A budgie from a tall teardrop on a perchStand a teardrop upright, point down for the tail. Small hooked beak, dot eye and scallops on the wing.
A cat asleep, wound up as a spiralStart a spiral in the middle and wind out twice. Tuck two ears into the outer coil and end on a tail tip.
A cat from one bean and a pair of pointed earsDraw a bean lying down. Add two triangle ears at one end and a tail curling off the other. Dots for eyes.
A cat stretching as one long archDraw an arch like a bridge. Front legs straight down at one end, head low between them, tail up at the other.
A gecko as an S with four star feetDraw a fat S. Add a pointed head, four legs bent like elbows, toes as tiny stars and spots down the back.
A goldfish from a teardrop and a letter VA teardrop on its side for the body, a V on the pointed end for the tail and a dot eye at the round end.
A guinea pig as a loaf with a tuft on topDraw a rounded loaf with no neck. A tuft of three strokes on top, one eye and an ear like a petal.
A hamster as a circle with a bump for each cheekOne circle, wider than tall. Two small ears on top, two dots for eyes and a bump low on each side.
A parrot from one big commaA big comma makes the body and tail. Add a hooked beak like a smaller comma, a ringed eye and wing feathers.
A puppy as a pear with two ear flaps, back viewA pear shape, wide at the bottom. Ear flaps at the top and a tail wagging off one side.
A rabbit from one egg on another, ears as loopsSmall oval head on a bigger oval body. Two tall loops for ears and a round blob of a tail.
A rabbit with ears flopped down like two socksRound head, round body. Hang a long sock shape down each side of the face and add a tiny Y for the nose.
A sausage dog from one long oval and four tiny legsStretch an oval across the page. Add a round head, one drooping ear and four short lines for legs.
A terrier's face from a square and a zigzag beardA rounded square for the head, two folded triangle ears, a button nose and a zigzag beard under it.
A tortoise from a dome and five bumpsA half circle for the shell. Bumps for the head and four feet along the flat side. Hexagons on the dome.
Farm and woodland 15
A badger's face as a long triangle with two stripesA long triangle pointing down. Run two dark stripes from the ears through the eyes to the nose.
A bear's face from one big circle and three small onesBig circle for the head. Two small circles for ears, one for the muzzle, then a nose and two dots.
A cow's face from a rounded square and an oval muzzleA rounded square with an oval across its lower half. Two nostrils, leaf ears, small horns and one patch.
A deer from a bean, a long neck and twig antlersBean body on four thin legs. A neck rising at a slant, a small head, and antlers branching like twigs.
A duck from the number 2Write a big 2. Close the bottom into a boat shape, add a beak to the top curl and one wing line.
A fox face: one big triangle and two small onesOne big triangle pointing down for the face, two small ones for ears. Dot the nose at the point.
A goat with a beard and two curved hornsA long oval face, wider at the top. Two horns curving back, ears out sideways and a pointed beard.
A hedgehog from a half circle covered in short strokesA half circle with a pointed nose at one end. Lean every stroke back toward the tail.
A hen from a half circle with three bumps on topA half circle sitting flat. Three bumps for the comb, a triangle beak and a fan of lines for the tail.
A horse's head as a long wedge with a mane of loopsA wedge narrowing to the muzzle. Add a nostril, an eye high up, pricked ears and loops down the neck.
A mouse from a teardrop and two circlesA teardrop on its side, point forward. Two circle ears, a dot eye, whiskers and a long looping tail.
A pig from two circles and a curlBig circle body, small circle snout in the middle with two dots. Triangle ears and a curly tail.
A sheep from one scribbled cloud and a small oval faceA bumpy cloud for the fleece. A small oval face at one end and four straight legs underneath.
A squirrel whose tail is one fat hookA small bean body with a round head. Sweep a thick hook up behind it, curling over at the top.
An owl as an oval with two big ringsAn upright oval. Two large rings for eyes that touch in the middle, a V beak and rows of U feathers.
Sea and pond 15
A crab from a wide oval with a mitten on each sideA wide oval body. Two mitten shapes on stalks for claws, eyes on short stems and three legs each side.
A dolphin as one thick arc with a beakDraw a rainbow-shaped arc and thicken it. Add a beak at the front, a fin on top and a forked tail.
A frog from a wide oval with two bumps on topA wide oval. Two bumps on top with a dot in each, a long smile and folded legs at the sides.
A jellyfish as a bell trailing curly threadsA half circle with a scalloped lower edge. Hang four curly threads and a few straight ones below.
A lobster from a row of shrinking ovalsFive ovals in a row, each smaller, ending in a fan tail. Two big claws and two long feelers at the front.
