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

Meerkat drawing ideas always make children stand up straighter. A meerkat is the little desert lookout that stands on its back legs, paws at its chest, scanning the horizon for trouble, and there is something very funny and very sweet about that pose. Learning how to draw a meerkat is really learning how to draw a small, alert, upright animal that looks like it is about to report something important.

I like this tutorial because the standing pose is simpler than a four-legged one. There is a small head, a tall slim body, two little arms and two feet, and a thin tail propping everything up from behind. The dark patches around the eyes are the only unusual detail, and they are just two ovals. Children get a whole recognisable animal from a handful of very easy shapes.

In this tutorial we will build a friendly sandy meerkat standing on guard 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 meerkat starts looking like a squirrel or a cat. Grab a pencil and a tan crayon, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy meerkat drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the head and ears

Start with the head, near the top of the paper and in the middle, because the body will drop straight down from it. Draw a small rounded shape, a little wider than it is tall, with a gently pointed muzzle at the bottom — like a soft circle that has been pulled down slightly into a nose. A meerkat's head is small compared to its body, so keep it modest.

Then add two tiny rounded ears, one on each side of the head, sitting low and out to the sides rather than on top. Meerkat ears are small, round and set wide. Keep the pencil light; you will darken the keeper lines at the end.

Step 2 — Add the face

Here is the step that makes a meerkat a meerkat. Draw two ovals in the upper part of the head, set a little apart and tilted slightly inward at the top, like two soft almonds — these are the dark eye patches. Inside each one, draw a big round eye with a small white shine dot. The patches will be colored dark brown at the end, and they give the meerkat its famous bandit look.

At the tip of the muzzle, draw a small rounded nose, and just under it a tiny curved smile. Add a soft blush circle on each cheek, just outside the eye patches. That is the whole face, and already it looks like something small and watchful.

Step 3 — Add the body

Under the head, draw the body: a tall, slim shape standing straight up, like a long soft pill or a stretched egg, about two and a half times as tall as the head. It should be narrow at the top where it meets the neck and gently rounded at the bottom where the meerkat's feet will be, with a slight bulge at the belly.

Keep the body tall and thin. This is the single most important thing about a meerkat drawing: it is an upright, slender animal, and a short fat body turns it into a hamster. Do not close off the bottom too neatly; the feet come next.

Step 4 — Add the arms, feet and tail

Draw the arms first: two short curved lines coming down from either side of the upper chest and meeting in the middle, ending in two small paws held together as if the meerkat is politely waiting. This paws-at-the-chest pose is the classic meerkat lookout stance and it is what makes the drawing instantly recognisable.

Then the feet: two small oval shapes at the bottom of the body, pointing slightly outward. Finally the tail: a thin line dropping from the bottom of the body behind one foot and resting on the ground, curving gently out to one side, with a little rounded tip. The tail helps the meerkat balance, so let its tip touch the same ground line as the feet.

Step 5 — Add the belly patch and fur

Now the finishing details. Inside the body, draw a long rounded shape running from just under the chin down to the bottom, leaving a band of body on each side — this is the belly patch, and it will be colored cream. Then draw a short curved line across the tail near the tip to mark the dark end of the tail.

Finally, add a few tiny fur lines: two or three short strokes on each side of the body where it meets the belly patch, and a couple on the top of the head. Keep them small and few; they are just a hint of fluff. If you like, add a few faint horizontal stripes across the back on one side for the meerkat's markings.

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 arms, and any ground line you sketched. Then color: fill the head, ears, body, arms, feet and tail a warm sandy tan, color the belly patch and the muzzle cream, and color the eye patches and the tail tip dark brown. The nose is dark brown too.

Add pink to the blush cheeks and leave the shine dots in the eyes uncolored so they sparkle. Then give your meerkat somewhere to be — a little sandy mound to stand on, a big orange sun, a few more meerkats standing in a row, a distant hill. Sign your name in the corner; every finished drawing deserves a signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

A short, round body

This is the mistake that turns more meerkats into hamsters and squirrels than any other. Hands like drawing round bodies, but the meerkat's whole character comes from being tall and slim.

Make the body at least two and a half times as tall as the head, narrow all the way up, with only a slight bulge at the belly. If yours came out round, erase the sides and redraw them closer together and taller.

Missing or tiny eye patches

Without the dark patches, a meerkat is a small tan animal with no particular identity. The patches are what everybody recognises.

Draw two generous ovals around the eyes, clearly bigger than the eyes themselves, and color them dark brown. It is the meerkat's mask, so make it count.

Ears on top of the head

Ears drawn on top of the head make the meerkat look like a cat or a bear cub. Meerkat ears are small and set low on the sides.

Move the ears down to the sides of the head, level with the eyes, and keep them tiny.

Troubleshooting

“My meerkat looks like a squirrel”

The body is probably too round and the tail too fluffy. Make the body tall and slim, draw the tail as a thin line resting on the ground, and add the dark eye patches. Shrink the ears too.

“My meerkat looks like a cat”

Move the ears down to the sides of the head and make them round, lengthen the body, and add the eye patches. Cats have pointed ears on top and no mask.

“It looks like it is falling over”

The tail is not touching the ground, or the body is leaning. Redraw the tail so its tip rests on the same line as the feet, and make sure the body stands straight up from the head.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this meerkat 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. The upright pose is simple: a small head on a tall slim body, like a little person standing to attention.

Why does a meerkat stand up? Meerkats take turns standing on their back legs to keep watch for danger while the rest of the family digs and plays. That upright pose is their most famous look, and it is why we draw the meerkat standing tall with its paws at its chest.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser, paper, and crayons or markers in sandy tan for the body, cream for the belly and dark brown for the eye patches and tail tip. Pink for the cheeks is a nice extra.

How do I stop my meerkat looking like a squirrel or a cat? Keep the body tall and slim, make the ears tiny, and draw the dark patches around the eyes. The dark eye patches are the meerkat's signature, and no squirrel or cat has them.

That is your meerkat! Whether it came out tall and tidy or a little bit wobbly, you built the desert's most famous lookout out of a few simple shapes and a mask — and that belongs on the fridge. Keep the sheet handy, draw a whole row of meerkats standing guard together, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

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