How To Draw Totoro. My Neighbor Totoro is one of the most beautiful animated films ever made. This anime classic, directed by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, delighted audiences young and old with its spellbinding story, characters, and soundtrack. The Totoro character has also become quite iconic, and to this day, fans love learning how to draw Totoro so they can create artwork with him.
If you are one of those fans, this is the guide for you as we will show you how to draw an adorable representation of the equally adorable Totoro. Our step-by-step guide to drawing Totoro will show you how to recreate this adorable and classic character in just six steps. You can draw many more characters like cartoon drawing, Anubis drawing, cat drawing, cobra drawing, blueberry drawing, coconut drawing and many more drawing for kids.
Step 1:
In this first step of our guide to drawing Totoro, we will start with something other than Totoro himself. Instead, we’ll draw a border around it to make this image even more charming. The rim will be oval and almost egg-shaped. If you have a large, flat oval object to track, this should make it much easier. Alternatively, you can slowly draw it freehand. As you can see in our reference image, there will be two small gaps at the top of this oval, as her ears will appear later. Once you’ve drawn this border, it’s time to move on to step 2!
Step 2:
Now that you’ve finished the oval border for your Totoro drawing, we can start drawing Totoro himself. To start, you can draw two small circles relatively far apart. Add a dot to each to finish drawing their eyes. Next, we’ll use curved lines for the sides of his head, and then we can add his ears. Its ears are quite rabbit-like, with a jagged line at the base and a rounded line at the top. Finally, draw a small black nose between the eyes with some line detailing on top, then draw six long whiskers on his face.
Step 3:
Continuing this step of our guide on how to draw Totoro, we will start drawing his body. For his body, we’ll use a slightly jagged line to draw his arms that extend from the base of his head. We’ll use this bumpy line to make it look more fluffy and hairy. You can then draw more of these bumpy lines for the sides of her round belly on the inside edge of her arms. The last thing we’ll add to the image is to draw its little mouth. The mouth will be turned slightly downward to give it a puzzled expression. Then we will go to step 4!
Step 4:
Your Totoro picture is already beginning to carry shape! We will go further in this fourth step by drawing some details along her legs. First, you can draw another jagged line similar to the ones you drew for her stomach and her arms on her upper stomach. Next, we will draw curved shapes under this line. These shapes will be small and almost boomerang-like, with three on top and four below. Then add two rounded shapes to the base of his body, again using this jagged line for the top of his legs. We’ll finish the legs with some final details in the next part!
Step 5:
For this fifth step of our Totoro drawing guide, we will complete the image by adding his little feet under his legs. The feet will be drawn with rounded lines under the legs; then, we will draw three sharp claws on each. Also, we’ll draw rounded shapes on the bottom of each foot for some padding. You can finish by drawing a few claws at the end of his arms, and then you’ll be ready for the final step! Before continuing, you can add additional details to the image to finish it. You can draw more movie characters or backgrounds with elements. How would you complete this drawing?
Step 6:
Now is the time to complete your Totoro drawing by finishing it with some great colors! In our reference image, we’ve gone with the colors Totoro sees in the movie. This means we used grays and browns for most of his body; then we used a soft yellow for his belly. We ended up coloring the oval shape surrounding it a nice deep red for a bit of contrast. Are you going to use these colors or modify them with your own color choices? We can’t stay to see what shades and mediums you choose!
This is how you can make your Totoro drawing even better…
Mark this iconic symbol with these tips for your Totoro drawing! This Totoro drawing shows the iconic character alone. There are many other memorable characters from the film, and they could also be added to the scene! The most obvious example is the addition of the girl, Mei, who befriends Totoro. If you have any other favourite characters from the movie, you can add them! Which characters from the movie My Neighbor Totoro would you like to be part of this picture you created? By adding characters to this image, you can leave the movie that Totoro is from. You can add characters from other Studio Ghibli movies that you like, for example! You can explore anime characters, too, as you can incorporate characters from Disney movies, for example. Your imagination is the only limit, so include any character you like!
What characters from other media would you like Totoro to meet? Once you have decided which characters you would or would not like to have in this Totoro drawing, you can add other accessories and items. One of the most iconic images from the film is of Totoro standing with an umbrella in the rain. It would be a wonderful accessory to add to the look! You can add other elements from your favourite scenes from the movie. You can draw a few variations if you still have to decide! Finally, the best way to recreate your favourite scenes is to add a background to your Totoro sketch. Let’s take the example of Totoro with his umbrella. If he wanted to go further, he could draw the bus stop where he is in this scene. It would be one idea, but another would be to show the famous Gatobús in the background.
