How to Draw a Honey Bear
When I saw my first Kinkajou in Costa Rica (AKA 'Honey Bear' - let's keep calling it this!) - it sort of looked like a cross between a monkey and a cat. It was really cool... and super agile too might I add, as it easily navigated through the tree tops overhead --- never seen anything quite like it!
Did you know?... these little guys love to eat figs! They make up a huge chunk of their diet. And also - they're nocturnal. It's very rare that people spot them.
To the drawing board!
How to Draw a Honey Bear
Starting out - go ahead and map out your shapes - on paper or in mind - similar to how I've done here. Notice - I've gone again for that ever-popular 3/4ish tilt - the grey lines help to better suggest this...
Bright colors for key features - yes - it's all about that tongue! Actually - honey bears are known to also eat ants... I'm guessing that's where such a long 'anteaterish' tongue comes in handy. :-)
Here's how it looks...
These days, I've been getting a lot more comfortable with using a graphics tablet - and in the process... am finding the lines I lay down are just like the ones that would show up on paper. It's such a neat tool - I highly recommend you grab one.
OK - beginning with the eye (left one) - and then the snout... here's an idea of how you can begin forming the face of your animal...
Like bats and owls - this nocturnal animal's got bigger eyes - better for seeing at night I'm sure. Right away - a blast of 'cuteness' enters the drawing below - as we know... bigger eyes help to convey that baby/animeish look...
Of course - this honey bear's got to have a long tongue sticking out like so...
OK - we're all done the head now - let's move on down to the lower body. Begin forming the leg - and while you're at it (no obstructions to account for)... draw in the tail as well...
Looking good! Perched up like a squirrel - it makes sense to tackle the lines/areas in this order. Is it the only way? - No! Not at all. I encourage you to draw your own unique version of a honey bear/kinkajou - however you like. Here in these lessons of course - it's fun for me to share my own unique ideas with you.
I hope my take on things helps you progress! :-)
And as we all know... these guys LOVE figs! So in its right hand - we've got a bit of a finger/thumb pinch going on... makes for an easily drawn fig that will fit in no problem at all.
Minus any guidelines - they can be really helpful with structure!... here's what we've got in the end. Actually, remember to check out the 'Coloring Pages' section here on the site as well.
You can find 're-vamped' versions of the line drawings of each lesson - making for a really cool coloring page.
Colored - fig in hand - here's our honey bear!...
And there you have it - hey - thanks for helping me decide this week's lesson... this was a really fun one to create.
I hope you enjoyed it... and of course!... see you real real soon for another.
Recommended Drawing Resources
To further your learning and improvement, check out the following resources...
- Learn how to draw caricatures with Graeme Biddle.
- Discover how to use photoshop in a day. Makes everything so much simpler.
- Check out Chad Baldwin's digital painting techniques.
