A korean doodle is a small, soft drawing that fits in a few minutes of quiet time, and that is exactly why it is so satisfying to fill a page with them. Round bears, sleepy cats, bingsu bowls and happy little fruits all share the same gentle rounded line and the same pastel blush, so even a quick sketch on your lunch break ends up looking like it belongs in a set.
Below you will find 29 of these tiny characters and treats, ordered from the simplest shapes to the slightly busier scenes, every one small enough to finish in one sitting. Grab a fineliner and a soft pink and butter yellow marker and work straight down the list.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Start with the simplest subject on the list so your hand warms up. Draw one soft circle with a small dip at the top, the classic peach shape, in fineliner, then add a tiny leaf and a short stem.
Keep the face small and centered in the lower half of the circle: two dot eyes and a curved smile sit better a little below the middle than dead center, which is the one measuring trick worth remembering here before you add a single line.
Color the peach in butter yellow first, then drop soft pink along one side while the marker is still slightly wet so the two blend without a hard line. If the blend goes patchy, let it dry and go over the edge once more with a light touch.
No pink marker on hand works too: a coloured pencil blended with your finger gives a similar soft blush.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Sap Green
Move from one round shape to two joined by a curved stem. Draw two overlapping circles close together in fineliner, then connect them with a single curved line meeting at one point above, like a tiny wishbone.
Compare the two circles as you go: keep them the same size so the pair reads as twins rather than one cherry trailing a smaller one. A light pencil dot for each center before inking helps keep them even.
Give each cherry two small dot eyes and a closed smile, then fill both with soft pink, leaving a small white highlight unpainted near the top of each circle so they look glossy. Add the stem and one small leaf in sap green.
If your marker bleeds past the pencil line, let it dry fully, then redraw the fineliner outline on top to sharpen the edge again.
Palette: Soft Pink,Sap Green,Ivory Black
After two rounded fruits, try a subject built from simple ovals stacked and overlapping. Sketch a chubby cactus body as one tall oval, then two smaller side ovals for arms, all in soft pencil first.
Ink the outline with a wobbly, hand drawn line rather than a perfectly smooth one, since a slightly uneven edge is what makes a doodle cactus feel friendly instead of botanical. Add short dashes across the body for spines, spaced evenly rather than crowded.
Give it a small flat pot below, a closed happy face in the center of the body, and color the cactus in a muted green marker if you have one, or leave it outlined and just tint the pot in soft pink. A tiny flower on top in butter yellow finishes it.
Keep the spines short: long spiky lines read as sharp and work against the soft, rounded feel of the rest of the page.
Palette: Sap Green,Soft Pink,Butter Yellow
Give your hand a break from fruit and draw one soft, bumpy cloud shape, three or four rounded humps joined in fineliner. Keep the bumps similar in size so the cloud sits evenly rather than leaning to one side.
This is a good subject for thinking about light even in a simple doodle: decide where an imaginary sun sits, then leave that side of the cloud as plain white paper and add a faint grey shadow line only along the opposite underside, just one or two short strokes.
Add two closed eyes and a small smile in the lower third of the cloud, then color two soft pink circles for cheeks just below the eyes. A few tiny dot stars scattered around in butter yellow finish the little scene.
If the cloud shape comes out lopsided, go back in with a slightly bigger bump to balance the other side rather than erasing the whole thing.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Pair the cloud with its opposite and draw a round, cheerful sun. Start with one circle in fineliner, then surround it with short triangular or rounded rays, spaced evenly like numbers on a clock face so the sun does not look spiky on one side.
Give it a wide happy expression, closed eyes curved upward and an open smile, then fill the whole circle in butter yellow, leaving the rays as outline only or tinting just a few of them for a sparkle effect.
For a ten minute version, stop here with the sun floating alone on the page. For a slower forty minute version, add a thin horizon line and two tiny rolling hills in soft green beneath it, turning the single character into a small scene.
Soft pink cheeks under the eyes warm the whole face up and are worth adding even on the quick version.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Sap Green
Carry the sky theme into a nighttime version. Draw a crescent moon shape in fineliner, rounded and plump rather than thin and sharp, then rest it on a simple pillow shape made from one soft rectangle with two puffed corners.
Keep the moon’s face sleepy rather than wide awake: two closed curved lines for eyes, no mouth or just a tiny closed one, gives it the drowsy look this subject needs. A small trail of z shapes above the moon reinforces the sleep without needing any more detail.
Color the moon in butter yellow and the pillow in soft pink, leaving a plain white blanket fold beneath if you want to add one. Keep the blanket as a single curved line rather than full shading.
If the crescent shape comes out too thin, thicken the inner curve slightly, a fuller crescent always reads as cuter than a sharp sliver.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Payne’s Grey
Move from characters to a small cozy object scene. Draw two simple slipper shapes side by side in fineliner, each one an oval sole with a rounded strap or a small fuzzy pompom across the top.
Place them at a slight angle to each other rather than perfectly parallel, as if they were kicked off in a hurry, which instantly makes the drawing feel like a lived in moment rather than a product sketch.
