How to Draw a Dove (Easy Step-by-Step for Kids)
To draw a dove, start with an oval body and a round head. Add a big feathered wing, a fan tail, an eye and a beak. Finish with an olive branch with three leaves in its beak.
- Steps
- 6 easy steps
- You need
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Black marker
- Light gray, orange, brown and green crayons
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Teaching this to a class?
Show one step at a time on the board and wait for the class before the next. The directed drawing for kids page explains how to run it.
How to draw a dove step by step
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Step 1 of 6: Draw a wide oval body, tilted up a little, and a round head on its upper right end.
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Step 2 of 6: Add a big wing on the back with four round feathers on its left. Erase the body line inside it.
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Step 3 of 6: Draw a fan tail behind the left end of the body with four round feathers and three lines.
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Step 4 of 6: Add a black eye with a white shine dot and a small pointed beak on the right side of the head.
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Step 5 of 6: Draw a thin stick across the beak tip with three leaves. Erase the beak tip inside the stick.
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Step 6 of 6: Color the wing light gray, beak orange, stick brown, leaves green. Keep head, body and tail white.
Tips for little artists
Tip: Press lightly with the pencil first. Trace the lines you like with the marker, then erase the rest.
Tip: Put the feather bumps only on the left edge of the wing, so the top edge stays one smooth curve.
Tip: Draw the stick first, then add the three leaves near its top end.
Make it yours
Dove with a heart
Draw a big heart behind your dove and color it red or pink.
Two doves
Draw a second dove facing the first one, with one branch between their beaks.
Gray dove
Color the head, body and tail light gray and the wing a darker gray.
Common mistakes and easy fixes
The wing looks like a flat triangle
Round the wing tip and add four bumpy feathers along its left edge.
The tail covers the body
Start the tail feathers at the body line, so the body stays in front.
The branch hides the face
Cross the stick over the beak tip, away from the eye.
Fun facts about the dove
Doves are birds of the pigeon family, Columbidae. (Source: Britannica)
The domestic pigeon, frequently called the rock dove, is the bird portrayed as the dove of peace. (Source: Britannica)
Rock Pigeons come in many different shades and plumage patterns, including mostly white forms. (Source: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds)
Questions grown-ups ask
How to draw a dove easy?
Draw an oval body, a round head and one big wing with four feathers. Add a fan tail, an eye, a beak and a small branch.
How to draw a dove step by step?
Draw the body and head, the wing, the tail, the eye and beak, then the branch. Color the wing light gray, the beak orange, the stick brown and the leaves green last.
How to draw a dove with an olive branch?
Draw the dove first, then a thin stick across the tip of the beak. Add three leaves near the top of the stick and color them green.
If your feathers or leaves came out a little different, that's fine. Your dove is ready to fly across the page. More easy drawings for kids are on the home page.