How to Draw a Super Cute Cupcake: Step-by-Step Drawing Tutorial

Let’s draw a cute cupcake!

This cupcake design is so versatile. You can use it for your craft projects, greeting cards, notebook doodles, and messages cards. I did a little craft project myself using this design (I will share a photo at the end of this post).

Or you can just draw it and colour it in. ?

Cupcakes are a classic kawaii character. I mean… who doesn’t like cupcakes?!!

Here is the step-by-step tutorial:

Drawing Tips

First, draw a rough outline of the cupcake shape. Then add a more detailed outline with the swirls. It’s really hard to get the overall shape right, while trying to draw the swirls at the same time.
Make the cupcake swirls (the yellow part) big. And I mean BIG. And make the cupcake “body” small. Smaller than you would expect. That will make the drawing super kawaii.
Also make the cupcake “body” short. If you compare the height of the body with the height of the top, the body is only half the height.
Add small details, like the bow and the sprinkles, at the very end. This will make them sit comfortably on the cupcake in their right places.

Colouring Tips

I used watercolour pencils to colour this drawing. This is a new technique for me, and I am still learning.

Let me share what I’ve worked out so far.

Use good paper that can handle lots of water without warping or breaking. I used smooth watercolour paper I bought as a pad (but I tear out the pages, hehe).
Work in layers, and let each layer dry in-between.
Start with a light colour. Then add darker colours, colour variations, and increase colour intensity (to use a technical term, increase colour saturation).
At the very end, use a brush to pick up the colour straight from the pencil lead (rather than drawing with a dry pencil, and re-wetting it later). This produces a very strong and bright colour that is perfect for the finishing touches.
Expect that the colours will get lighter as they dry (at least that’s true for Derwent Inktense pencils I used). So make the colour slightly darker to start.

I wanted to use a minimum number of colours, so the drawing looks consistent and balanced. I started with 5 different colours, but in the end I used only red, blue, and golden yellow. 🙂

Here is a full list of materials with colour names.

Materials I Used

Winsor & Newton watercolour paper
Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils
- Poppy Red 0400
- Iris Blue 0900
- Sienna Gold 0240
Pencil and eraser
Uni-Ball Signo white pen for highlights