A pufferfish as a circle covered in ticksA circle with a small mouth and one big eye. Cover it in short ticks pointing outward and add two tiny fins.
A seahorse from a narrow S ending in a spiralA narrow S. Curl the bottom into a spiral, add a long snout at the top and bumps down the back.
A seal from a banana shape with a round headA banana curving up at both ends. Round off one end into a head with whiskers and split the other into flippers.
A shark from a crescent and one triangle finA long crescent, thicker in front. One triangle fin on top, a forked tail, gill lines and a small eye.
A starfish as a star with rounded tipsDraw a star with soft tips, one arm slightly bent. Dot a line down the middle of each arm.
A tadpole turning into a frog in four stepsA dot with a tail. Then back legs, then front legs with a shorter tail, then no tail at all.
A turtle from above as an oval with four paddlesAn oval shell with a pattern of plates. A round head at the front, a paddle at each corner, a point of tail.
A whale as a dome blowing a little fountainA dome, flat side down. A two-pointed tail lifting at one end, a dot eye and a spout of three lines.
An angelfish from a triangle and two long finsA triangle on its side for the body. Sweep one tall fin up and one down, then stripe it top to bottom.
An octopus from a tall dome with arms like loose stringA tall dome for the head with two eyes low down. Hang eight wavy arms from the bottom edge.
Birds and bugs 15
A bee from a striped oval and two teardrop wingsAn oval with three bands across it. Two teardrops on top, a sting at the back and two short feelers.
A butterfly from a B and its mirrorWrite a capital B, then its mirror image against it. A thin body between them and two curled feelers.
A chick as a fluffy ball on two stick feetA circle with short strokes round the edge for fluff. A triangle beak, a dot eye and two feet of three toes.
A dragonfly from a stick and four loopsA long thin body with a round head. Four narrow loops for wings, two each side, near the front.
A flamingo from an S on an oval and a figure 4 for the legsAn S for the neck running into an oval body. One straight leg, one folded across it like a 4. A bent beak.
A hummingbird from a teardrop, a needle and a blurA small teardrop body, a needle beak twice the length of the head, and a fan of fine lines for the wing.
A ladybird from a circle split down the middleA circle with a line down the middle. A half circle head at the top, six legs and three spots a side.
A peacock with three rows of teardrops behind itA small pear body with a crest. Fan teardrops out behind it in three rows and put a ring in each.
A penguin from two eggs, one inside the otherA tall egg with a smaller egg inside for the belly. Two flippers, two feet and a small beak.
A robin as a ball with a round chest patchA circle with a small beak and a dot eye. Shade a round patch on the chest and add two stick legs.
A spider as a round dot dangling from the top of the pageOne straight line down from the top of the page to a round dot. Four bent legs each side.
A swan from a teardrop with an S rising at one endA teardrop lying flat for the body. Raise an S from the round end, add a beak and one wing line.
A toucan drawn beak first, the wedge as long as the birdAn oval body with a short tail. The beak is a long curved wedge, drawn before the head it joins.
An ant from three beads in a rowThree ovals touching: small, smaller, large. Six legs from the middle one and two bent feelers.
An inchworm as one upside-down UDraw an upside-down U and thicken it. Rings along the body, a dot eye and tiny feet at both ends.
How it works
An animal doodle is a few simple shapes put together: a bean, a teardrop, a triangle, a spiral. Each one here names the animal, the shapes it is built from and the first strokes to draw.
Read the full guide
Start with the shape in the title
Draw the named shape first, no bigger than a coin. A cat from one bean and a pair of pointed ears is finished in four marks. Ears, tails and legs go on last, and a dot is enough for an eye. Use a pen: a doodle is allowed a wobble.
Fill a page with them
Repeat one animal in a row along a margin and it becomes a border. The hard ones build the animal from a letter or a longer chain of shapes, such as A seahorse from a narrow S ending in a spiral or A lobster from a row of shrinking ovals.
Change one thing to make it yours: longer ears, a rounder body, a hat.
Keep every doodle the same height on the page and they look like a set.
Questions and answers
What is the easiest animal to doodle?
A sheep from one scribbled cloud and a small oval face, or A goldfish from a teardrop and a letter V. Each is one shape and a few lines. Easy, under More filters, holds more like them.
How do I doodle a cat?
Draw a bean lying down, add two triangle ears at one end and a tail curling off the other. For a sleeping cat, wind a spiral twice and tuck the ears into the outer coil.
What do I need to start?
Any pen and any paper: a margin, a sticky note, the back of an envelope. Pencil first if you like, but most of these are too small to need rubbing out.