Last Updated on May 14, 2026
Are you a fan of the beloved Arthur Read, the anthropomorphic aardvark who has charmed millions of young readers worldwide? Well, it’s time to bring this charming character to life on your sketchpad! Welcome to our drawing guide where you will unravel the secrets of how to draw Arthur Read. He is a special character who has evolved from the pages of Marc Brown’s books to the television screen, and now he is ready to make an appearance on your canvas!
Arthur Read’s Appearance: Features to Keep in Mind
- Shape and Age: Arthur is an 8-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark with a round face and small ears. Remember, he’s just a third-grader, so his proportions should reflect his young age.
- Signature Glasses: One of Arthur’s most recognizable features is his round brown-rimmed glasses. These are an essential detail for capturing his intelligent and studious personality.
- Clothing: Arthur typically wears a yellow V-neck sweater over a white dress shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of red and white sneakers.
Once you master drawing Arthur, consider adding other characters from Elwood City to your artwork, such as Francine, to create a lively scene.
About the Guide: Decoding the Colors
Before we dive into the artistic journey of sketching Arthur Read, let’s take a moment to understand our guide’s color coding:
- Red Color: The red color represents the current step you should focus on. It guides you on what to add to your sketch next.
- Black Color: The black color marks the lines you have previously drawn, acting as a visual history of your progress.
- Grey Color: The grey color shows the basic sketch, providing a skeleton for your work and helping maintain correct proportions.
The guide includes 11 steps, with the first one dedicated to establishing the basic sketch. Remember to use light pencil strokes initially, so you can easily erase and adjust lines. In the final stage, you have the option to ink the sketch. It’s essential to wait for the ink to dry fully before gently erasing the pencil sketch to avoid smudging. The final image can be used as a reference for coloring your masterpiece.
If your Arthur Read doesn’t look exactly like the example, that’s completely fine, and honestly pretty normal for anyone working through how to draw Arthur Read for the first time. The whole point is the practice, and each attempt will get you a little closer to nailing those round glasses and aardvark ears. Over on Pinterest, there’s a pinned post for this guide where people drop their work-in-progress sketches in the comments, so feel free to share yours there too.
Arthur Read
Disney World