How to Draw Princess Cadence

Finished Princess Cadence drawing with a crown, wings, flowing mane, and tail

In this step-by-step tutorial, we will show you how to draw Princess Cadance, one of the royal alicorns from My Little Pony, in a simple cartoon style.

How to draw Princess Cadence step by step

Step 1: Sketch Princess Cadence’s head

Begin drawing the pony with a simple circle. In fact, almost all drawing tutorials about the residents of Equestria begin this way. Then sketch a short line across the lower part of the circle to help place Princess Cadence’s eyes.

Sketching Princess Cadence’s round head with a curved eye guideline

Step 2: Add the body and neck

Now draw the body as a shape resembling a slightly flattened potato. Connect the head and torso with two smooth lines to form the neck of Princess Cadence.

Adding Princess Cadence’s rounded body and smooth curved neck lines

Step 3: Outline the pony’s legs

Outline the legs of Princess Cadence. Draw the front legs with straight lines and without noticeable bends. Visually divide each back leg into two sections, with a bend at the point where they meet.

Outlining Princess Cadence’s straight front legs and bent hind legs

Step 4: Mark the eyes and muzzle

Outline Princess Cadence’s eyes and muzzle.

Marking Princess Cadence’s large eyes and small rounded muzzle

Step 5: Draw Princess Cadence’s mane and tail

Draw Princess Cadence’s forelock and mane with smooth, curved lines. Use the same type of lines to sketch the tail. Finish by adding the horn and ear.

Drawing Princess Cadence’s curved mane, flowing tail, horn, and ear

Step 6: Add the cartoon crown and pupils

Since Cadence is a princess, draw her crown. Then add the pupils inside Princess Cadence’s eyes and mark a few small highlights.

Adding Princess Cadence’s crown, pupils, and small eye highlights

Step 7: Refine the pony’s eyes

Erase the extra guidelines from Princess Cadence’s face. Shade the pupils with a soft pencil while leaving the highlights unshaded, then draw the eyelashes.

Refining Princess Cadence’s eyes with dark pupils, highlights, and eyelashes

Step 8: Detail the crown and mane

Add details to Princess Cadence by drawing the crown and the gem in its center. Draw curved bands across the horn and add several lines to the mane. The hair should be drawn from the roots toward the ends, whether you are drawing a pony such as Twilight Sparkle or drawing a samurai’s beard.

Detailing Princess Cadence’s crown gem, horn bands, and flowing mane strands

Step 9: Outline the wings and ornaments

Draw the swirled ornament at the base of Princess Cadence’s neck. Then outline the folded wings and refine the lower sections of the legs.

Outlining Princess Cadence’s neck ornament, folded wings, and lower legs

Step 10: Refine Princess Cadence’s wing

Erase the extra guidelines and draw the detailed wing of Princess Cadence.

Refining Princess Cadence’s folded wing with layered feather contours

Step 11: Finish the tail and details

Finish the Princess Cadence drawing by refining the tail in the same way as the forelock. Outline the hooves and draw the gem-shaped cutie mark on her flank.

Finishing Princess Cadence’s tail, hooves, cutie mark, and final outlines

This step-by-step tutorial showed you how to draw Princess Cadance from My Little Pony. If you’d like to continue with other characters from the series, try drawing Twilight Sparkle, another powerful alicorn.

You can also practice drawing Rarity or drawing Rainbow Dash to add two of Ponyville’s most recognizable ponies to your collection.