatter than the guide circle. Be sure not to overlap the leg that sits on this side of the body when bringing the lines down to finish the underside.

Step 5: Clean Up Your Sketch

Carefully erase the initial construction guides that you don't want in your final piece. Faint lines left behind are perfectly fine, since they will be covered up by your shading. Clean up your final sketch by redrawing any of the final lines that you may have accidentally erased during the process. 

Step 6: Add Shading

Start applying very light pencil shading to establish the first layer of value. Build up from light to dark by pressing harder on your pencil. Work in the general direction of the fur growth, curving your strokes along the natural form of the body. Keep the strokes radiating outward from the nose across the head. Leave subtle gaps between your lines so that the white of the paper shows through, creating a furry, dimensional texture.

Step 7: Finish Shading and Add a Cast Shadow

Introduce darker values into the areas with shadows to give your Grizzly Bear some dimension. Darken your final outer lines to enhance the bear's shape against the background. Finish up by drawing a solid, medium-value cast shadow on the ground directly underneath the paws to ground the animal. Otherwise it might look like it's floating on the paper.

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