How to Draw Calvin and Hobbes

Last Updated: September 15, 2021

Calvin and Hobbes is a cartoon of a boy and his stuffed tiger, who appears to be alive during their rough and tumble adventures. Mr. Watterson, the cartoon's creator, no longer publishes these stories, but that doesn't mean you can't create your own! Here is a simple wikiHow to draw Calvin and Hobbes.

Steps

1
Set up your area for drawing. Put your paper on a comfortable surface to draw on, in a well-lit location, get out your pencil, and put your imagination to work.
2
Mark a general outline lightly for both Calvin and Hobbes. Their shape could be generally described as rectangular with curved corners, Hobbes being more elongated (he is taller than Calvin), Calvin being almost box-like.

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3
Add more distinct shapes. Draw a rough circular shape for Calvin's head, making sure the line across the top is very light, since when you make the slash like lines for his hair, this guideline will be erased or drawn over.
4
Draw two parallel vertical lines for the trunk portion of his body, with stubby arms and legs. Defining individual fingers and toes is not needed, since we are drawing cartoon characters.
5
Draw two ovals near the center of Calvin's face, with the edges touching, for his eyes, then add smaller circles for his pupils. He often keeps his eyes in a rolled expression, so putting them off-center but pointed in the same direction will make him look more natural.
6
Make a sharply curved "C" shape for his nose, very close below the ovals you have drawn for his eyes. Underneath this, you can make a short slash mark (-) for his mouth, curving up for a smile, or down for a frown, depending on whether he has gotten the best of Hobbes, or Hobbes has gotten the best of him.
7
Define Calvin's clothing by making horizontal stripes on his shirt (his typical attire, though it varies), and putting legs on his trousers, which are usually black. You can exaggerate the size of his shoes, which appear to be almost directly connected to his butt, since his legs are disproportionately short.
8
Draw Hobbes's head an almost round oval, remembering he will have tufts of tiger fur about his chin, so make this area very light so it will be easy to remove or hide later when you define this feature.
9
Place two "C"s on top of his head for ears, and make his nose an oval laying on its side near the bottom of the oval you have drawn for his head.
10
Place two small, black circles (his beady little eyes) closely spaced just below the center of the oval which you have drawn for his head.
11
Draw shoulders just slightly wider than Hobbes's head then make his torso long and slender, ending it with two very short legs, with paws made from two more oval shapes at their ends.
12
Make a long, snakelike tail, curving almost randomly or "hooked" behind his back, then add vertical stripes penciled in black down it, as well as around his legs. These stripes do not cross Hobbes's stomach, since it is white, do cover his forelegs (or arms, if you prefer) and back.
13
Make the fuzzy, or fur-like dash lines around Hobbes's chin, a bit wider than the oval of his head, and dimple the line of his lower chin below his mouth to give it a catlike shape.
14
Erase the sketch lines and use extreme expressions on both Calvin and Hobbes, since they are very emotional characters. Place them in ferocious (or frightened) poses. These are two cartoon characters who are seldom found idling away an afternoon.

Community Q&A

Question

What's the best way to colour this?

maggie 13088

Community Answer

Use whatever you have. Nice, even strokes with markers, pencils, crayons or pens all work.