Add some details to the heels. The bones are really showing in this area, and they create a typical horse look.
How to Draw a Unicorn Step by Step
What I love most about drawing is that it lets us picture unreal things as if they were real. If you want to feel the thrill of creation, in this tutorial I will show you how to draw a realistic unicorn. These creatures were not just “horses with horns”—they were described as similar to goats, with cloven hooves and a donkey-like tail. Their horns were said to have magical powers, but since the animals were so timid, you’d need the help of a gentle maiden to capture one.
Today, unicorns are no longer believed to be real, but you can bring one to life with art. You don’t need to know how to draw horses, or horns—I will lead you step by step! But if you want to be better prepared, try this tutorial first:
How to Draw Animals: Horses, Their Anatomy and Poses
Running horses are beautiful and graceful creatures. However, they can be one of the hardest animals to draw. I will show you how to draw this majestic.
Monika Zagrobelna 14 Nov 2013
What You Will Learn in This Easy Unicorn Drawing Tutorial
- How to sketch the pose of a unicorn
- How to draw a unicorn’s body
- How to draw a unicorn horn
- How to add the final unicorn drawing touches
Step 1
The first step in this easy unicorn drawing tutorial is the sketch. Start with an oval for the chest. It doesn’t need to be a perfect oval, and feel free to correct it as many times as necessary. The lines I’m showing you here are clean so that you can see exactly what I’m drawing—normally they would be much messier!
Step 2
Add the rump. Its size and distance from the chest will define the shape of the body. If this were a real horse, you’d need to be careful to achieve the right shape, but unicorns aren’t really horses—they’re considered a different species, often smaller/slimmer. So don’t worry if yours looks different than mine!
Step 3
Add the neck and head. Again, you can use my proportions or modify them for something more original.
Step 4
You can choose any pose you like for your unicorn, but it will be the most realistic if you borrow it from a horse. Check my tutorial about drawing horses to pick a pose. I’ve decided to use a frame from a canter—it’s a fast but very graceful running gait.
Step 5
Finally, add a tail to your easy unicorn drawing sketch:
Draw unicorns
A horse body with a mighty horn – The most challenging part of unicorns or centaurs is undoubtedly the horse body. It is very helpful to be able to draw horses or be experienced in it before attempting to create these mythical creatures. For this purpose, I have provided a horse tutorial.
In my blog, you will also find a guide on how to draw a comic unicorn. And here, I will show you directly how I have drawn the comic unicorn depicted above and how you can draw it too:
Learn to draw unicorn head
In the first example I will show you how to draw the head of a unicorn. The easiest way is to take a photo template of a real horse to orient yourself on it. The horn can then be drawn to it. How you want to design the horn is entirely up to your imagination. Also how you want to color the unicorn.
Here you can see a step by step tutorial for a unicorn head. In the last step, I traced the image again with Copic Multiliners on marker paper to be able to color it with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen Big Brush.
Drawing galloping unicorn
In this tutorial I show you step by step how to draw a unicorn at a gallop. First, I sketched the dynamic movement (red lines) and aligned with it by means of basic shapes formed the body of the unicorn. In the individual steps that follow, you will see how the drawing slowly develops piece by piece until the finished unicorn image.
In this step you can see how the unicorn picture was colored with Touch Markers. First I transferred the contours with Copic Multiliners and then painted first the basic color and then the shades.
Draw a kneeling unicorn
Here is a final example of a unicorn drawing; a kneeling unicorn. Here, too, a photo template was the source of ideas. However, pay attention to how the horn behaves. In many fantasy pictures of unicorns, the horn is very long (about 1-2 meters), so that the unicorn’s freedom of movement is limited by it.
I also transferred this image to marker paper with my Copic Multiliners so I could color it with my Touch Twin markers. Since unicorns are mythical creatures, you are very free as far as coloring is concerned. Just make sure that the overall color mix is harmonious. Everything else is up to your imagination. Have fun drawing!
Drawing centaurs
Human Body and Horse Body – The special thing about centaurs is that they have a human half, just like mermaids, for example. In order to depict them convincingly, it is useful to become familiar with drawing humans themselves before combining them with animal bodies. For this purpose, I have various tutorials on how to draw humans.
Tools for drawing people
On the page about drawing people, you will find tips on drawing the human anatomy, including detailed depiction of the muscles. The action figures* offer interchangeable hands and feet. There are also versions available with accessories, primarily various weapon types.
These figures are great for showing poses and gestures, even from different angles.
Learning to draw centaurs
Centaurs are a mixture of a horse body (lower half) and a human body (upper half). So they are a similar hybrid creature to the mermaids, except that the centaurs live on land. Now, since you have to blend 2 creatures together here, they are particularly difficult to draw. Again, photo templates help very well, which you have to put together almost like a collage to have your final template.
Here I have a step by step tutorial on how to draw a proud centaur warrior.
Learn to draw centauress with saber
As a female counterpart to the centaur, I have also made a tutorial of a female centaur here as a balancing example. Since the horse’s body is very powerful, you either have to choose a petite horse breed or a stockier female. In the example, the horse’s body is not quite so massive, so that it matches the woman’s comparatively petite upper half.
Further Links:
- Learn to draw horses
- Learn to draw people
- Coloring pictures
- Draw a comic unicorn
- Learn to draw with grids
- Learn to draw by tracing
- Ultimate marker test
- Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen
