How to Draw a Grasshopper: Easy Step-by-Step

Hop to it — today’s model can leap twenty times its own body length, but luckily it’s agreed to sit still for a portrait. Learning how to draw a grasshopper is a lovely little lesson in long shapes: a long body, long antennae, and those famous folded-up jumping legs that look like the letter Z doing a stretch. 🐾

We’ll keep everything cartoon-friendly and green as a fresh lawn. Insects are secretly great for beginners because their bodies come in neat segments — draw one piece at a time and the bug builds itself. Fans of our easy ladybug drawing will feel right at home in this meadow.

What You’ll Need

• Paper
• A pencil
• An eraser
• Optional: two shades of green marker

Step 1: Draw the Long Body

Start with a long, slim shape lying sideways — like a peapod or a stretched-out rice grain. Point the back end slightly and round the front. This single shape is most of your grasshopper, so give it a gentle banana curve for a lively pose. Leave room below for those big folded legs — they take up more space than you’d guess.

Step 2: Add the Head

At the front, draw a rounded rectangle head, tilted slightly upward like the grasshopper is admiring the sky. Grasshopper heads are surprisingly tall and horse-like. Erase the line where the head meets the body.

Step 3: Give It Big Eyes and a Smile

Draw one big oval eye taking up much of the head’s side, with a white sparkle circle inside. Add a tiny curved smile near the front. Real grasshopper eyes are huge, which is wonderful news for cuteness purposes.

Step 4: Attach the Antennae

From the top of the head, sweep two long, thin antennae backward over the body, like two relaxed blades of grass. Draw each with one smooth, confident stroke. Antennae that trail backward make the whole insect look streamlined and speedy.

Step 5: Build the Famous Jumping Legs

Here’s the star feature: from the rear of the body, draw a thick drumstick-shaped thigh angling up and back, then a thin lower leg folding down from it — together they make a big letter Z. Add a small foot at the bottom. Echo a sliver of the second back leg behind it. Make the thigh noticeably thicker than the body is deep — that chunkiness is what says “champion jumper.”

Step 6: Add the Front Walking Legs

Under the front half of the body, tuck in two pairs of much smaller legs, each just two thin lines with a little bend, like tiny elbows. These little walkers make the giant back legs look even mightier by comparison.

Step 7: Fold the Wing

Draw a long, narrow wing lying flat along the grasshopper’s back, from behind the head to near the pointed tail — like a folded paper fan at rest. Add two or three light lines along it for texture. A couple of short segment lines on the belly finish the body.

Step 8: Color the Meadow

Color your hopper two shades of green — bright green body, deeper green legs and wing — with a touch of yellow on the belly. Perch it on a single wide blade of grass and add a few more blades around it. Leave a thin white edge along the top of the back for a quick sunlit sheen. One springy meadow resident, complete! 🎨

Tips to Make Your Grasshopper Drawing Even Cuter

• Draw dotted arc lines behind it to show a just-finished mega-jump. ✨
• Give it a tiny top hat between the antennae — dapper hoppers are the best hoppers.
• Rosy cheek circles under the big eye soften the whole face.
• Try an autumn version in browns and golds sitting on a fallen leaf.
• Add a ladybug friend on the same grass blade for a mini meadow scene.

FAQ

Is a grasshopper hard to draw?

The Z-shaped back leg is the only tricky part, and it’s really just a drumstick plus a folded line. Everything else is simple long shapes.

How long does a grasshopper drawing take?

Most people finish in 12 to 15 minutes. Practicing the back leg twice on scrap paper first makes the whole thing smoother — and faster the next time around.

What’s the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket in a drawing?

For cartoons, draw crickets rounder and darker, grasshoppers longer and greener. The big folded back legs, they happily share — so once you’ve learned this tutorial, you’ve secretly learned both bugs.

And that’s the last line — your grasshopper is ready to spring right off the page. Keep hopping from tutorial to tutorial, and visit our YouTube channel to watch each bug and beast drawn by hand from scratch. If tiny meadow friends are your thing, our easy bee drawing is buzzing to meet you. ✏️