How to Draw a Guinea Pig

How to Draw a Guinea Pig – A Guinea Pig Drawing Tutorial for Beginners

This post may contain affiliate links. We may earn a small commission from purchases made through them, at no additional cost to you.

Did you know that in Peru, guinea pigs are not considered to be cute and domesticated members of the rodent family, but instead are usually kept as livestock and are considered a delicacy among many locals? We do not know much about them being a delicacy, but we sure do love our little furry pets that make the cutest squeaks! Whatever your reason for learning how to draw a guinea pig, you have come to the right page. Keep reading for a comprehensive explanation of each step of the process. Get cozy and imaginative – your guinea pig sketch awaits!

 

 

A Tutorial on How to Draw a Guinea Pig

This tutorial is non-discriminative, which means that you can choose any preferred medium with these instructions to learn how to draw a guinea pig. The process is pretty much the same – the only difference will be the result. If you are going for the more traditional sketching route, you should equip yourself with a lighter pencil like a 4H for the contouring lines, as well as a 2B pencil for the outlines and details. Don’t forget your eraser!

You do not need to be a professional to follow this tutorial, as it is suitable for beginners. In terms of perspective, the guinea pig we will be drawing is turned and leaning towards the right. This is why we use construction lines and shapes, as they allow for easy drawing with correct proportions.

Guinea Pig Drawing

When you reach the end of this tutorial, you will be left with a very realistic guinea pig drawing!

 

Step 1: Constructing the Main Body of Your Guinea Pig Sketch

If you consider the shape of a guinea pig’s body, you may notice that it is pretty long. It would fit perfectly inside the shape of an oval, and this is the reason why we use an oval as the first construction shape for its body. The oval should sit in the middle of your page, with space on either side, under, and on top of it for the construction lines and shapes we will draw in later steps. The oval for your guinea pig sketch should also be lying on its side, and the size of it will determine the size of your guinea pig.

 

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 01

 

Step 2: Construction of the Head

If you reference the final image we provided above, you will notice that our guinea pig drawing is facing us head-on, meaning that we will be drawing the whole face. For the face, we must add another construction oval, except this time, the oval must be upright and squashed flat, similar to a circle. This oval will be positioned towards the left of the body’s oval, with the top overlapping slightly.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 02

 

Step 3: Construction of the Ears

Usually, our tutorials only include the ears a bit later on when we start with the detailing outlines. But this guinea pig calls for his ears to be attached much sooner! The first ear, on the left, is pulled back slightly and will have a bit of a flap to it at the end of our drawing. Thus, the construction line should have a bit of a curve to it. The second ear, on the right, should look like a rectangle resting atop the construction oval of your guinea pig’s head.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 03

 

Step 4: Constructing the Feet

It is important to remember the perspective of the guinea pig, as the way it is facing you will determine the construction shapes for the feet. The feet visible to us are both front feet and the back foot on the right. We will begin by drawing the front right foot. This requires a construction shape that looks like a deflated oval overlapping the bottom of the body’s construction line, right below the head.

The second foot we will be drawing is the front left foot. This requires a line that forms the shape of a sock, starting from just below the middle of the body’s construction oval on the left-hand side.

The final foot, the right-back foot, requires a construction line that roughly makes the shape of a music note. This must start from the right-hand side of the body’s construction oval, coming down and looping to the left and back around. The loop should overlap with the bottom of the body’s construction oval.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 04

 

Step 5: Constructing the Face

Drawing a human’s face is notoriously difficult, let alone drawing the face of a guinea pig. This is why we delicately and accurately divide the face into sections for easy symmetry. The first line you must draw is a vertical one that makes the halfway line down the middle of the face. However, since the face is looking a bit more to the right, the line should be placed more towards the right-hand side than in the middle.

Next, you will draw the first of three horizontal lines. This first line should be about one-third of the way down from the top of the head’s construction oval. The second line is to be drawn about a third of the way up from the bottom of the head’s construction oval and should begin from slightly inside the oval.

