How to Draw Pikachu


How to Draw Pikachu
How to Draw Pikachu

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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.

 

Drawing of Pikachu's head

 

 

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.

 

Drawing of Pikachu's head 2

 

 

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

 

Drawing of Pikachu's body

 

 

 

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

 

Drawing of Pikachu's Thighs 

 

 

 

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

 

Drawing of Pikachu's back

 

 

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.

 

Drawing of Pikachu's arms

 

 

 

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

 

Drawing of Pikachu's hind legs

 

 

 

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.

 

Drawing of Pikachu's ears

 

 

 

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).

 

Drawing of Pikachu's tail

 

 

 

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!

 

Drawing of Pikachu's Tail 2

 

 

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 ^^

 

 Drawing of Pikachu's eyes

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 Drawing of Pikachu's mouth

 

 

 

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

 

 Drawing of Pikachu's nose

 

 

 

 

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 ^^

 

 Drawing of Pikachu's cheeks

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 Drawing of Pikachu's fingers

 

 

 

 

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

 

Drawing of the details on Pikachu's paws

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Drawing of the marks on Pikachu's ears

 

 

 

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.

Drawing of the marks on Pikachu's back

 

 

 

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

 

Drawing of the marks on Pikachu's tail

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Going over the lines of the Pikachu drawing

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Applying black to the eyes and ears of the Pikachu drawing

 

 

 

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

Applying yellow to Pikachu's body

 

 

The cheeks are a very bright red.

 

Applying red to Pikachu's cheeks

 

 

 

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

 

Applying brown to the marks on Pikachu's back and tail

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Drawing of Pikachu

 

 

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

 


by Liam

Comment(s)

  • It does sound a lot simpler when you put it like that! I just have to try drawing my favorite Pokémon using this method 😁 Thanks for the tutorial!
    • Rakjah Prof
      Pokemons are often built from simple geometric shapes. Identify them and you'll be able to easily draw all your favorite pokemons :D
    • Indeed, I had never paid attention to it before and I tried to draw them directly in their final form but now I am starting to get into the habit of breaking down my models into simple shapes before detailing 😁
  • Hello, Here's my Pikachu :)
    • Rakjah Prof
      Not bad, La Bretonne! It's a bit twisted, but I think if you redo it once or twice it will be reaaaaally cool :D In any case, it has volume and it is coherent and well-structured 👍
  • There you go! I still have work to do on the face perspective and the spikes on the back 😁
    • Rakjah Prof
      Honestly, it's cool Nuddah! The volume of the face indeed needs a little rework, but the body is pretty good :D
    • 👍
  • Bravo!!!
  • here is my hermit mode pikachu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've deviated a bit from the base
    • 😉
    • Rakjah Prof
      Nice copy indeed :) [url]https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2693/0654/products/product-image-379775973_900x.jpg?v=1544723070[/url]
  • I was inspired by this t-shirt, but the figurine is exactly the same.
  • My Pikachu is a bit weird
    • Rakjah Prof
      His eyes are too close together but otherwise he's not bad ^^
  • If you want to see it, it's in my gallery.
  • Here's my Pikachu :) quite happy with myself

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