Color them in soft pink with a butter yellow pompom on each, then add a short straight line beneath to suggest the edge of a bed or rug. Keep the line light so it stays a hint of a setting rather than a full room.
If pairing them evenly feels tricky, draw one slipper fully first, then trace its mirrored outline faintly before inking the second for a closer match.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Bakery subjects are forgiving because their shapes are already soft. Draw one curved crescent body in fineliner with a few short diagonal lines across it for the pastry layers, then round off both ends gently.
Place the face in the center of the widest part of the curve: two small dot eyes and a closed smile sit most naturally there rather than near either tapered tip. This small placement choice is what keeps a croissant face from looking squeezed into a corner.
Color the body in butter yellow with a touch of soft pink shading along the underside of the curve, using the side of the marker tip rather than the point for a softer gradient. Leave a few thin white gaps between the layer lines uncoloured to suggest the flaky texture.
If you only have one marker colour, butter yellow alone still works, just add slightly darker fineliner hatching along the bottom curve instead of the pink shadow.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Ivory Black
Keep the breakfast theme going with a slice of toast. Draw a square with two rounded top corners in fineliner for the classic toast silhouette, then add a wobbly puddle shape on top for the butter.
Give the toast a wide, happy expression low on the slice, well below the butter puddle so the two elements do not overlap and crowd each other. A few small dot freckles on the cheeks add charm without extra line work.
Color the bread in a warm butter yellow, slightly deeper near the crust edges to suggest the toasted rim, and leave the butter puddle as plain white with just a thin fineliner outline so it reads as glossy. A thin soft pink heart stamped into the butter is a nice optional touch.
If the corners come out too sharp, round them again with a second pass of the pen, toast always reads softer with generous curves.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Ivory Black
Build on the rounded shapes you have practiced with a small tower of three. Draw three flattened ovals stacked slightly off center from each other in fineliner, each with a thin wavy line around the middle for the filling.
Vary the color of each macaron so the stack reads as a set rather than three repeats: try soft pink, butter yellow and a pale version of pink mixed lighter for the top one, keeping the filling line white or a shade darker than the shell.
Give the top macaron a tiny closed smile only, leaving the bottom two plain, since one face is enough to keep the stack feeling like a cute treat rather than three separate characters competing for attention.
If the stack leans too far to one side as you draw, add a small shadow oval beneath the base, it reads as a plate and visually anchors the whole stack back onto the page.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Ivory Black
From stacked rounds to one upright box: draw a simple milk carton silhouette in fineliner, a rectangle body with a triangular peaked top, folded at an angle on one side.
Add a bent straw poking out of the peak and a small strawberry icon printed on the front of the carton, just one simple heart shaped fruit with a few dot seeds, to hint at the flavor without needing full lettering.
Color the carton body in soft pink with the straw in butter yellow, and keep the printed strawberry a slightly deeper pink than the carton itself so it stands out against the background color rather than blending in.
If straight edges feel stiff with a fineliner, draw them slightly wobbly on purpose, a perfectly ruled carton looks less like a doodle and more like a technical drawing.
You Will Need
- ruler, optional, for the straight edges
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Ivory Black
Switch from a box back to a round fruit with a costume twist. Draw a circle in fineliner, then add the wedge pattern inside radiating from the center, like slices of a pie, keeping the lines evenly spaced around the circle.
Give the lemon a small round sun hat on top, just an oval brim with a short domed crown, tilted slightly to one side so it looks worn rather than balanced perfectly flat, which is the detail that sells the character.
Color the lemon flesh in butter yellow with the thin outer rind left white or very pale, and the hat in soft pink. A small closed happy face sits just below the center of the slice.
If the wedge lines come out uneven, draw them lightly in pencil first and space them using a clock face as a guide, every other hour mark, before inking over.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Ivory Black
Move into the drinks half of the list with a warm, simple mug. Draw a rounded cup shape in fineliner with a small curved handle on one side, then add a lemon slice floating inside near the rim, drawn smaller than your standalone lemon doodle.
Keep the eye level in mind here: draw the top of the cup as a flattened oval rather than a full circle, since you are looking slightly down into it, and the lemon slice inside follows that same flattened angle so the two shapes agree with each other.
Color the tea itself in a thin wash of butter yellow inside the oval, the lemon slice a touch brighter, and the cup body in soft pink. A few curved steam lines rising from the top finish the warm feeling.
If the oval looks too round and flat rather than like a cup opening, narrow it slightly and recheck that it matches the width of the cup body below it.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Payne’s Grey
Build on the cup shape with a taller, layered drink. Draw a tall glass in fineliner, straight sides with a slightly narrower base, then divide it with a horizontal wavy line about a third of the way down to separate milk from coffee.
Fill the lower section lightly in a pale wash and leave the top foam section white, since the contrast between the two layers is what makes dalgona coffee recognisable even in a tiny doodle. Swirl a thin line through the foam with your fineliner to suggest the whipped texture.
Add a small heart drawn in soft pink marker on top of the foam, either floating or drizzled in with a toothpick-style swirl line. A striped straw in butter yellow finishes the glass.
