How to Draw a French Bulldog Step by Step (Easy for Beginners)

Two giant upright ears on a square little head, and nobody mistakes a Frenchie for any other dog. Those bat ears carry the whole drawing, so I spend more care on them than on anything else. Below I'll walk you through how to draw a french bulldog step by step, from one wide oval to a stocky pup in a red bow tie. You don't need any drawing experience, only a pencil and some patience with the ears.

How to draw a french bulldog step by step - finished colored french bulldog drawing — Meet the finished Frenchie: square head, flat nose, bow tie on. We'll build him together in 11 small steps.

Every picture below uses two colors. Blue marks the lines that are new in that step, so that's what you add, while gray shows the parts you already have on paper.

Quick overview
⏱️ Time: about 30 to 40 minutes with coloring
🎯 Level: easy, good for kids from about 6
✏️ Steps: 11
🐶 You'll draw: a sitting French bulldog with bat ears and a bow tie

Gear for Sketching a Bat-Eared Pup

A pencil you can press very lightly with
An eraser that doesn't smear
A black marker or fineliner
Colored pencils or crayons: light brown, dark brown, pink, red and black
A cream or white pencil for the chest, or just leave the paper white
Any plain paper, standing upright

Nothing fancy is needed here; a cheap school pencil draws a Frenchie just as well as an expensive one.

How to Draw a French Bulldog Step by Step

Step 1: Sketch a wide head oval and a ground line

Start low on the page with a straight ground line. Then go up near the top and draw an oval that's clearly wider than it is tall, because a French bulldog's head is broad and flat on top. Split it with a vertical line through the middle and a gentle curve across, a little above halfway. That curve is where the eyes will sit.

💡 Tip: Leave a thumb's width of empty paper above the oval. The ears need that room later.

Step 2: Add guides for the ears, body and legs

On each top corner of the head, draw a tall triangle leaning slightly outward. Below the head, add a round body oval that sits on the ground line and tucks up under the chin. Two curved lines inside the body mark where the front legs will go. Frenchies stand with their front legs wide apart, and that stance is part of the look.

💡 Tip: Let the ear triangles reach as high as the head is tall from the cross line up. Bigger is safer than smaller.

Step 3: Outline a square-shaped head

Now trace over the head oval, but push the corners out so it turns into a rounded square. The top stays fairly flat and the cheeks bulge out to the sides. I leave a small gap at the bottom middle, where the bow tie will cover the chin anyway. This boxy shape is what separates a bulldog from a puppy or a teddy bear.

💡 Tip: Think of a pillow seen from the front: flat top, puffy sides, soft corners.

Step 4: Draw the big upright bat ears

Using the triangles as a rough guide, draw each ear as a tall shape with a wide, rounded top instead of a sharp point. The inner edge starts on top of the head and the outer edge flares out past the cheek. Stop the ear lines where they meet the head. Inside each ear, draw a smaller copy of the same shape for the pink lining.

💡 Tip: Round the ear tips generously. Pointed tips turn the dog into a fox or a cat in one stroke.

Step 5: Shape the stocky chest and hips

From under each cheek, draw a line that swings out and down to the ground. Keep it chunky, since this breed is built like a little barrel. At the bottom on both sides, add a round hip and a flat oval back foot that pokes out sideways. The body line stops wherever a hip sits in front of it.

💡 Tip: If the chest looks slim, push both side lines out a bit further. Frenchies are wide all the way down.

Step 6: Add short, bowed front legs

Follow the leg guides with two short columns, each with a slight outward bend on its outer side. That small bow gives the legs their sturdy bulldog feel. End each leg in a chunky oval paw resting on the ground, and split the paw with two tiny toe lines. Leave the tops of the legs open so they blend into the chest.

💡 Tip: Keep the legs short. A Frenchie with long legs starts to look like a boxer.

Step 7: Draw the flat muzzle and big nose

Here's the face that makes the breed. Draw a wide, short muzzle low in the head, almost touching the bottom, with two round jowl bumps at the bottom like a soft letter W. Near its top, add a big rounded nose and a small shine mark inside it. A short line down from the nose splits into a wide smile.

💡 Tip: Keep the muzzle flat and wide. If it starts poking downward like a snout, shorten it.

Step 8: Add round eyes and forehead wrinkles

Place two round eyes on the cross line, far apart, close to the sides of the head. Wide-set eyes are a real Frenchie trait and they make the face sweeter. Add a large shine and a tiny dot in each eye, short curved brows above them, two little wrinkles on the forehead and one curved fold right above the muzzle.

💡 Tip: Draw the wrinkles as short, soft curves. Long ones make the dog look old and worried.

