How to Draw a Red Panda Step by Step (Easy for Beginners)

Red pandas look like a fox and a teddy bear rolled into one, and that mix is exactly what makes them fun to draw. This lesson shows you how to draw a red panda step by step, sitting on a branch with its big striped tail lying beside it. The face markings carry most of the character, so I spend extra time on those. Two light ovals get you started.

How to draw a red panda step by step - finished colored red panda drawing — Here's the red panda we're aiming for: white eyebrows, little tear marks and a tail that's almost as long as the branch.

Look for the color blue: it marks what you add in that step. Anything gray was drawn in an earlier step and is already on your page.

Quick overview
⏱️ Time: around 30 to 40 minutes, coloring included
🎯 Level: easy, fine for kids around 7 and older
✏️ Steps: 12
🐾 You'll draw: a cartoon red panda sitting on a branch

Red Panda Art Supplies (Nothing Fancy)

A regular pencil you can hold loosely for light lines
An eraser that doesn't smudge
A black marker or fineliner for inking
Colored pencils or crayons: rusty orange, light orange, two browns, black and green
Plain white paper, turned sideways

A white crayon is handy but not needed, because the paper itself gives you the white face patches.

How to Draw a Red Panda Step by Step

Step 1: Sketch a head oval and a body oval

Draw a wide oval a little left of the middle of your page for the head. Right under it, overlapping a bit, draw a smaller oval for the body. I add a line down the center of the head and a gently curved line across it, just above halfway, because the eyes sit on that curve.

💡 Tip: Make the head oval clearly bigger than the body. A big head is what makes a cartoon animal look cute.

Step 2: Add the branch and tail guides

Draw a long, almost straight line across the bottom of the body oval and past it on both sides. That's the top of the branch. From the right side of the body, draw one curve that runs along the branch and then sweeps upward. It shows where the tail will go.

💡 Tip: Let the branch line wobble slightly. A ruler-straight branch looks like a pipe.

Step 3: Draw a wide head with cheek tufts

Go over the head oval with a firmer line, but let the lower sides puff out into a pointed tuft of fur on each cheek. Then curve back in and round off the chin. In my experience those tufts are what make people say red panda and not cat.

💡 Tip: Point both tufts slightly down and out, like a little mustache made of fur.

Step 4: Add two pointed ears

On top of the head, near each side, draw a tall ear with a soft point. The ears lean outward a little. Inside each one, draw a smaller copy of the ear shape for the white fur. The bottom of each ear tucks behind the head line.

💡 Tip: Keep a wide gap between the ears. If they sit too close together, the face starts to look like a fox.

Step 5: Draw the body, arms and belly

From under the cheeks, bring the body outline down on each side so it widens toward the branch, like a pear. Over it, draw two thick arms that come down from the shoulders to round paws resting on the branch, with two little claw lines on each paw. Between the arms goes a tall oval for the dark belly.

💡 Tip: Draw the arms nearly as wide as the paws. Thin arms make the panda look like a stuffed toy with sticks.

Step 6: Add thighs and dangling legs

At the bottom corners of the body, draw a rounded bump on each side for the thighs. Under each thigh, drop a short, thick leg straight down below the branch line and finish it with a flat foot and two toe lines. The legs hang in front of the branch because the panda sits on top of it.

💡 Tip: Line the feet up at the same height so the panda doesn't look tipped over.

Step 7: Draw a big bushy tail with rings

Follow the tail guide with two lines that start behind the body. I make the tail wider in the middle than at the base and round off the tip at the top. Then draw three curved lines across it to mark the rings, spaced so the rings and the gaps between them are about the same width.

💡 Tip: Bow each ring line slightly instead of drawing it straight. The tail looks fluffier that way.

Step 8: Draw the branch and a little twig

Now draw the branch as a long log: one line on top, one underneath, and a small oval at the right end where it was cut. Stop the lines wherever the panda and its tail are in front. I like two short bark lines and a thin twig with two leaves on the left to fill the empty corner.

💡 Tip: Leaving the branch until now means you never have to erase lines that go behind the panda.

Step 9: Add the face patches and tear marks

Draw a small tilted oval above each eye position for the white eyebrows. Around the bottom of the face, draw a big rounded muzzle, then outline a white patch inside each cheek tuft. Finally add the tear marks, a curved stripe under each eye that runs down along the edge of the muzzle.

