How to Draw a Barn Owl

Please PAUSE the video after each step to draw at your own pace.

For the first few steps, don’t press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.

Step 1: Draw a circle on the top half of the page as a guide for the barn owl’s head. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s just a guide for the owl’s head.

Step 2: Inside the head, draw two intersecting lines that will help you to place the barn owl’s facial features later. Bend the lines to contour to the shape of the circle.

Step 3: On the lower right side of the head, draw another circle as a guide for the top part of the barn owl’s body. This circle should be a tiny bit bigger than the first one. And again, don’t worry about drawing it perfectly. Notice the placement of the circles. The bottom one is not directly underneath, and their edges are slightly grazing.

Step 4: Draw a long arc similar to the letter U on the lower right side of the second circle as a guide for the lower half of the barn owl’s body.

Step 5: Draw two lines that connect the barn owl’s head and body and form the neck.

Step 6: Draw four short, straight lines under the barn owl’s body as guides for the feet.

Step 7: Draw a smaller U-shaped arc on the lower right side of the barn owl’s body as a guide for the tip of the wings.

That’s it for the initial sketch! From this point on, press harder with your pencil to get a more defined sketch.

Step 8: Draw the eyes inside the head using the lines as guides for placement. The shapes of the barn owl’s eyes are similar to ovals with pointed ends. The eye on the left should be smaller because of perspective. Draw a small circle inside each eye to represent glare. Darken the edges of the eyes for the actual eyeball. Draw a slightly bigger circle inside each eye and shade it in for the pupils. Add more value to the rest of the barn owl’s eyes. Don’t make them as dark as the pupils. Draw a few tiny lines surrounding the eyes for extra detail.

Step 9: Draw the barn owl’s feathers that cover the top part of the beak using the intersecting lines as guides. The feathers form a V-like shape that starts between the eyes and moves down toward the guide line. Use quick, short strokes to indicate the fluffy feathers. Angle the two lines up so they meet in the middle, then follow the guide line as you draw the feathers that form the middle ridge.

Step 10: Draw a small, pointy, angular shape under the feathers for the barn owl’s beak.

Step 11: Draw the barn owl’s heart- shaped face using the main circle and lines as guides. Start at the top of the guide line and follow the inner path of the circle as you draw the feathers. Use quick, short strokes to draw the line for a fluffy texture and stay inside the main circle. The end should be similar to a heart with a rounded bottom instead of pointy.

Step 12: Draw the outer layer of the barn owl’s face using a the heart shape as a guide. Simply follow the path and make the heart thicker by adding darker, curvier lines on the outside.

Step 13: Draw the barn owl’s head using the main circle as a guide. Widen the top portion of the head and make the lines darker.

Step 14: Use the lines at the bottom as guides to draw the feet. Follow the path of the longest line and make the top part of the leg thicker. Use quick, short strokes for the barn owl’s feathers. Thicken the remaining lines at the bottom to create the toes. At the end of each toe, draw a pointy curved line for the talons. Owls have two toes that point forward and two that point back. Only draw the toes that are visible and not hiding behind the leg. Draw the leg on the other side. Most of it is hiding behind the first leg, so only draw the visible portion.

Step 15: Draw the first part of the barn owl’s wing using the initial shapes as guides. Use a series of straight and curved lines to draw the outer portion of the main wing. The shape of the wing curves across the middle of the two initial shapes. Pause the video if you need help getting the path of the wing right.

Step 16: Draw the feathers inside the barn owl’s wing. Don’t add every individual feather. Just a few long, curved lines inside to indicate the basic texture of the wing.

Step 17: Draw more long, curved lines throughout to finish up the barn owl’s wing. Draw long, curved lines all the way down to the U shape on the lower right side that appears to be the tail but is actually the wing tip.

Step 18: Draw the rest of the barn owl’s body using the remaining lines as guides. Draw a few curved lines between the feet and the wing tip for the short tail feathers.

Step 19 (optional): You can stop here for a sketchy look or erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines for a cleaner look. Don’t worry about erasing them all. It’s okay to leave some behind. Also re-draw any final sketch lines that you may have accidentally erased.

Step 20 (optional): Add some shading to your barn owl drawing to give it more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source when shading so that the shadows are consistent with it. Vary the pressure on your pencil to get different degrees of tonal value.

Step 21 (optional): Draw a cast shadow underneath. This helps ground the barn owl so it doesn’t appear to be floating.

Step 22 (optional): You can add more value throughout your barn owl drawing for extra detail. It’s a good idea to use reference to be as accurate as possible. Draw some speckles throughout the wing for further detail. The speckles are just ovals of different sizes with some shading on them. Just add them randomly throughout the barn owl’s