How to Draw a Cartoon Mouse

In this simple beginner-friendly lesson, we will show you how to draw a cartoon mouse with simplified details.

On our website, we already have a more advanced and detailed tutorial on how to draw a mouse, where we depicted this rodent in a fairly realistic style with simplified yet academic shading.

In this version, however, the mouse is intentionally drawn in a much simpler way, with fewer details, slightly cartoonish facial features, and a side view to make the entire character easier to draw.

The facial expression of this cartoon mouse is also intentionally simplified and brought to a more stylized form, similar to characters in 20th-century animated films. This is done deliberately to make the overall process of drawing the rodent as simple as possible.

How to draw a cartoon mouse step by step

Step 1: Sketch the cartoon rodent’s oval head shape

Even a simple, basic cartoon mouse drawing like the one in this example is easier to sketch if you first outline the main body parts using basic geometric shapes. So begin with the head, sketching it as an oval or an egg-like shape tilted onto its side.

Step 2: Sketch the larger oval for the mouse’s body

Now move on to the rodent’s torso and outline it as a slightly larger oval. The right side of this oval should overlap with the head shape to indicate the mouse’s neck. As with all early stages of drawing any animal, these initial lines should be drawn very lightly, with barely visible strokes.

Step 3: Draw the cartoon mouse ears and front limbs

Now return to the mouse’s head and outline the ears as two large semicircles. The ear that is closer to us should be drawn fully, while the farther ear should be partially overlapped by the first one. The ears of a cartoon mouse should not look too realistic – instead, they should appear as very simplified round shapes, similar to the style used for Mickey Mouse. Next, outline the front limbs, making them intentionally very small.

Step 4: Sketch the hind leg and long tail

Now move to the back of the mouse and outline the visible hind leg, which should be noticeably larger than the front one. First, sketch the upper part of the hind leg using a long curved line. Then outline the elongated hind foot beneath this line. After that, move on to the tail and draw a long, smooth line to indicate its position and future shape.

Step 5: Draw the face of the cartoon mouse

Now begin adding details, and as usual, start with the rodent’s head. First, draw the outline of the cartoon mouse eye as an oval or an egg-shaped form. Inside this shape, add a round pupil. Then, on the front of the snout, draw a simple circular nose, and just below it depict a small smiling mouth. Move on to the ear and add the inner structure with a light curved line that follows the outer contour of the ear.

Step 6: Complete the head and pain the eye

Now give the cartoon mouse’s head a clean, finished look. Carefully trace all previously drawn lines with darker, more defined contours, gradually erasing the unnecessary construction strokes from the earlier steps. Then fill in the mouse’s eye with black, leaving a small highlight inside.

Step 7: Outline the rodent’s final body contours

Now repeat the same process for the cartoon rodent’s body. Using smooth, clean lines, carefully trace the entire figure to make the contours darker and more defined. As in the previous step, gradually erase all construction strokes to give the cartoon mouse drawing a cleaner and more polished look. Refine the tail as well, making it appear slightly more natural rather than looking like a thin string.

 

Drawing cartoon characters and creating stylized cartoon designs is an important skill for any artist, including those studying academic drawing.

This is why our website has a dedicated section called Cartoons. There, we publish tutorials on well-known animated characters as well as lessons on how to create your own cartoon characters or creatures, just like in this mouse tutorial.

For example, we show how to draw a cartoon dog by simplifying the forms and details in the same way we did here.

We have also already shown how to draw a cartoon cat, giving it a cute and deliberately simplified appearance.

We created this lesson intentionally as a beginner-friendly mouse drawing tutorial, designed to introduce you to animal drawing in a very simple way and to help build the basic foundation needed for drawing living creatures in a more volumetric and realistic manner. For more complex and detailed animal drawings, be sure to visit our Animals category.