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

Donkey drawing ideas are a lovely follow-up to the horse tutorial, because a donkey is a horse's smaller, rounder, longer-eared cousin, and it has a face that children find irresistibly sweet. Those enormous ears, the soft pale muzzle and the gentle, slightly sleepy eyes make a donkey one of the friendliest farm animals to draw. Learning how to draw a donkey is really learning how to draw a small horse and then giving it the best ears on the farm.

I especially like teaching the ears. They are so long and so simple — two tall rounded leaves standing up on the head — and they change the whole character of the drawing in a single step. Children who have already drawn a horse look at the donkey and realise they already know almost everything, and that confidence makes the drawing flow.

In this tutorial we will build a gentle grey donkey in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips I use when teaching it, the mistakes that trip up nearly every beginner, and quick fixes for when your donkey starts looking like a horse or a rabbit. Grab a pencil and a grey crayon, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy donkey drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the head and ears

Start with the head, a little above the middle of the paper and toward the left, because the body will stretch out to the right. Draw a soft rounded shape that is longer than it is tall, wider at the top where the eyes go and narrowing gently to a rounded muzzle. It is the same head as a horse, just a little rounder and softer.

Now the ears, which are the whole point of a donkey. On top of the head, draw two very long, rounded ears standing straight up, each one like a tall leaf or a rabbit's ear, leaning very slightly outward. Make them tall — each ear should be about as tall as the head itself. Keep the pencil light.

Step 2 — Add the face

Now the donkey gets its personality. Draw two big round eyes in the upper part of the head, set a little apart, with a small white shine dot in each. Then draw the muzzle patch: a soft rounded shape covering the front of the muzzle, which will be colored cream. Inside it, draw two small nostrils as little curved commas and a gentle curved smile beneath them.

Add a long curved line inside each ear, following its shape, so the ears look like they are facing forward. If you like, add a couple of small eyelashes above each eye for a soft, sleepy look. Keep everything gentle; a donkey's face is calm and kind.

Step 3 — Add the neck and body

From the back of the head, draw the neck: two curved lines sweeping down and to the right, growing a little wider as they go, into the body. A donkey's neck is shorter and a little thicker than a horse's, so keep it modest. Then draw the body: a rounded shape stretching out to the right, longer than it is tall, with a gently curved back and a softly rounded belly.

Tuck the body in behind the neck so the shapes overlap slightly, and keep the outline soft. A donkey is a little rounder and stockier than a horse, so let the belly be comfortably plump. Do not close the underside too neatly; the legs come next.

Step 4 — Add the legs and tail

Draw four legs hanging down from the body: two at the front and two at the back, each a pair of fairly straight lines ending in a small rounded hoof. Donkey legs are a little shorter than a horse's — a bit less than the body is deep — and slightly sturdier. Line all four hooves up along the same imaginary ground line.

Then the tail: a thin line hanging down from the back of the body, curving gently, with a small teardrop-shaped tuft at the tip — like a cow's tail, not a horse's swishy one. That tufted tail is the second big donkey clue after the ears.

Step 5 — Add the mane and belly

Now the finishing details. Along the top of the neck, from between the ears down to the shoulders, draw the mane: a short, stiff strip of upright bumps or a gently zigzagging band standing straight up, like a brush. A donkey's mane does not flop over like a horse's; it stands up short and neat, and it will be colored dark grey.

Then draw a soft curved line along the lower part of the body to mark the lighter belly, and a short line across each leg just above the hoof so the hooves look like separate shapes. If you like, add a small tuft of hair between the ears at the top of the mane.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Darken the lines you want to keep and erase the light scaffolding underneath — the part of the body hidden behind the neck, the tops of the legs inside the body, and any ground line you sketched. Then color: fill the head, ears, neck, body and legs a soft grey, color the muzzle patch and the belly cream, and color the mane, the tail tuft and the hooves dark grey.

Color the inner ears pink and leave the shine dots in the eyes uncolored so they sparkle. Then give your donkey somewhere to be — a green field, a wooden fence, a carrot to nibble, a little cart to pull, a bright sun. Sign your name in the corner; every finished drawing deserves a signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

Ears that are too short

This is the mistake that turns more donkeys into horses than any other. Hands draw horse-sized ears out of habit, and the donkey vanishes.

Make each ear about as tall as the head, standing straight up with a slight outward lean. If they feel too long, leave them; they are right.

A flowing mane and tail

A long swishing mane and a big bushy tail belong to a horse. Even with long ears, a donkey with a horse's hair looks like a mix-up.

Draw the mane as a short upright brush along the neck, and the tail as a thin rope with a small tuft at the end.

A long, slim body

A sleek, elegant body makes the donkey look like a racehorse with big ears. Donkeys are compact and comfortable.

Keep the body a little rounder and the legs a little shorter than a horse's, with a plump belly.

Troubleshooting

“My donkey looks like a horse”

Lengthen the ears until each is as tall as the head, shorten the mane into an upright brush, and turn the tail into a thin rope with a tuft. Round the body a little. The ears alone usually fix it.

“My donkey looks like a rabbit”

The head is probably too round and the muzzle too short. Lengthen the muzzle, add the cream muzzle patch with two nostrils, and make sure the body and four legs are clearly there.

“The ears look stuck on”

They are probably standing dead straight and meeting the head at sharp corners. Lean them slightly outward, curve their bases smoothly into the top of the head, and draw the inner-ear lines so they look like they are facing forward.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this donkey drawing tutorial for? The six-step version works from about age 5 with a grown-up nearby, and most kids around 7 and up can follow the sheet on their own. If your child has drawn a horse, a donkey is the same shapes with longer ears.

How long should the ears be? Very long: each ear should be about as tall as the head itself, standing straight up with a slight outward lean. Long ears are the whole difference between a donkey and a horse, so if they feel too big they are just right.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser, paper, and crayons or markers in grey for the body, cream for the muzzle and belly, and dark grey or black for the mane, tail tuft and hooves. Pink for the inner ears is a nice extra.

How is a donkey different from a horse? Three things: much longer ears, a short upright mane instead of a flowing one, and a thin tail with a tuft at the end instead of a big swishy one. The body is a little rounder and the legs a little shorter, too.

That is your donkey! Whether the ears came out perfectly matched or a little bit lopsided, you built the gentlest animal on the farm out of a few soft shapes and two tall leaves — and that belongs on the fridge. Keep the sheet handy, draw a donkey pulling a cart full of apples, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

More tutorials: All tutorials · How to draw a horse · How to draw a goat · How to draw a cow