How to Draw a Chicken

Add some feathered fun to your drawings with our beginner-friendly tutorial on how to draw a chicken. Chickens are not only cute and fluffy, but they are also fascinating creatures with unique personalities and quirky behaviors. Create a collection of chickens in different styles for your farmhouse crafts of tea towels, welcome signs, door mats, and so much more.

Before we get started with the steps, gather your art supplies. Our drawing guides are for everyone of any skill level. So you can follow along whether you like using paint, pencil, or digital apps like Procreate.

Create a collection of farm animal clipart by illustrating other animals. We have the perfect tutorials that will complement your illustration, such as how to draw a cow or to draw a sheep.

Step 1 - Roughly Sketch your Chicken

Let's get started by roughly sketching out the shape of our chicken. To make your sketches, you can use any light and erasable medium, like a pencil or a light color of your chosen medium.

Draw the Body and Head

Begin by drawing a large oval for the chicken's body. Place it vertically in the center of your page, and remember that this shape will serve as the foundation for the rest of the drawing.

Next, draw a small circle above the body on the left side for the chicken's head. Leave a small gap between the oval and the circle.

Shape the Neck and Tail

Sketch the neck from the head toward the body, as we did in our red sketches below. Then add a tail on the right side of the body as an upward-curving triangle.

Add a Beak, Eye, and Legs

Now, draw a small triangle shape for the beak on the left side of your chicken's head with a small circle on the right for the eye. See our red sketch lines in our example image below.

Below the body, draw tiny legs and feet with three toes for your chicken's feet.

Add the Comb

Draw a squiggly line for the comb, which is the fleshy part on top of the chicken's head, serving as a crest. Then add a heart shape with a line through the center below the beak to shape the wattles.

Add Details

In the center of your chicken's body, add a few curves to shape the wing line. Then, draw curved lines around the bottom of the oval and tail to create the tail feathers.

Add any details you want to include with your chicken drawing, like blades of grass, a worm in its beak, etc.

Step 2 - Outline the Chicken Sketch

Switch to a darker medium for this step to create your chicken outline. You can use any outlining medium, such as a pen, black marker, or a monoline brush in Procreate. Begin defining the details of your animal line art, like the beak, comb, legs, and wing.

Then, trace the outer sketch line of your chicken's body. Create one solid line, not including sketches like the oval or circle. Once you have made your permanent outlines, remove any remaining sketches.

Step 3 - Coloring your Chicken Drawing

Coloring your chicken drawing is a great way to add some personality and bring your artwork to life. You can use standard colors or create fun and quirky farm animal clipart using bright colors like pink, blue, and orange.

Apply textures and patterns to your illustration to create a themed drawing. Add dots for a retro style or a plaid background for farmhouse projects.

What an im-peck-able drawing! It will work perfectly for your next sublimation or digital project. Imagine how adorable your chicken clipart will look with a farmhouse font quote, as wall art, sublimated t-shirts, and stickers.

Thank you for joining our beginner drawing exercise. We hope you enjoyed following along and learning how to sketch, outline, and color your chicken.