Butterflies are probably the most beautiful insects that you can draw and can be done very easily. I’ll show you my method to draw a butterfly. Once you’re done drawing, I’ll give you lots of ideas for crafts that you can make with this butterfly drawing.

This technique uses simple steps. To make the drawing of a butterfly, we’ll start by drawing basic shapes and lines.

I get commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this post. There is no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

I like to draw using digital and traditional methods. Feel free to choose whether you want to make this with a digital drawing tablet or a pencil and paper.

If you’re looking for cartoon animal drawings, then this is a good place to start. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to upload your finished drawing to your cutting machine and cut a template using your simple butterfly drawing.

You can print the instructions and the template below. Follow this tutorial and watch the video to learn how to draw a butterfly.

Want to make a pretty field with lots of butterflies? Copy and paste or just duplicate the first butterfly that you made and move them around the canvas any way that you like.

Show the evolution of a butterfly by drawing a caterpillar first then adding the butterfly next. You can get instructions to draw a really simple caterpillar in this other post or a cute ladybug drawing.

Do you want to personalize your drawing? Well, you can! Just add a name under the butterfly using one of these three ways that you can add text to your drawing.

For a step by step tutorial on how to do this in Inkscape, sign up for my So Simple SVG Quotes course.

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How to Draw an Easy Butterfly

Let’s start by gathering your materials to draw the butterfly.

Drawing Supplies

Digital Drawing Supplies

iPad

Apple pencil

Procreate

Paper Drawing Supplies

Drawing pencil

Drawing Paper

Art markers or Colored Pencils

Light Table for Tracing (optional)

I really love to use graphic software to draw. Some of my favorite drawing programs are Inkscape, Procreate, and Affinity Designer. Inkscape is an open-source graphic software to make svg files. Open-source just means it’s free to use.

For this drawing, I’m using Procreate.

Draw a Butterfly Step by Step

For the first step, I’m going to draw a small circle to make a head.

Then, I’ll draw the body by making a U-shaped line, up and then down on one side of the head and then up to the other side of the head. Once you’ve drawn this curve, this is the butterfly body.

How do you draw an easy butterfly wing

I’ll use a simple shape to draw an easy butterfly wing. Well, it’s really a number instead of a shape. Using a backward 3 shape, I‘ll draw the left wing.

Then, I’ll repeat this step on the right side.

See the picture below.

I’ll draw a few spots and teardrop shapes to decorate the wings.

How to Draw a Butterfly Face

Let’s make a face for the butterfly.

Draw a small circle on the left and a small circle on the right side of the butterfly head.

These are the eyes.

Draw an antenna by making a curved line from the head up, then draw a smaller circle. Repeat this process on the other side of the head.

Now the butterfly has two antennae!

The butterfly drawing outline is complete and you can move on to coloring the outline.

Coloring the Butterfly Drawing

You’re ready to color your drawing of a butterfly.

To do this digitally, use the color drop method or just color it in freehand. To get the color to drop in, tap on the color from the color wheel and drag and drop it onto the section you want.

You can also print the coloring sheet and color it with pencils, markers or crayons.

Click the color from the color wheel on the side of the screen. Choose any colors you like.

Next, click on a section of the butterfly to fill it with color.

Repeat this process to color in every section of the butterfly. I use both the color drop method and the freehand coloring method to color the butterfly.

Your easy butterfly drawing is done. Ready to make more?!

Get the course now!

If you liked this lesson, you’ll love my So Simple SVG Files course. I will walk you through the steps to make digital drawings using simple lines and shapes. You’ll also learn how to transfer your drawings to your craft projects and get better use from your cutting machine.

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Want more easy drawings for starter projects like this? Check out my collection of drawing tutorials.

How to Draw Animals

Here are a few other animals that you can learn to draw. These simple steps are easy to follow.

How to Draw an Owl - Easy Tutorial

Do want to learn to draw a wise owl? This owl drawing can be done in 10 minutes or less, even if you’re a beginner. You can draw it using a pencil or a graphic tablet. If you want to learn how to draw an owl, follow the easy steps below.

How to Draw a Snake Easy Tutorial

Make a drawing of a silly snake. This snake drawing can be done in 10 minutes or less, even if you’re a beginner. You can draw it using a pencil or a graphic tablet. If you want to learn how to draw a snake, follow the easy steps below.

How to Draw a Bunny - Easy Tutorial

Ready to make a cute bunny drawing? This bunny drawing can be done in 10 minutes or less, even if you’re a beginner. You can draw it using a pencil or a graphic tablet. If you want to learn how to draw a bunny, follow the easy steps below.

How to Draw a Chick - Easy Tutorial

Baby chick drawings are perfect for spring art projects. How cute is this baby chick drawing? It should take you about 10 minutes or less, even if you’re a beginner. You can draw it using a pencil or a graphic tablet. If you want to learn how to draw a chick, follow the easy steps below.

How to Draw a Unicorn - Easy Tutorial

Unicorns are really popular now and this unicorn drawing can be done in 20 minutes or less, even if you’re a beginner. You can draw it using a pencil or a graphic tablet. If you want to learn how to draw a unicorn, follow the easy steps below.

How to draw a turkey

Turkeys are fun to draw. Follow along with this easy tutorial and video to learn how to draw a turkey.

How to draw a cartoon bat

Spooky animals like bats are fun to draw and can be done very easily. I’ll show you my method for how to draw a cartoon bat.

Crafts to Make with a Butterfly

The nice thing about digital drawings is that you can upload them to a cutting machine or a sublimation printer and make print and cut designs for lots of craft projects.

Here are some crafts that you can make with your butterfly drawing:

Find this butterfly backdrop from Candy Tre e Baltimore

Find this butterfly t-shirt from Counter Culture Women

Get this butterfly mug from Splash Seven

Those are just a few ideas to get you started. Check out some of these ideas for easy crafts that you can try.

Imagine all of the crafts that you can make with the butterfly drawing. Now that you learned how to draw a butterfly for kids, you can take it and transform it into a coloring sheet or simple DIY crafts.

If you have a Cricut or Silhouette machine and a heat press, you can make iron-on t-shirts. Of course, you can use scissors to cut out the butterfly but a cutting machine will make it even easier.

Glitter vinyl butterfly sticker from NEONILART

As you can see, you can take your drawing and put it on tons of physical crafts!

Did you know that you can make money at home with a craft business? Check out my post on 10 most profitable crafts to sell.

Make sure to save this to your favorite drawing board on Pinterest. Click the link below to save it for later.

Feel free to add a photo of your drawing to the pin so that I can see your cute butterfly.

Yield: 1

How to Draw a Buttterfly Easy Tutorial

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This butterfly drawing can be done in 10 minutes or less, even if you’re a beginner. You can draw it using a pencil or a graphic tablet. If you want to learn how to draw a butterfly, follow the easy steps below.

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

Digital Drawing Supplies
Paper Drawing Supplies

Tools

Digital Drawing Supplies
Procreate software program
Computer
iPad (optional)
Paper Drawing Supplies
Drawing pencil
Drawing Paper
Art markers or Colored Pencils
Light Table for Tracing (optional)

Instructions

For the first step, we’re going to make a small circle for the head.
Then draw a U shape under the head for the body.
Make a backward 3 on the left side and then regular 3 on the right side.
Draw two lines on top of the head and add a circle at the top of each.
Draw dots and teardrop shapes on each wing.
Draw two circles for the eyes and a semi-circle for the smile to draw the butterfly face.
Choose a color from the color wheel and drag and drop it to each section. You can also color it with crayons or markers or color pencils.