{"id":48158,"title":"Tutorial On Illustrating Male Mallard Ducks","description":"Images of the stages of digitally designing a cartoonish-style mallard duck, from more abstract to more realistic.","content":"

This series is for people who want to improve their more realistic drawing skills. Do you want to draw better mallards in this respect? I\u2019ve made stage-by-stage illustrations from the most abstract to the most realistic, allowing you to focus on one part of the body at once!<\/strong><\/p>

Disclaimer: These were digitally designed by me, not hand-drawn, and may not resemble real ducks one hundred percent. I would prefer if you stylised your version of this image a little differently at the end (possibly colours\/shading, media used, the thickness of lines, for example) but if you\u2019re hand-drawing\/-painting it, that\u2019ll probably happen anyway! There may be small tweaks between any images here, and also similar images in other locations.<\/p>

Post is an edited version of an older one, this post was last edited 7th July 2025.<\/em><\/p>

What are we aiming for?<\/h2>

\"AHopefully this is what you came for! A cartoonish-style but fairly accurate male mallard duck, standing up.<\/p>

What are we starting with?<\/h2>

\"AnIt\u2019s still identifiable, and it has a kind of charm! In fact, you might be looking for this style, and no problem at all if you are. If you want to find a more realistic style though, keep reading.<\/p>

Step 1) Make sure the duck will have a neck<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleDon\u2019t start drawing yet, if you\u2019re following along, as things will need editing - I\u2019ll show you the more permanent bits soon in red (they might change a tiny bit, but will largely stay the same). I just wanted to show you here that I\u2019ve moved the head up a bit - ducks have necks too! Also: don\u2019t fill in any colours until the end, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re doing, as details may be added later on.<\/p>

Step 2) Get the head shape drawn<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleThe bits in red should be fairly safe to draw. The mallard now doesn\u2019t have a spherical head, it\u2019s a bit more curvy, and less of a bulging chin.<\/p>

Step 3) Change the eye a bit<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleMallards you see might have a bit of a stripe by their eyes. I\u2019m not sure if this is colouring or just an indent in their heads! I\u2019ve also added a little white eye shape inside it for cuteness and to show a reflection of light, how realistic that is though I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>

Step 4) Time to change the beak a bit<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleThe beak isn\u2019t just a triangle - try to add some curves in it. The mouth is nearer the bottom than you might think, and ducks have little nostrils(?) too, as far as I\u2019m aware.<\/p>

Step 5) Draw the body outline<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleThe body is a bit more curvy at the back, because some of this will be a wing tip and the tail feathers later on.<\/p>

Step 6) Draw in the wing shape (it\u2019s just one line)<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleAnd now it\u2019s time to draw a wing! When I was observing this, it was a bit higher than I thought it would be.<\/p>

Step 7) Add some detail to the body<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleIf you\u2019re drawing and filling in in colour, I\u2019ve filled in the front chest area slightly darker brown, the main body pale grey and the tail black and white. Remember to hold off on the filling in until the end though, there\u2019s a bit more detail coming.<\/p>

Step 8) Add even more detail to the body<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-styleA white stripe on the neck, various brownish-greyish bits on the feathers and a blue and white dash bit under the wing.<\/p>

Step 9) Draw the feet under the duck<\/h2>

\"Cartoon-style<\/p>

I also changed my mallard to have a slightly darker green head colour once or twice during the above process. Now you can colour it in! Also, if you would rather draw the duck facing right, I\u2019ve attached a reference at the bottom of this article.<\/p>

Congratulations!<\/h2>

Hopefully you should now have a similar image to the one I showed at the start! In any case, I hope you enjoyed trying. I may add more tutorials like this in the future! If you want to take a break and look at my art instead that isn\u2019t in a tutorial (please don\u2019t copy that)*, I have more things to look at on my shop site! https:\/\/www.sheffinch.co.uk<\/a><\/p>

Thanks again!<\/p>

Alex (\u201cSheffinch\u201d)<\/p>

\"Cartoon-style*(Please don\u2019t copy or use any of this website\u2019s content that\u2019s not the focus of one of my tutorials. For permissions regarding the use of graphics within this site\u2019s product customiser, please refer to this site\u2019s home page.<\/p>","urlTitle":"tutorial-on-illustrating-male-mallard-ducks","url":"\/blog\/tutorial-on-illustrating-male-mallard-ducks\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/tutorial-on-illustrating-male-mallard-ducks\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/sheffinch.co.uk\/blog\/tutorial-on-illustrating-male-mallard-ducks\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1743760178,"updatedAt":1751899124,"publishedAt":1751899124,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":351119,"name":"Sheffinch"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dggfdyfgt7lkajekrrejxvb9qejoqcj4aovydfsbynzcna35.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dggfdyfgt7lkajekrrejxvb9qejoqcj4aovydfsbynzcna35.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dggfdyfgt7lkajekrrejxvb9qejoqcj4aovydfsbynzcna35.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":49551,"title":"Tutorial on Illustrating Jackdaws","url":"\/blog\/tutorial-on-illustrating-jackdaws\/","urlTitle":"tutorial-on-illustrating-jackdaws","division":351119,"description":"Hello! Welcome to this step-by-step page on illustrating more-realistic jackdaws. Follow the parts in bold, colour it in at the end and you should come up with something similar to me!","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/djae64wge2sz3wiu1f57zod9xrqecrivunday022ltjcysut.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/djae64wge2sz3wiu1f57zod9xrqecrivunday022ltjcysut.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":48697,"title":"Tutorial On Illustrating Herons","url":"\/blog\/tutorial-on-illustrating-herons\/","urlTitle":"tutorial-on-illustrating-herons","division":351119,"description":"Want a step-by-step guide on drawing a heron in flight? Here are some stages you can follow. Why not then draw it in your own style?","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/y93ouobqsm3mjsxw5q3bvxfotguxv45j2kcub9dxp6khytzx.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/y93ouobqsm3mjsxw5q3bvxfotguxv45j2kcub9dxp6khytzx.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":48959,"title":"Sheffinch Themes | Parties","url":"\/blog\/sheffinch-themes-parties\/","urlTitle":"sheffinch-themes-parties","division":351119,"description":"Hello! Here\u2019s a collection of images I\u2019ve made on the theme of special occasions. I might update it at times, so check back to see if there are any additions in future!","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ta0gdb54glgpcbmdtwqmtaask6yazgeutrvhdy1pljeivq3g.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855&z=3.4&fx=0.51359216977094&fy=0.14998329171751","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ta0gdb54glgpcbmdtwqmtaask6yazgeutrvhdy1pljeivq3g.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440&z=3.4&fx=0.51359216977094&fy=0.14998329171751"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}