Please PAUSE the "How to Draw a Puffin" video after each step to draw at your own pace.
For the first few steps, don't press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.
Step 1: Draw a circle as a guide for the top part of the puffin's body. The circle doesn't have to be perfect. It's just a guide. Leave enough room on the top right for the puffin's head and on the left for the tail.
Step 2: Draw an arc on the lower left side of the circle to finish up the guide for the puffin's body. The end result should be a shape similar to an egg.
Step 3: Draw another circle above the body as a guide for the puffin's head. The circle should be about one-third the size of the first one.
Step 4: Draw a triangle-like shape on the right side of the head as a guide for the puffin's beak.
Step 5: Draw a couple of lines that connect the puffin's head and body to form the neck, and draw another triangle-like shape for the bird's tail.
Step 6: Under the body, drawn an L-shaped line as a guide for the puffin's feet.
That's it for the initial sketch! From this point on, press harder with your pencil to get a more defined sketch.
Step 7: Draw the eye as a small circle on the top right part of the puffin's head. Add a tiny circle inside the eye to represent glare and a bigger dot in the middle for the pupil. Shade in the rest of the eye using a value that's lighter than the pupil.
Step 8: Add a few more details around the eye to create the characteristic puffin look. Draw a circle around the eye and a few angled lines around the circle. The fleshy portion around the bird's eye should form a triangle-like shape. Add a line on the cheek for the feathers.
Step 9: Use the triangle-like shape as a guide to draw the top part of the puffin's beak. Use the right edge of the circle as a guide to draw the base of the puffin's beak as a thick wavy line. Follow the path of the triangle-like shape as you darken the line to form the top part of the beak. Draw a line near the middle part of the shape for the beak's opening. On the lower left side, draw a series of curved lines for the fleshy portion of the puffin's beak. Draw some lines within the beak for the nostril and as extra detail.
Step 10: Now draw the lower part of the beak the same way. Use the triangle-like shape as a guide and add the fleshy part, the base and the detail within the puffin's beak.
Step 11: Use the initial circle as a guide to draw the rest of the puffin's head. Follow the path of the circle as you darken the lines to create the head. Draw a couple of lines within the head using quick, short strokes to indicate the color separation of the feathers.
Step 12: Use the initial shapes as guides to draw the puffin's body. Follow the path created by the egg shape and darken the lines to create the body.
Step 13: Draw the puffin's the wing inside the shape of the body using a series of curved lines. The line to create the edge of the folded wing should be pretty parallel to the line for the lower body and tail. Inside the shape of the wing, draw a series of curved lines for the detail on the individual feathers. Draw a line consisting of quick, short strokes above the chest to indicate the feather color separation.
Step 14: Use the triangle-like shape on the lower left side as a guide to draw the puffin's tail. Use a thin arc for the wing on the other side and for the tail. Draw the bird's feathers underneath using curved lines.
Step 15: Use the L-shaped line as a guide to draw the puffin's feet under the body. First draw the feathers at the base. Then draw the feet by following the path of the guide. The webbing won't be noticeable because of the perspective. Most of the foot on the other side is hiding behind the foot in front, so only draw the visible portion.
Step 16 (optional): For a cleaner look, erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don't worry about erasing all of the guides. It's okay to leave some behind. Also re-draw any final sketch lines that you may have accidentally erased.
Final Step (optional): Puffins have brightly colored beaks, so instead of the usual shading, try coloring your puffin drawing. Using gray, add some shading to give the drawing more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source to draw the shadows consistently. Shadows are generally at the cool end of the color spectrum, so add some blue or purple to the shadows. Draw a cast shadow underneath using gray and blue. This helps ground the puffin so it doesn't appear to be floating.
Use black on the puffin's body except for the face and chest. Try to add the black using strokes that go in the general direction of the puffin's feathers. Coloring the black section can be very time-consuming, so be patient and take breaks. Some of this process is edited out of the video. You can vary the pressure on the color to achieve different shades of black for a more textured look on the puffin's feathers. Add some blue to the feathers so the black won't be so flat.
Use a lighter gray for the fleshy portion around the puffin's eyes and for the base of the beak. add some orange to the tip of the beak and to the feet. It's always a good idea to use reference to accurately color your drawings. Use red-orange to give the beak and feet a deeper, richer look. Use a bit of yellow-orange for more vibrant highlights. Continue adding these colors on top of each other to achieve the classic puffin look. Add darker tones throughout the puffin's body using black and brown for a richer contrast. Remember to pause the "How to Draw a Puffin" video after each step to draw at your own pace.
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