How to Draw a Cartoon Raccoon
(the Easy Way)

Wondering how to draw a cartoon raccoon? With that distinctive mask and stripey tail, this raccoon is primed and ready for action. It’s no co-incidence that Bruce Willis was chosen for the voice of RJ the raccoon in the 2006 Dreamworks movie, Over The Hedge - these cute critters are always up to something and love to be in the centre of any activity. 

Indeed, raccoons have featured heavily in a wide range of stories, songs and movies over the centuries, with some native Americans believing they had special powers! So, pencils at the ready – let’s get started with our simple guide on how to draw a raccoon!

STEP-1: Sketching out the Basic Shapes
First of all, let’s begin by sketching out a series of oval shapes or eggs – these will form the basis of our raccoon’s body and help us create our awesome drawing.

STEP-2: Turning Raccoon into Reality
Those basic oval shapes don’t look like much, but they sure are useful when helping us create our character. Starting with the shape on the left, make this more of a paddle shape – this will be our raccoon’s tail. 

For our next step in learning how to draw a cartoon raccoon, let’s add some ears by drawing two upside-down ‘V’ shapes either side of the head. Taking the circle as our basis, we can now also make this more irregular and add some jagged lines on the top and at the side to represent our raccoon’s fur. 

This cute critter’s head is actually quite box-shaped, so bear this in mind when drawing in the cheeks. At the bottom left of the circle we drew for the body, sketch in the leg by drawing a curved line with a foot at the bottom.

STEP-3: Spring into Action with More Detail!
When learning how to draw a raccoon, the most important feature everyone will recognize is the broad, stripey tail. 

So, let’s add this now by drawing four lines spaced almost equally apart. When hanging out in the forests of North America, our raccoon likes to be able to hear where the action is – luckily, these cute critters have an awesome sense of hearing and can even detect the sound of earthworms moving underground! Finish the ears by drawing two jagged lines inside the larger shapes we drew earlier. 

For the eyes, draw two egg shapes roughly in the middle of the head – raccoons can see well in twilight (ideal for those secretive missions in the forest) but aren’t too good at seeing long distances. 

Add a nose by drawing an upside-down triangle. Now, it’s time to add an arm – draw two ‘V’ shapes – one above the other – then add a paw. Raccoons have an incredible sense of touch and are kitted out with hyper-sensitive pads. In fact, they can even detect what an object is before touching it! How cool is that?

STEP-4: Raccoons at the Ready!
Now you’ve mastered the basics of how to draw a raccoon, let’s add some more features to really bring this furry forest dude to life! Sketch in that all-important mask around the eyes – this instantly recogizable feature is the reason raccoons are often portrayed as mischievous in folklore. Maybe they are – they’re certainly pretty smart and can remember a variety of tasks!

For the eyelids, draw four curved lines in the middle of each eye, then add two small circles for the pupils. 

For our next step in learning how to draw a cartoon raccoon, let’s draw our rad raccoon’s mouth – sketch two squared off ‘U’ shapes with a ‘V’ shape underneath for the chin. Remember the arm we drew earlier? It’s time to add another, which is basically the same shape in reverse – we want it to look as if our forest friend is clasping his paws together as he hatches another action-packed plan! Remember to draw in our raccoon’s toes. 

At this stage, we can also draw the underside of our raccoon’s belly or chest bu drawing an upside-down ‘U’ shape as in the illustration. Draw another leg on the right-hand side and our rad raccoon is nearly ready for some coloring action! Having drawn the outline in black, rub out any lines you no longer need and then select a nice mid-gray color for our furry friend’s head, tail and body. 

Once this is done, use a darker gray for the stripes on the tail and that rather stylish mask. Color the eyes and nose in black, remembering to leave a small area near the top white to represent highlights. Finally, select a lighter shade of gray for our raccoon’s chest and there it is – you’re good to go! Now you’ve learned how to draw a cartoon raccoon, let’s see what exciting adventures and mischief our furry friend can get up to…