How to Draw Pikachu

 

 

Ah, Pokémon! My entire childhood! Who among you doesn't know these charming little creatures? Especially the most famous of them: Pikachu!

 

 

OBSERVATION

Pokémon benefit from having relatively simple and geometric shapes. Pikachu is no exception. A roughly round and chubby head, a potato-shaped body, chubby arms, long and thin hind legs, almond-shaped ears, and a lightning-bolt-shaped tail. Not to mention the completely round eyes and cheeks! If you're looking to draw something relatively simple, there is an article on our blog about 5 easy drawings to do, feel free to check it out! ^^ You will find a black cat, a Mario Galaxy star, and other simple drawings!

It should be noted that Pikachu's proportions are quite simple as well: the head is about half his size, and the tail is as large as Pikachu himself. The arms are about half the height of his body. The ears are as tall as his head. The eyes are located in the middle of his head in height and on the third line in width, with his mouth in the middle and on the lower third line.

 

 

 

 

SKETCHING PIKACHU

 

If I haven't lost you yet, let's move on to drawing!

Pikachu is a rather chubby character. He is entirely round, except for his tail and ears.

Let's start by drawing a circle for his head. You can then draw a line in the middle (both vertically and horizontally), which will then help us place his face.

 

 

 

Let's add the small cheek bulge that gives him his characteristic cute face. The cheeks take up about one third of the height of the head.

 

 

 

For the body, we'll be a bit more subtle. First, let's draw another circle roughly the same size as the head.

 

 

 

 

Now let's add "the thighs," which are like triangles with very rounded corners.

 

 

 

 

 

We can now draw the general shape of his body by connecting our two circles.

 

 

 

Our drawing is starting to take shape! Now the arms. They are two ovals that start from the base of the head. They go down to the middle of the body.

 

 

 

 

Now the hind legs! Nothing too complicated this time: two fairly thin ovals positioned directly below the shoulders are sufficient.

 

 

 

 

The ears are also located directly above the shoulders and hind legs. They are almond-shaped and are as tall as the head. Pikachu's ears are never straight, so always think about tilting them.

 

 

 

 

So that just leaves the tail. I will deliberately divide it into simpler shapes for those who might really struggle. But feel free to draw by eye if you're comfortable :D So let's start by drawing a rectangle about as tall as the entire body (head + abdomen) but only two-thirds as wide. This rectangle starts a third of the way up from the bottom of the body and goes up to roughly the top of the skull (it varies, but it never goes past the ears, unless they are down, of course).

 

 

 

 

From there, don't overthink it - just try to reshape his tail as best as you can. It's okay if you need to redo it several times, I did too! I tried different methods to simplify the explanation or make it easier, but I always ended up complicating things even more. So now is the time to let your observational skills shine!

 

 

 

Overall, you just need to make a shape that looks like stairs or a sawtooth. There's no need for it to be perfect, so you should manage :3

 

 

 

 

 

ADDING THE DETAILS

 

But we haven't finished our little Pikachu yet! There are still several important elements missing! Let's place his eyes! As I already mentioned in the observation section, they are located at half the height of the head and a third of the width. It's simply a circle with another circle inside. As for the size, I'll let you judge, as it tends to vary ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mouth is located in the middle of the head in terms of width (normal, like the nose), and on the line of the lower third in terms of height.

 

 

 

 

 

The nose is located halfway in terms of the distance between the eyes and the mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cheeks are bigger than the eyes. They are placed on the same line as the mouth and to the sides in relation to the eyes. Again, you can choose their location and size yourself ^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto the hands and feet! Draw a small rectangle at the ends of the arms for the fingers.

Once that's done, draw five "teeth" or 5 zigzags, whichever you prefer, which will be the fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the hind legs, it's even simpler: divide the end into three equal parts.

 

 

 

 

 

But we haven't finished yet! There are still the marks on the tail, ears, and back!

For the ears, draw a curve that starts from the inside and descends towards the outside. It takes up about one third of the ear.

 

 

 

 

There are two oval-shaped marks on his back. One is just below the base of the head and the other is about halfway down the abdomen. The marks stop at the cheeks / at the base of the shoulder.

 

 

 

The mark on the tail is serrated and takes up about a third of the length.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEATENING UP THE DRAWING

 

All we have left to do now is to clean up everything by erasing the construction lines: Tadaaa!

Just because we've moved onto the ink stage doesn't mean we can turn off our brains and just trace the lines neatly without thinking. This stage is your last chance to correct any potential issues. I took the opportunity to slightly adjust Pikachu's left eye and cheek and broaden his head a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

COLORING PIKACHU

 

Although the colors are super simple, I can certainly give you some pointers.

Pikachu is a 2D animation and video game character (originally). As such, the design and colors are simple to facilitate the animations.

So, don't hesitate to draw very simple lines and use pure black for the eyes and the tips of the ears.

 

 

 

 

Pikachu's body is golden yellow. That is, a yellow that leans slightly towards orange. Let's fill our little hero with that color.

 

 

The cheeks are a very bright red.

 

 

 

 

The tail and the marks on his back are a milk chocolate color.

 

 

 

 

All that remains now is to place the shadows! Since we're working with an animated character, there are very few shadows. I am going to arbitrarily choose to have the light come from above (this is very often the case with Pikachu).

In fact, Pikachu will have a small shadow under his chin and on the lower part of his body. He will also have one on his tail and on the underside of his ears, at their base.

 

 

 

 

And that's it.

Bravo, bravo! You drew Pikachu!

  

 

Short Recap:

Pikachu has rather simple proportions and shapes. They're all rounded and are mainly circles and ovals.

Pay close attention to these proportions and break them down into simpler geometric shapes if you feel the need.

And for colors, again: think simple and effective!

 

 

 

 

Illustrator and Writer: Camille Rakjah