How to draw a bat — easy step by step drawing ideas

Bat drawing ideas fly into my studio every autumn, and I am always glad to see them. The moment the shops fill up with paper pumpkins, somebody in class asks for a bat — usually a spooky one at first, and then, once they see how sweet a cartoon bat can be, a cute one with big shiny eyes and a tiny pair of fangs. Learning how to draw a bat is one of my favourite lessons to teach, because it looks so much harder than it is.

Here is the secret. A bat is a circle for the head, a small oval for the body, two pointy ears and two wings. The wings are the only part that scares beginners, and they are simply a row of gentle scallops, like the edge of a paper doily. Once a child has drawn one scallop, they can draw the whole wing, and once they have drawn one wing, they can draw anything with wings — butterflies, dragons, birds, the lot.

In this tutorial we will build a cheerful cartoon bat in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips I use with my youngest students, the three mistakes that turn a friendly bat into a grumpy one, and a few ideas for what to draw once the first bat is finished. It works beautifully for Halloween cards, but honestly this little bat is cute enough for any month of the year. Find something purple, and let us begin.

The 6 steps to easy bat drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the head

Start with a single round circle in the upper middle of your paper. This is the head, and in our cartoon style it is the biggest single shape in the whole drawing, so make it a generous size — about as wide as your fist if you are drawing on a normal sheet. Press lightly; every line at this stage is a guide line that you may want to adjust later.

Notice where the circle sits. It should be a little above the centre of the page, with plenty of empty paper on both the left and the right. That is where the wings are going to spread, and the wings are wide — together they will be more than three times the width of the head. If the head is too close to one edge, one wing will run off the paper.

Step 2 — Add the face

Now the part children love most. Draw two big oval eyes side by side in the middle of the circle, each one taking up nearly a quarter of the head. Inside each eye put a large dark pupil and leave a small white circle near the top for the highlight — that little sparkle is what makes the bat look friendly rather than staring.

Between and slightly below the eyes, add a tiny triangle for the nose, pointing downward. Under the nose, draw a wide smiling mouth: a curve that dips down and comes back up, a bit like a shallow bowl. Then, and this is the part that makes it unmistakably a bat, add two tiny pointed fangs hanging from the top lip, one on each side of the middle. Finish with a small round cheek on each side of the face.

Step 3 — Add the ears

Bat ears are tall, pointed and proud. Draw one on each side of the top of the head, starting from the circle, sweeping up to a soft point, and curving back down to meet the circle again. Each ear should be almost as tall as the head is wide, and they should lean outward slightly, like two leaves opening.

Inside each ear, draw a second, smaller version of the same shape, following the outer line but leaving a border of head all the way around. This inner-ear shape will be coloured lilac later and gives the ears a lovely soft look. Where the ears meet the head, erase the little piece of the circle that would now be hidden inside the ear.

If the two ears come out different sizes, that is completely normal — it happens to grown-ups too. Fix the smaller one by extending its tip a little higher rather than redrawing the whole ear.

Step 4 — Add the body and feet

Below the head, draw a small rounded body — an upright oval, a little like an egg, that is about two-thirds as wide as the head and only slightly taller than it is wide. The top of the oval should disappear behind the chin, so start your line at one side of the bottom of the head, swoop down and around, and come back up to the other side.

At the very bottom of the body, add two tiny feet: a pair of small rounded bumps, each with two or three little toes. They can peek out just below the body like the feet of a bird sitting on a branch. Keep them small; a cartoon bat is nearly all head and wings, and big feet weigh the drawing down.

Step 5 — Add the wings

Here comes the moment everyone has been waiting for, and it is much easier than it looks. Start with the left wing. From the side of the body, just below the head, draw a long line outward and slightly upward — this is the arm of the wing, and it sets the size, so make it about one and a half head-widths long. At the end, let it curve into a soft point.

Now draw the bottom edge of the wing back toward the body as a row of three or four gentle scallops, like the edge of a doily or a cloud drawn upside down. Each scallop dips down and comes back up to a little point, and the last one ends back at the body. Then, from the shoulder where the wing joins the body, draw two or three finger lines fanning out to the points of the scallops. Repeat on the right side, checking that the two wings match in size and height.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Go over the lines you are keeping with a firmer pencil stroke or a fine black marker, then erase every leftover guide line — especially the bit of circle hidden behind each ear and the top of the body oval behind the chin. Clean outlines make even a wobbly bat look finished and deliberate.

