Drawing Challenge: Can You Capture Pikachu by hand?

Pikachu Drawing Challenge

Difficulty Level: Beginner

Time: 15 - 30 minutes

Introduction:

Over the last few weeks, Pokemon Go has taken over our lives and data plans. As a tribute to the game's popularity, we posted a drawing of Pikachu on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

Whether you are Pokemon obsessed, or a bystander to this craze, we challenge you to take it offline and see if you can capture Pikachu by hand. No artistic background required, adults and kids alike can easily recreate this drawing by following these three easy steps.

Challenge your friends and family to draw Pikachu by reading the following post and tag us @GracePortraits on Instagram and Twitter and @LizGracePortraits on Facebook. We will repost the winner's drawing!

Step 1: Trace this picture

Option 1 - Digital Trace:

Grab a piece of letter paper and place it directly on your computer screen or ipad. You could probably even use your phone if it has a big enough screen. Trace the Pikachu outline with pencil. Make sure you outline all of the key areas including the eyes, mouth, cheeks and the black and shaded areas of the little guy.

Option 2: Print & Trace

Save and print this image on a piece of standard letter paper. Tape the picture you printed to the back of another piece of plain paper. Now you are ready to begin tracing.

We use a professional Lightbox to trace, but unless you are a portrait artist you probably don't have one handy. Instead, we would suggest using a window, or a lamp under a glass table (or really any type of glass with any light source underneath). Or you can always use good old fashioned tracing paper if you have that lying around.

Step 2: Draw black areas in a pen outline

The second step is pretty straightforward.

Grab a black pen - a sharpie, marker, ball point, or whatever you have on hand and fill in the black areas of the ears, eyes and the tiny triangle nose. Then re-trace the outline of Pikachu's body, his cheeks and mouth with a thin black pen. (You can follow our video tutorial by clicking here.)

Step 3: Shade in Pencil

The final step is simply shading in the darker orange areas of Pikachu with a pencil. You can use a No. 2 pencil, mechanical, or whatever you have on hand. It's just like coloring when you were a kid, the only difference is since we are just using a pencil instead of different colors, you just add more layers and press a little harder for the darker areas than the lighter areas. One layer of shading should work for the body shading, while for the mouth, cheeks and chin area you want to try to get more depth by shading it in darker.

Conclusion:

If you follow these 3 quick steps, you can draw an adorable pencil portrait of Pikachu or your favorite Pokemon. You can even put your own spin on it by adding color or using a different image or Pokemon character as a reference. This drawing challenge only takes about 15 - 30 minutes and can be drawn by artists at every skill level. So make it a fun challenge for your children or friends, and create a super cute piece of art to give to someone who is currently obsessed with Pokemon!

Want to try one for yourself? Save and print the outline below to get yours started today!

If you've completed our first drawing challenge, make sure to share your drawing and tag us @GracePortraits on Instagram and Twitter or @LizGracePortraits on Facebook and use the hashtag #DrawPikachuChallenge. You can also leave your entry in the comments section below. Let us know your age so we can see how your drawing stacks up against the competition. We'll like and share as many drawings as we can!