Introduction

An old internet meme jokes about drawing an owl in two steps:

STEP 1: Draw two circles.

STEP 2: Draw the rest of the owl.

But what if you don't know how to draw the rest of the owl? Don't worry! Neither did I. So I put on my research glasses, sharpened my technical writing pencil, and set to work creating these instructions. While there are more than two steps, it's still surprisingly easy to draw a basic great horned owl. 

About these instructions

These instructions are divided into two parts; Part 1: Creating the shape, and Part 2: Adding the details. For the best results, I recommend completing the parts and steps in the order they're presented. You'll notice that these instructions don't include any size or scale information. Use your best judgement or get silly with it—we're not creating fine art here. 

The Helpful Hint audio files provide additional information about using guidelines. You may find the information helpful but it's not required to draw the owl. 

What you need

Before beginning, gather the following supplies:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Eraser

Once you have your supplies, you're ready to start with Part 1: Creating the shape.

Part 1: Creating the shape

The first part of drawing an owl is creating the basic shape. In this section, you'll learn how to create the body and head shapes.

To create the head

1. Draw one horizontal oval.

2. Starting above the left portion of the oval, draw a V-shape that touches the centre point in the oval and then exceeds through the upper right portion of the oval.

3. From the left side of the V-shape, draw one line that curves toward the top of the oval and connects to the right side of the V-shape. See Figure 1, right.

These are the owl's display feathers.

4. Erase any lines within the display feathers.

This is the basic shape of the owl's head.

To create the body

1. From the left side of the head, draw a deep U-curve that connects to the right side of the head.

This is the main part of the owl's body.

2. At both points where the head and body meet, draw a narrow, vertical, pointed oval that slightly extends past the body. See Figure 2, right.

These are the owl's wings.

3. Erase the U-curve lines within the wings.

This is the basic shape of the owl's body.

Now that you've created the shape of the owl, you're ready to continue to Part 2: Adding the details. 

Part 2: Adding the details

With the basic shape complete, it's time to add the distinguishing details. In this section, you'll learn how to create the owl's facial features, feathers, and feet.

To add the facial features

1. In the centre of the head, draw a narrow, upside-down triangle that touches the bottom of the oval.

2. Using your pencil, lightly shade-in the upside-down triangle.

This is the owl's beak.

3. Along the diagonal lines on both sides of the head, draw a large half circle. 

4. In each of the half circles, draw one small circle.

5. Using your pencil, lightly shade-in the small circles.

These are the owl's eyes.

To add the feathers

1. In both wings, starting at the outer line, draw a series of vertical lines that follow the outer curve of the wing and gradually get shorter as you move towards the body.

These are the owl's wing feathers.

2. In the body, starting at the top, draw squiggly horizontal lines that gradually get shorter as you move towards the bottom of the body.

These are the owl's body feathers.

To add the feet

1. Beside each wing, draw a small W-shape.  See Figure 3, right.

2. Using your pencil, lightly shade-in both W-shapes.

These are the owl's feet.

Conclusion

Using these instructions you learned how to draw a great horned owl by creating the shape and then adding the features. With continued practice, you'll be able to add additional details or even modify the steps above to draw different species of owls. 

Happy drawing!