Finally, a third, slightly smaller line should run parallel to the second line you just drew, right below it. It should sit at about one-fifth of the head’s construction oval.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 05

 

Step 6: The Final Outline of the Head

This step is a little more fun than the previous steps because you get to add in some of the fur! The face does not have a strong outline, but rather lots and lots of short lines that look like little hairs coming out from the face. The ears, however, need continuous lines to form their outline, as they are not as fluffy. As you can see from our example, the ears have little folds to them, which are important to get right for a more realistic guinea pig.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 06

 

Step 7: The Final Outline of the Guinea Pig’s Body

Just like how you drew the little lines that resemble short and fluffy hairs protruding from the face of the guinea pig, you will do the same for the rest of the body. Remember that the back right foot’s leg is hidden in the fur of the guinea pig, so all you need to do for the furry outline is let the hairy line come out to the right as it curves out, giving a hint at the leg that is there.

For the front left foot of the guinea pig drawing, you can draw a short, continuous line swooping down to the left.

The toes can be emphasized by drawing more short, hairy lines with space between them. The front right foot is quite obscured by the fur of the body, but can be distinguished with more fur lines detailed above it. The third and final foot, at the back, should have a rounded line on the left side of the foot with more fur detailing to the right of it.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 07

 

Step 8: How to Draw the Guinea Pig’s Facial Features

Now we can begin to give some life to your guinea pig sketch by adding in facial features like the eyes, mouth, and nose. Let us start with the mouth by drawing two curved lines coming from another two curved lines that conjoin on their upward swoop. For the nose of your guinea pig drawing, you should draw two lines on either side of the middle construction line and the middle horizontal line. These little curved lines should have a leaf-shaped blob on the end of them to form the nostrils.

Draw some curved lines on the outside to shape the nose and some fur detailing above it.

For the eye on the left, draw an oval shape that sits vertically but leans to the right, with another oval on the inside that is just a smidge smaller. Color this smaller oval in black with white flecks left uncolored for that glossy effect. The eye on the right should seem like it is bulging out because you are seeing it from the side. Draw some fur detailing on the left-hand side of the eye to finish it off.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 08

 

Step 9: Adding the Details

This step looks more intimidating because of the sheer amount of lines that make up the fur covering a guinea pig’s body. The hair is not as short as that of a mouse, which means that these lines should not be too short. They should be curvy and flowing in the same direction because a guinea pig has sleek hair.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 09

 

Step 10: Adding the Color Base

We decided to use light brown as the color of our guinea pig sketch. To achieve this, you must start with a base coat of color before you can add the full detailing of highlights and shadows. We chose to paint our guinea pig in a peachy light brown color as the base coat for our guinea pig sketch.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 10

 

Step 11: Adding Some Highlights and Shadows

Shading is important for a realistic drawing. This can be done with a darker brown smudging around the outline of the body. You can also add this same smudging effect around the face of the guinea pig. Finally, the ears need to be a bit darker than the rest of the body so as to be distinguished more easily.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 11

 

Step 12: Adding More Color

Our guinea pig is not only a single shade of brown – it also has a white face and a white line down its chest with some stripes going around its body. You can paint your guinea pig (coloring pencils will work too!) with creamy white paint down the bridge of its nose, stopping just before the top of the head. The white paint can spread across the guinea pig’s cheeks and down to its chin.

From there, you can paint a slightly more cream color as the stipe going down the belly of the guinea pig.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 12

 

Step 13: Adding Extra Shading

This calls for more of the dark brown paint! You will add some of the dark brown paint around the ears to darken them even more. Two other places to add some more shading would be on the left-hand side of the face to show the way the neck is turned, as well as above the front right foot.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 13

 

Step 14: Coloring the Nose to the Toes

Have you ever admired the cute little pink noses that guinea pigs have? Well, now you get to color the nose of your guinea pig pink, following the pathway down to and including the lips, and finally, the toes also need to be pink. The nose can get a bit of black paint smudge in a “Y” shape of sorts to add some definition.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 14

 

Step 15: Finishing Touches

After the last step, you might think you are finished, but there is one more thing to add for the most realistic appeal. This is how to draw a guinea pig properly. Take a grey-colored paint and go over some of the fur detailing, including the outline of the guinea pig.

Guinea Pig Sketch Step 15

 

You should be proud of yourself for getting this far! This is not the most typical animal to draw, but now you can impress everyone with your uniqueness. If you liked this drawing tutorial, keep your eyes open for our next one!

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Are Guinea Pig Sketches Hard to Do?

This tutorial is designed for beginners to be able to follow easily. There is no real difficulty, only patience.

 

How Do I Get Proper Proportions for My Guinea Pig Drawing?

The use of construction lines is an important guide for creating a proportionate guinea pig drawing. If you follow our tutorial, we will show you the way.

 

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *