Drawing is one of the simplest pleasures that life can provide.
While there are all sorts of fancy equipment you can buy, you don’t need all of that to produce a quality picture.
Any pencil, some paper, and you’re good to go.
We’re all about goats here, and there’s no shortage of goats in art—so if you’re wondering how to draw your own goat, we’ve outlined nine steps here for drawing a simple, cartoon-style goat.
Let’s get started.
Start with an oval
To begin with, let’s keep things simple.
We’ll start with the head, so you need to draw an oval, at a slight angle.
Whenever you’re drawing an outline, be sure not to press down too hard.
Drawing never comes perfectly the first time, and you’ll want to make it easier to erase any parts you aren’t happy with.
Use light strokes so you can change it as you like.
Fill in the goat’s head and add ears
Now, once you’ve got an outline you’re happy with, fill it in a bit more sharply.
This will accent the head and give it a clear definition but done on the outline that you think works.
Make sure you are happy with the shape, so you don’t have to erase solid lines.
Once you’ve got a head, you’re fully happy with, draw some floppy ears on either side of the head.
One ear should come out of the side of the head where we can’t see, and the other should come out from just inside the head outline.
Erase any overlapping lines to keep the drawing neat where the head and ear cross.
Outline the body
Now, it’s time to add the outline of the body.
Remember, outline—don’t press too hard.
Draw a long, curved shape, almost like a bean tapering at the top.
Start just under the chin.
Try a couple of things if you’re not happy with the outline of the body until you get the positioning right.
The lines can be as thick as you want but try to keep some uniformity with the head.
Add the hind legs to the body
Now let’s add some legs.
Draw a curved line facing the goat’s back, at the bottom, to represent the leg joint where it meets and attaches to the body.
Then add parallel lines and connect them with a diagonal line at the bottom.
These lines should form a bending leg.
Again, erase any overlapping lines where the initial outline of the body was.
Add the front legs
Next, draw to diagonal lines curved at the bottom coming from the upper body above the back legs.
Make sure they are parallel, and you’ll have its front legs.
Erase the overlapping lines once again, so neaten it up.
Add a tail
At the very base of the goat’s back, on the opposite side to the legs and roughly at the same level, draw a tail.
Goat’s tails come in a variety of forms, so you can do what you like with them.
One of the easiest ways, though, is to draw a short, fuzzy tail, bushy at the end.
Horns on the head
Now let’s go back up to the head.
Draw two triangular shapes at the top of the goat’s head, tapering off towards the end.
Try to make them angle backward as though they are tilted, just as a real goat’s horns are.
You can make the ends sharp or blunt—it’s up to you.
Begin adding detail
Taking a look at the goat as a whole, begin adding detail across its body.
Hooves are a nice and simple place to start—just add a line at the bottom of each leg, parallel with the bottom of its feet a little up.
Draw a nose and mouth on the head—these need just be a couple of lines.
Add patterns to the horns, like lines.
You could add two or three lines going up to the top of them at regular intervals.
Any other details you feel like adding, such as accents on the fur or anything like that can be a great addition.
Eyes
Now let’s add the eyes.
Draw two oval shapes roughly halfway up its head, and add two tiny circles to act as pupils.
Shade the rest of the eyes in black, leaving the pupils clear, and your goat has some shiny eyes.
Be careful to keep the shape round to avoid it looking sad or angry—unless that’s what you want!
To color or not to color
Now your drawing is done—or is it?
At this point, if you want, you could use crayons or even watercolors to add some color to the drawing.
You may want to live it simply as the linework, which also looks great—it’s really up to you!
And there you have it!
If you followed the steps then you should have something that looks like a goat down on paper.
If you’re not happy with the way the goat looks, then there’s nothing to stop you from going back and trying again.
Like with anything, drawing is a case of repetition and persistence—even with the best guide in the world, the skill doesn’t come overnight.
But that’s the beauty of persistence—you’ll see your own progress as you get better.
Happy drawing!