{"title":"How to Draw a Cardinal","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/crafts/how-to-draw-a-cardinal","category":{"slug":"crafts","name":"Crafts"},"creator":{"name":"Art for Kids Hub","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5XMF3Inoi8R9nSI8ChOsdQ","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpP99iXYhIA"},"tldr":"Draw a red cardinal on a leafy branch in 10 easy steps: crest, black mask, thick beak and long tail. A fun bird drawing for kids to color.","totalDurationSeconds":685,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["black fine point permanent marker","pencil and eraser (optional)"],"materials":["drawing paper","oil pastels or colored pencils"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Draw the Cardinal's Eye and Thick Cone Beak","text":"Turn your paper tall. A little right of center, draw a small circle for the eye, with a tiny circle inside for a light reflection. Color in the rest of the eye. For the beak, draw a big sideways V in front of the eye. Add a curved line on top and a straight line underneath, then connect them to the point of the V. Cardinal beaks are thick, so make it chunky."},{"number":2,"title":"Draw the Cardinal's Spiky Crest","text":"Draw a line from the top of the beak up over the head. Cardinals have messy, pointy head feathers, so make this a zigzag line that rises into a tall point and comes back down behind the head. Stop the zigzag about level with the top of the eye. Then draw a short line down to finish the back of the head."},{"number":3,"title":"Draw the Cardinal's Wing and Feathers","text":"From the back of the head, curve a line down and out for the top of the wing. Curve another line back underneath so the wing looks thick, ending in a little bump for the shoulder. Inside the wing, draw a row of connected U shapes near the top. Then add long lines coming out from them toward the tip. Those are the long flight feathers."},{"number":4,"title":"Draw the Cardinal's Belly and Black Mask Line","text":"Start under the beak. Draw a short line curving back in for the neck, then curve down and around for a round belly that meets the bottom of the wing. Now the mask. Draw a line from the forehead, around the eye, and down into the belly. Leave it white for now. You color it black at the end."},{"number":5,"title":"Draw the Cardinal's Long Tail Feathers","text":"From under the wing, draw a long line that goes out toward the left side of the page. Draw a second line right next to it. Cardinals have long tails, so make them stretch. Connect the ends with a small curve. Then add a few lines inside the tail running the same way, so it looks like separate feathers."},{"number":6,"title":"Draw the Tree Branch Under the Cardinal","text":"Under the bird, draw a wavy line from the left edge of the paper, rising a little toward the right. Draw a second line beside it to make the branch thick. Then go wild. Add smaller branches that split off and run off the edges of the page, above and below the bird. More branches make it look like the cardinal sits in a real tree."},{"number":7,"title":"Draw the Cardinal's Legs and Toes on the Branch","text":"Draw two lines from the belly down to the branch for the legs. Give one a small bend. Keep the other straight. At the bottom of each leg, draw a few thick little lines that wrap over the branch so it looks like the bird is gripping it. Rob and his son checked, and cardinals have three toes in front."},{"number":8,"title":"Add Leaves to the Cardinal's Branch","text":"Draw leaves along the branches so you have something green to color later. Each leaf is a pointed football shape with a line down the middle. Put them anywhere you like. Some can hang off the side branches and a few can sit near the cardinal. Make a few big and a few small."},{"number":9,"title":"Color the Cardinal Red and Shade Under the Wing","text":"Color the whole cardinal red, including the crest, wing and tail. Leave the mask and beak for later. Then take a dark brown or dark red and add shading. Put it under the wing, along the bottom of the belly and on the tail close to the body. Go over the feather lines on the wing too. The shading makes the bird look round."},{"number":10,"title":"Color the Cardinal's Mask, Beak, Branch and Leaves","text":"Fill the mask in black. Color the beak with a light layer of orange, leaving a bit of white on top for shine, then go over it with red. Color the branches light brown, leaving a thin highlight along the top. For the leaves, fill some with light green and shade with dark green. The red against the green looks great."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-10-05T15:20:38.351Z","published":"2026-10-05T15:20:32.148Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}