💡 Tip: The tear marks curve toward the mouth at the bottom. Straight stripes look like stitches.

Step 10: Draw the eyes, nose and smile

Put a round eye at the top of each tear mark, right on the curved guide line, with a small shine circle in the same corner of both. In the middle of the muzzle, near the top, draw a small rounded nose shaped like an upside-down triangle. A short line drops from it and splits into a little smile.

💡 Tip: Big round eyes with shine dots make it cute. Small dots for eyes make the face look sleepy.

Step 11: Ink your drawing and erase the guides

Trace every keeper line with the marker. I begin with the face, while my hand is steady, and finish with the long branch lines. Leave the light ovals and guide curves alone. When the ink is completely dry, erase all the pencil so only the clean outline stays.

💡 Tip: Give the ink a full minute before erasing. Wet marker smears into gray streaks.

Step 12: Color your red panda

Rusty orange covers the head and body, plus the ears and tail. Color the tail rings light orange. The limbs and belly are dark brown, the tear marks red brown. I leave every white patch as bare paper. Fill the eyes and nose black, keeping the shine dots white, then color the branch brown and the leaves green.

💡 Tip: Color the tail with strokes that follow its curve. It helps the fur look soft.

Where Red Panda Sketches Slip Up

A narrow, pointy face. That turns it into a fox. Keep the head wide and add the cheek tufts on the sides.
Forgetting the white patches. Without them the face is just a plain orange circle. These markings are what people recognize first.
Tear marks that are too thick. Wide dark stripes swallow the face. Keep them slim and let them follow the muzzle edge.
Coloring the legs orange. Red pandas have dark brown legs and belly. That dark lower half makes the orange look brighter.
A thin tail. The tail is long and bushy, about as thick as the panda's arm and paw together. Thin tails look like a cat's.

Branching Out with More Red Panda Poses

Once the sitting pose feels easy, let the tail hang down below the branch, or curl it around the panda's feet. You can also skip the branch and draw the panda hugging a bamboo stalk, or give it a tiny scarf for a winter card. Younger kids can leave out the tail rings and claw lines, and it still reads as a red panda thanks to the face. The ringed tail and face mask here have a lot in common with this raccoon drawing tutorial, so that's a good next one. For another animal with a fluffy tail and pointed ears, try the arctic fox drawing step by step, or stay in the trees with this sloth drawing lesson.

Free Red Panda Coloring Page and Printable Steps

The free red panda coloring page has a finished, colored red panda at the top to copy from, a color key that matches each color to a body part, and a large outline to color below. The step-by-step PDF guide puts all 12 steps on paper with their pictures and tips, which helps when you want to draw away from a screen. Both fit Letter and A4.

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Free PDF

Red Panda 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

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Free PDF

Step-by-Step Red Panda Drawing Guide

7 pagesA4All 12 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.

Pin the Red Panda Lesson

How to draw a red panda step by step - all 12 steps on one page (Pinterest) — Every step from two ovals to the colored red panda, on one tall image you can pin or print.

Each of these is a full step-by-step tutorial with a picture for every stage, drawn the same way as this red panda.

Raccoon Drawing: A gray raccoon with a black mask and a striped tail walks along the page in this how to draw a raccoon step by step tutorial.
Arctic Fox Drawing: A fluffy arctic fox sits in the snow with its big tail swept to one side in this arctic fox drawing tutorial.
Sloth Drawing: A smiling sloth hangs from a branch by its long claws in this sloth drawing step by step lesson.
Bear Drawing: A brown bear walks through the grass, head low and shoulders high, in this how to draw a bear tutorial.
Polar Bear Drawing: A chubby polar bear sits on a cracked ice floe in this polar bear drawing tutorial.

Red Panda Drawing Questions, Answered

How do you draw a red panda easy for kids?

Start with a big oval for the head and a smaller one for the body. Add pointed ears, white face patches, dark limbs and a thick tail with a few stripes. Kids can skip the branch and the claws.

What colors is a red panda?

Mostly rusty red orange, with white face patches and ear edges, red brown tear marks, a dark brown belly and legs, and lighter orange rings on the tail.

Is a red panda related to a giant panda?

Not closely, even though they share a name and both eat bamboo. For drawing, think of it as more like a raccoon or a small fox shape with panda-style cuteness.