Step 9: Draw the white chest blaze and a bow tie

Under the chin, draw a bow tie: two rounded wings with a small circle knot in the middle. From under the bow tie, draw a long V shape down the chest, between the legs. That's the white blaze many fawn Frenchies have. I like how a bow tie suits the breed's serious little face.

💡 Tip: Make both bow tie wings the same size by drawing the knot first and measuring out from it.

Step 10: Ink the lines and erase the guides

Go over every final line with a black marker, slowly. I start at the ears and work down, so my hand never rests on wet ink. Skip the triangles, the ovals and the cross lines. Once the ink has dried for a minute, erase all the pencil underneath and you'll have a clean outline.

💡 Tip: Turn the paper as you ink the round ear tops. Your hand curves more easily in one direction than the other.

Step 11: Color your French bulldog

Light brown covers almost the whole dog, from the ear tips to the paws. The muzzle gets dark brown, which is the classic black mask on a fawn Frenchie, softened a little so the nose still shows. Use pink inside the ears, cream or white on the chest blaze and red for the bow tie. Eyes and nose are black, with the shine marks left white.

💡 Tip: Color the big light brown areas with gentle side strokes first, then the small dark parts on top.

Where Frenchie Drawings Lose Their Charm

Ears that are too small or too pointy. Small sharp ears make a cat. Draw them tall, with broad round tops.
A long dog snout. French bulldogs have nearly flat faces. Keep the muzzle short and set it low in the head.
A round head. A perfectly round head looks like a puppy. Square off the top and puff out the cheeks.
Eyes set close together. Move them out toward the sides of the head for the wide, friendly bulldog look.
A slim body with long legs. Make the chest wide and the front legs short, with a slight outward bow.

Brindle or Pied: Frenchie Makeovers

After one Frenchie, try a different coat. Brindle dogs are dark brown with thin black stripes, while pied Frenchies are white with big black or fawn patches, often one patch around an eye. A blue-gray coat looks great too. Swap the bow tie for a striped scarf, a party hat or a tiny raincoat, or turn his head with one ear folded for a goofy look. Little kids can leave out the wrinkles and the toe lines; the dog still reads clearly. If you want to try another breed next, the dog drawing tutorial is a good next step, and a row of prints from the paw print drawing tutorial makes a sweet border around your Frenchie.

French Bulldog Coloring Page and Step PDF to Print

The free French bulldog coloring page shows a colored Frenchie at the top as a model, with a small key that says which color goes on which part, and a big outline underneath for coloring. The step-by-step PDF guide holds all 11 steps with pictures and tips. Both fit Letter or A4 paper.

🎨

Free PDF

French Bulldog Coloring Page

1 pageUS LetterColor key

Black outlines with a colored example and the color names at the top. Ready to print and color.

⬇️ Download Coloring Page

✏️

Free PDF

Step-by-Step French Bulldog Drawing Guide

7 pagesA4All 11 steps

Every step picture with its instructions and tips, to keep beside your paper while you draw.

⬇️ Download Drawing Guide

📱 On a phone? Tap a download button, then open the file and choose Share → Save to Files or Print. On a computer, the PDF opens or saves straight to your Downloads folder.

Keep Every Frenchie Step on One Pin

How to draw a french bulldog step by step - all 11 steps on one page (Pinterest) — Every step of the French bulldog on one tall picture. Save it to a drawing board on Pinterest or print it for the fridge.

Each of these opens a full step-by-step animal tutorial, starting with light guide shapes and ending in color.

Dove Drawing: A flying dove with wings up and an olive branch in its beak takes twelve short steps in this peace dove drawing tutorial.
Dog Drawing: Learn how to draw a dog step by step with a beagle-style buddy in side view, tail up and tongue out.
Fish Drawing: The easy goldfish drawing tutorial covers everything from the scales to the seaweed beside it.
Lion Drawing: Big mane, kind eyes and a waving tail tuft finish the lion drawing step by step lesson.
Spider Drawing: One silk line, one round web and a very friendly spider make up this spider drawing tutorial.
Chicken Drawing: Draw a hen and her chick on a patch of grass with how to draw a chicken.
Cardinal Drawing: Red feathers, a black mask and an orange beak come together on a perch in the cardinal drawing tutorial.
Ladybug Drawing: A round red ladybug sits on a leaf while a small one flies past in this ladybug drawing step by step guide.
Shark Drawing: The easy shark drawing tutorial ends with a smiling great white ready to swim off the page.
Elephant Drawing: Trunk up, ear out and toes tucked in, this cheerful elephant is the goal of how to draw an elephant step by step.
Bear Drawing: Build a walking brown bear, head low and hump high, with the bear drawing tutorial.