Donkeys are pretty humble creatures. They are not drawn as often as horses or dogs, or other more familiar animals, but a donkey has a special charm to it that is worth learning how to put down on paper.

The most significant difference between donkeys and horses is their ears. But if you look closer, you will notice that donkeys tend to have longer, larger noses and mouths, and their their entire head is proportionally larger than a horse's. Donkey legs, shoulders and hindquarters are also shaped more like a goat than a horse. And of course, donkeys do not have the long flowing tail of a horse; their tail is shorter, and much less full, and is mostly a tail covered with fur rather than long hairs until your get to the very end of the tail, like a cow's tail. Donkeys' manes and forelocks (the hair coming out between their ears and falling on to their forehead) are also not as long as a horse's would be.

Despite not being as pretty as a horse, donkeys are considered to be smarter than horses. This can give them behavioral challenges, and requires smarter training. When the training is poor, a donkey will become difficult, which is how donkeys got the reputation for being stubborn. A mule, by the way, is the offspring of a female horse and a donkey sire.

1) Begin your donkey drawing with a crescent moon shape. Or a boat shape, if that seems better to you.

2) Draw two long top-shapes for the head and the hind leg. Continue the two curved lines for the ears and begin the foreleg.

3) Add the curved pieces to the head and neck. Curve the back and shoulders. Finish the two legs and you have started.

4) Draw two more legs and a tail. Finish the ears and nose and put in an eye. Erase the extra lines.

5) Give your donkey a little hair. Color it gray, brown or even white or black.

Practice how to draw a donkey here:

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