In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Bat in 12 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.
Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.
At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Bat.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Bat - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Start by drawing two large ears pointing up right next to each other.
Step 2: Next draw the face with a bumpy, short snout. Two sharp fangs point down from the mouth.
Step 3: Draw the body. Make a circle from the outside of one ear down and around to the other.
Step 4: Next we add the two legs. Draw them on the bottom of the belly but not next to each other. They are very thin.
Step 5: Add the left wing. Think of a backwards 'J'. Make a little hook about half way up along the wing.
Step 6: Right across from the hook you made in Step 5 add the finger. It is thin just like the legs.
Step 7: Add another finger right next to the first one.
Step 8: Next we draw the wing on the other side of the head. Make a long thin curve. Add another hook in the middle of the wing on the top.
Step 9: Across from the elbow hook add a long, thin finger.
Step 10: Right beside that finger draw another one just like it.
Step 11: Draw the wings. Trace two curved lines from the tips of the fingers and to the wing. Do this on both wings.
Step 12: Finally add the tail and rest of the wings. Draw a tail at the bottom of the belly. Add curved lines from the second finger to the feet. Add another curved line to the bottom of the tail.
Interesting Facts about Bats
Bats are mammals, not birds or rodents. They are the only mammal able to truly fly, because the digits of their front limbs, like fingers, form webbed wings.
There are two families of bats, megabats and microbats. The oldest bat fossil found in Wyoming, U.S., dates back over 52 million years ago.
Today there are about 1,240 species of bats that live across most of the world, with the exception of the Antarctica, the Arctic and a few ocean islands.
Did you know?
- Unlike birds, which flap their entire wings, bats spread and flap their fingers.
- Most microbats feed on insects, while some bats are fish-eaters. Macrobats are fruit eaters. One bat, the vampire bat, feeds on the blood of other animals like a parasite.
- Micro bats use a sound recognition and ranging system (sonar), with which they send out signals to detect objects near them.
- Most microbats are nocturnal that become active at twilight.
- Bats are not blind, but do have poor vision and they hear and smell very well.
- Bats gather in roosts during the day and to hibernate, which can be found within crevices and caves, hollows and foliage and bat-constructed tents made of leaves.
Bats play an important role in ecology because they help control the insect population, pollinate plants and spread fruit seeds.
How to Draw A Bat – Quick Step-by-Step Tutorial