How to Draw a Centaur

Time needed: 45 minutes

How to Draw a Centaur

1. Sketch the head and torso of the creature.

   Lightly sketch the body shape and the head circle of the centaur. The horse body starts as a bean-like oval, while the head sits as a round form above it. Try to set the proportions at the very beginning of the work. Try to hold your pencil loosely here.

2. Sketch the hairstyle, neck, and ear.

   Add a simple flowing hair shape, keeping the lines simple and curved, then place a small ear on the side of the head. You can adjust the shape of the hairstyle and make it longer or shorter. After that, draw the centaur’s neck with a couple of very short lines.

3. Draw the centaur’s facial details.

   Next, sketch the centaur’s facial features: eyes, nose, and mouth. In this simplified style, two oval eyes, a short nose line, and a curved smile will work well. You can lightly mark a center guideline down the face to keep things symmetrical, and then draw the eyes and other facial detail.

4. Add the creature’s arms and hands.

   Sketch one bent arm resting at the side using smooth lines. At the very end of the arm draw the hand as a small mitten-like shape. Repeat the same actions with the second arm. If you want to draw a centaur in a more interesting pose, you can depict a bow and arrow in his hands.

5. Draw the centaur’s front legs.

   Now it’s time to draw the mythical creature’s back leg, sketching a smooth line downward, then add a second parallel line to form the limb. Finish with a flat shape for the bottom of the hoof. After that, draw the second back leg behind the first one, repeating the front edge of the limb.

6. Add the mythical creature’s front legs.

   Draw the front leg sketching lines downward from the horse body. Use the same method, two smooth lines and a hoof at the very base. These legs pair with the lambs from step 5. The back legs should be slightly thick than the front limbs.

7. Detail the hooves and add the tail.

   Sketch a flowing horse tail curving from the back of the body, then add simple horizontal lines to separate the hooves. In class, I sometimes show how removing or misplacing the tail makes the whole figure feel incomplete. Additionally, draw the separation line between the human and horse halves.

8. Clean the centaur sketch.

   Now, try to polish your sketch and erase any guidelines. After that, trace over the important lines to finalize your centaur drawing. This is also the moment to fix small mistakes, maybe one leg is slightly too short, or the torso line needs smoothing.

9. Paint the mythical creature with natural tones.

   The final stage is coloring your centaur drawing, so take skin tones for the human torso, brown shades for the horse body, and darker colors for the hair and tail. You can also experiment with other variations, black horse bodies, blond hair, or even a gray coat to resemble a different horse breed.