How to Draw a Cartoon World: Easy 10-Step Guide

Bring the planet to life with this fun, expressive cartoon world drawing! Designed for young artists ages 5 and up, this activity requires only a pencil, paper, and your favorite markers. Follow along to practice basic shapes and character design while creating a friendly, personified globe.

10 Steps

🎯 Final Result

A vibrant, finished illustration of a smiling cartoon planet Earth.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Sketching the Base Shape

Pencil sketch showing a large circle with two eye ovals and two small cheek curves.

Draw a large, light circle for the planet's body. Add two small curved lines for cheeks and two large ovals above them for the eyes. Teacher's Tip: Keep your pencil pressure light so you can easily erase any stray marks later.

Step 2: Adding Expressive Eyes

Drawing the pupils inside the eyes and adding small curved eyelashes.

Draw a smaller oval inside each eye to create pupils, then shade the space between them. Add curved lines at the outer edges of the eyes for eyelashes. Teacher's Tip: Darkening the pupils helps give your character a bright, alert expression.

Step 3: Creating a Happy Smile

Adding a wide, happy mouth with visible teeth to the cartoon world.

Draw a wide, curved mouth with a smaller curve inside for the teeth. Add tiny lines at the corners of the mouth. Teacher's Tip: Use a steady hand to keep the smile symmetrical for a friendly look.

Step 4: Adding the Tongue and North America

Adding a tongue to the mouth and starting the outline of North America.

Draw a rounded 'M' shape inside the mouth for the tongue. Then, sketch a squiggly line near the top of the circle to start the North American continent. Teacher's Tip: Don't worry about perfect geography—cartoon continents are all about fun, wavy shapes!

Step 5: Defining the Coastline

Completing the southern part of North America with Florida and Mexico shapes.

Continue the North American outline by adding the shapes for Florida and Mexico. Teacher's Tip: Use short, quick strokes to make the coastline look natural and rugged.

Step 6: Drawing South America

Adding the teardrop-shaped South American continent to the globe.

Sketch South America below the other landmasses using a teardrop shape that tapers to a point at the bottom. Teacher's Tip: A teardrop shape is a great way to simplify complex landforms for beginners.

Step 7: Adding Europe

Drawing the squiggly outline of Europe on the side of the globe.

Draw Europe on the side of the circle using a long, squiggly line. Teacher's Tip: Let your hand move loosely to create those natural, jagged coastal edges.

Step 8: Adding Great Britain and Africa

Adding Great Britain and the large continent of Africa to the drawing.

Draw a small, irregular shape for Great Britain near Europe, then extend the line downward to form the large shape of Africa. Teacher's Tip: Africa is quite large, so make sure to give it plenty of space on your paper.

Step 9: Finalizing the Poles

Drawing the polar ice caps and Greenland to complete the world map.

Add curved lines at the very top and bottom of the planet for the Arctic and Antarctica. Add a small shape above North America for Greenland. Teacher's Tip: These curved lines help give the drawing a 3D, spherical feel.

Step 10: Coloring Your World

A finished, colorful cartoon world drawing with blue oceans and green land.

Time to color! Use blue for the oceans, green for the land, and white for the polar regions. You can even add brown for deserts. Teacher's Tip: Use light pressure with your colored pencils to blend colors smoothly.