How to Draw a Fox – Learn to Make a Sneaky Fox Picture

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Foxes are such cute yet misunderstood animals. Have you ever wanted to learn how to draw a fox? Easy! Especially with this fun guide! Roald Dahl made the fox famous with his illustrated book Fantastic Mr. Fox, and this is the inspiration for today’s how to draw a fox tutorial. You will be guided through each step, starting with the foundation outline of the fox and how to add color, texture, and finally shading to bring your fox illustrations to life. Get your art materials together, find a well-lit spot to sit and relax, and let’s get started!

Tutorial on How to Draw a Fox

So, you want to draw a fox? Well, that will be easy with this awesome fox-drawing guide! This simple how-to-draw-a-fox tutorial is the perfect step-by-step guide for you to follow so that this will be the first of many fun fox illustrations on your drawing pad.

To get an idea of the various steps that we will go through in this process, have a look at the image below.

Step 1: Construct the Body of Your Fox Sketch

To begin this fox drawing, you will need to start by constructing the foundation lines of the fox’s body. Draw a wide oval shape in a horizontal position on the center of your page.

Step 2: Outline the Head of Your Fox Drawing

Draw a small circle that will represent the fox’s head. Do this on the top left side of your main oval. In the later steps of this tutorial, you will add detail to these foundation outlines, so keep these lines soft and easy to erase later on.

Step 3: Sketch the Ears of Your Fox Drawing

Now that you have constructed the fox’s body and head outline, you will begin adding details. Let’s start with the pointy ears of the fox and draw two rounded triangle shapes on top of the small circle.

Step 4: Construct Your Fox Illustration’s Face

In step four, you will focus on creating the details of your fox illustration’s face. A fox’s face is somewhat flat and two-dimensional when viewed from this angle.

Within the small circle outline, draw the shape of the fox’s face.

Step 5: Create the Facial Features of Your Fox Drawing

Continue drawing the fox’s facial details within the foundation circle. Draw the fox’s eyes and nostrils. Be sure to get the symmetry correct for the eye shape. Draw three small shapes to represent these facial features.

Step 6: Form the Fox’s Front Legs

Let’s move away from the fox’s face as we concentrate on the fox illustration’s legs. Using the oval shape as a guide, add two front legs and rounded paws.

Pay attention to the front leg’s outline.

Step 7: Draw the Hind Legs of Your Fox Drawing

As you drew the front legs in the previous step, now you will outline your foxes’ hindquarters. To make your fox sketch look realistic, you will want to give your fox’s hind leg shape some movement by creating some depth with outlines.

Step 8: Draw the Tail of Your Fox Sketch

A fox has a bushy tail, so it’s fatter than most canine tails. To draw a fox’s easy tail shape, you must create the line stemming from the back of the fox and allow the line to decline.

Draw the tail shape extending past the rear hindquarters and almost touching the ground.

Step 9: Add Detail to Your Fox Drawing

Your fox drawing should be taking shape and beginning to resemble an actual fox. Using the rounded oval shape and small circle outline, you can begin drawing the details of your fox sketch. Starting at the fox’s ears, you can connect the outline of the head. Continue down its back, connecting to the tail and continuing all the way around. Be sure to create the furry edges of the fox’s belly, neck, and tail. Next, you can add the claws to the fox’s feet.

To finish, you can erase the original foundation oval shape of the fox body and leave behind the detailed outline.

Step 10: Add Detail to Your Fox Sketch

Shifting your focus from the body of your fox drawing to the facial features, draw the facial details of the eye shape, nose, and mouth of the fox. 

Step 11: Add Texture to Your Fox Drawing

This step is an important one. You will be creating the furry texture of your fox sketch. Firstly, you must add the fox’s whiskers, and draw three or four short lines on the nose area. Begin by drawing short lines close together to mimic the fur. Start around the nose and ears of the fox and continue along the entire body. Be sure to make the pattern of the fur an accumulation of short and medium hair strokes that have different densities of fur all along the curves of the fox’s body.

To darken the area of the fox’s body and paws, keep your fur lines close together and in the lighter areas, you can keep the lines further apart.

Step 12: Apply a Base Color Coat to Your Fox Sketch

You have completed the detailing phase of your fox sketch. Find a light caramel pigment and use a soft-tipped brush to coat the whole body of the fox. Once you have done that, gently add white to the eye glare to both eyes.

Step 13: Add More Color to Your Fox Drawing

Allow the base coat to dry, and then you can begin adding the second coat. Take some white paint and apply a layer to the inner ears, around the cheeks, and mouth area following down the breast to the front legs. Follow the movement of the fur lines.

Once you have added all the details to the face and legs, you can finish by adding white to the end of the fox’s tail.

Step 14: Add Contour Lines to Your Fox Sketch

Lightly add contour lines to the facial area of the fox. Take a light orange shade and a soft-tipped brush. You can continue contouring the edges of the fox body, the hind legs, and the tailbone on the back area of the fox.

Step 15: Apply Highlights to Your Fox Drawing

It’s important to add shadows and highlights to make fox illustrations more realistic. Select a light brown or tan shade and a softer tipped paintbrush and carefully highlight the edges of the fox’s body.

Once you have finished adding the contours, add a glimmer effect to the eyes of your fox sketch.

Step 16: Blend and Shade Your Fox Sketch

You will apply shading to the fur of the fox and along the facial area. Take a sharp brush and touches of black color and add shading to the inner ears. Create a shadow cast by the snout and head on the neck area and follow the fur strokes when adding shading. Use the matching colors to the fox fur as you gently blend the colors. Add a darker shade to the paws of each leg, keeping the furthest legs darker than the front.

To complete the shading phase, add the shading to the rear inner thigh and the tail.

Step 17: Add the Final Touches to Your Fox Drawing

All that’s left to do is add the finishing touches to your fox drawing. Using the matching colors of each section of the fox’s body, trace along the edges and tidy any loose ends. You can erase any odd outlines and paint over any odd lines. Paint over any areas that need attention and have no visible lines.

Well done! You have just completed your realistic fox drawing! Use the techniques you have learned from this tutorial and apply them to any animal sketch. Who would have thought that learning how to draw a fox would be so simple and easy?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Difficult Is It to Learn How to Draw a Fox?

Have you ever wanted to learn how to draw a fox? Easy! Well, this how-to-draw-a-fox tutorial is the best way to learn! This easy-to-follow guide has broken down the drawing process into 17 simple steps. So, how difficult is it to draw a fox? It is not difficult at all!

What Color Should I Use for My Fox Sketch?

To create a realistic fox drawing, you should use neutral colors such as light brown, caramel, tan, and brown with touches of black and white. However, there is no need to take art too seriously, so who’s to say you shouldn’t paint your fox illustration in green and pink if you like?

Izzy Benloulou( Digital Artist and Content Creator )

Israel Benloulou aka IzzyBll is a digital artist and content creator from Israel, currently living in South Africa. Originally, he started his career in videography but later shifted his focus to digital graphic art. He specializes in using digital drawing software like Photoshop and Procreate. Drawing and photo editing have always come naturally to Izzy, and he now has 5 years of experience in the industry, working on commissions for various renowned brands such as Audi. Izzy creates drawing tutorials on his drawing tablet and produces related content for Craft Art since 2021.

Learn more about Israel Benloulou and about us.