Now colour. Our bat is deep violet purple on the head, body and the arms of the wings, with a lighter lilac or lavender for the inner ears and the wing membranes between the finger lines. Colour the nose and cheeks pink, leave the fangs and the eye highlights white, and fill the pupils with your darkest colour. If your artist prefers a classic Halloween bat, dark gray or black works just as well — simply keep the inner ears and cheeks lighter so the face still reads clearly.

Common mistakes to avoid

The wings are drawn as two triangles

This is the number one bat problem. In a hurry, hands turn each wing into a single pointed triangle sticking out from the body, and the result looks like a paper aeroplane with a face. Real bat wings, and cute cartoon ones, have that scalloped bottom edge, and the scallops are what make the shape read as a bat at all.

If you have already drawn triangles, you do not need to start again. Along the bottom edge of each triangle, draw three or four soft scallops dipping down from the straight line, erase the straight line, and add the finger lines to the points. Twenty seconds of work and the aeroplane becomes a bat.

The eyes are too small

Small eyes are the fastest way to make a cute animal look sinister, and bats already have a spooky reputation to overcome. Beginners often draw two little dots for eyes out of habit, and the bat immediately looks like it is squinting suspiciously at you.

Make each eye at least a quarter of the width of the head, add a big dark pupil and a white highlight, and the whole mood of the drawing changes. If the eyes are already drawn small, draw a larger oval around each one and colour the new pupil to fill it.

The body is bigger than the head

Bats in real life have small heads and long bodies, but a cartoon bat needs the opposite. If the body oval comes out taller or wider than the head, the drawing loses its baby-animal proportions and starts to look like a flying dog.

Shorten the body from the bottom: redraw the lower curve of the oval higher up, move the feet up with it, and erase the old lines. Because the wings attach at the shoulders, they will not need to move at all.

Troubleshooting

My bat looks like a cat with wings

Usually the ears are too short and rounded, and the fangs are missing. Cat ears are small triangles; bat ears are tall, almost as tall as the head is wide, and they lean outward. Extend the ears upward, add the inner-ear shapes, and make sure the two tiny fangs are visible on the smile.

The wings look flat and lifeless

Almost always missing finger lines. Two or three lines fanning from the shoulder to the scallop points give the wing its structure and stop it reading as a blob. Add them lightly, then colour the spaces between them in the paler lilac so the lines show up against the darker purple.

My bat looks like it is falling

Check that both wings are at the same height and angle. If one wing points up and the other droops, the bat tilts. Redraw the lower wing's arm to match the higher one, then rebuild its scallops. A tiny curved line under each foot, like a branch, also helps to anchor a bat that looks like it is drifting.

Key takeaways

FAQ

Is a bat easy to draw for kids? Yes — a cartoon bat is one of the friendliest beginner animals because it is built from a circle, a small oval and two wings. The wings look complicated but they are just a row of gentle scallops, and children aged five and up usually finish this sheet in about twenty minutes.

How do I draw bat wings so they look right? Start each wing with a long arm line from the shoulder outward and slightly up, then draw the bottom edge as three or four soft scallops that end back at the body. Add two or three finger lines fanning from the shoulder to the tips of the scallops. Keep both wings the same size and the same height.

What colors do I need for a bat drawing? Deep violet purple for the head, body and wing arms, a lighter lilac or lavender for the inner ears and wing membranes, pink for the nose and cheeks, and white for the fangs and the eye highlights. Black or dark gray also works if you want a more classic Halloween bat.

How can I make my bat look cute instead of scary? Cute comes from proportions: make the head bigger than the body, the eyes huge and shiny, the fangs tiny and the smile wide. Add round pink cheeks and keep every line soft and curved. Sharp angles, narrow eyes and a big body make a bat look fierce, so avoid those.

And there is your bat! Whether it came out neat or gloriously lopsided, you just drew a whole flying animal out of a circle and some scallops — and that belongs on the fridge. Try drawing it again hanging upside down from a branch with its wings wrapped around it like a blanket, or draw three little bats flying across a big yellow moon, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

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