If the foam swirl comes out too busy, simplify it to just two or three curved lines rather than a tight spiral, a doodle reads better with fewer, calmer marks.
You Will Need
- toothpick or fine brush tip, optional, for the heart swirl
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Raw Umber
Take the layered drink idea into a wider bowl shape. Draw a shallow curved bowl in fineliner, then pile a soft, bumpy mound of shaved ice on top, drawn as one scalloped outline rather than many separate ice chips.
Scatter three or four small fruit shapes over the mound, a strawberry half, a round berry, a small mango slice, keeping them clustered toward the front rather than spread evenly, which makes the pile look naturally heaped instead of arranged.
Color the ice mound in the palest wash of soft pink you can manage, almost white, and color the fruits in fuller, brighter pink and butter yellow so they pop against the pale mountain behind them. The bowl itself stays plain white or a thin outline only.
If the ice mound looks too flat, add a few short curved lines across its surface to suggest shaved texture without fully shading it in.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Sap Green
Give your hand a change of pace with a small plant subject. Draw three or four simple tulip shapes in fineliner, each one a rounded cup with a slightly pointed top, on gently curving stems of slightly different heights so the bunch feels loose rather than lined up like soldiers.
Keep the flower heads clustered close together at the top and let the stems fan out just slightly as they reach down into a small rounded vase, which reads far more natural than stems running perfectly parallel.
Color two tulips in soft pink and one or two in butter yellow for contrast, with the stems and a leaf or two in sap green. The vase can stay a plain outline or take a very pale wash so it does not compete with the flowers.
If the stems come out too stiff, add one small curve to each, flowers rarely stand perfectly straight.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Sap Green
For a bolder bunch, try five tulips instead of three and let one or two lean outward past the edge of the vase for a looser, more gathered look.
Move to a small accessory object next. Draw a simple boxy camera body in fineliner, rounded corners, one round lens circle in the center and a small rectangular flash bump on top, keeping the proportions chunky and compact rather than long and sleek.
Add a tiny flower shape as a sticker on one corner of the body, a simple five petal flower with a dot center, overlapping the camera edge slightly so it looks stuck on rather than floating beside it.
Color the camera body in soft pink with the lens ring in a darker outline only, and the flower sticker in butter yellow. A thin strap drawn as two parallel curved lines looping off one side adds a nice finishing detail.
If the lens circle comes out off center, redraw the camera body slightly larger around it rather than trying to erase and recenter a small circle.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Ivory Black
Carry the accessory theme into a small phone doodle. Draw a simple rounded rectangle in fineliner for the phone body, then add a thinner rounded rectangle inset slightly for the screen, with one or two small icon dots for extra charm.
Hang a small charm from one corner, a tiny circle or star shape on a short looped string, which gives the phone a sense of personality beyond just being a flat rectangle. If you enjoy a mini doodle approach, this is a good subject to shrink down even further on the page.
Color the case in soft pink, leaving the screen area plain white or very pale, and the charm in butter yellow. A tiny smiling face drawn directly on the charm, rather than on the phone itself, keeps the whole piece feeling playful.
If the screen rectangle looks squeezed, leave a slightly wider border of case color all around it before inking the screen edge.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Step into a very small landscape subject. Draw a simple square house body in fineliner with a triangular roof on top, one small square window, and a rounded heart shape in place of a standard door.
Think about where the light falls before you color: pick one side of the roof to leave in plain butter yellow as the sunlit side, and add a thin strip of deeper shading along the opposite roof edge, which is enough to suggest a light source without any real shadow work.
Color the walls in a pale wash, the roof in soft pink, and the heart door in a slightly deeper pink so it stands out as the focal point. A short curved path of two or three dots leading up to the door finishes the little scene.
If the roof triangle looks too sharp, round the peak slightly, a soft peak matches the rest of the rounded doodle style better than a crisp point.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Now bring in the bears, starting with the easiest pose. Draw one big round head and a slightly smaller round body in fineliner, two small round ears on top, and short stubby arms held forward in front of the body.
Measure the head against the body before you ink: for this soft, chubby style the head should be about the same size as the body or even a touch larger, which is what gives these bears their round, toddler-like proportions rather than a more realistic animal build.
Place a small latte cup, drawn the same way as your citron tea cup but smaller, between the bear’s paws, with a drizzle of soft pink on top to mark it as strawberry flavored. Color the bear’s body in a pale butter yellow or leave it white with just outlines, and keep the cheeks pink.
If the arms look too thin to hold the cup, thicken them slightly, stubby limbs read as cuter and more stable on the page.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Raw Umber
Build on the first bear with a small scene around a second one. Draw a simple square window frame in fineliner with a crossbar dividing it into four panes, then add a small round bear head and shoulders filling the lower half of one pane, one paw raised in a wave.
Keep the window frame slightly larger than the bear so there is a visible border of wall around it, rather than letting the bear fill the whole square, which keeps the scene readable as a window rather than just a framed portrait.
Color the frame in soft pink, the wall around it in a very pale wash if you like, and the bear in butter yellow with pink cheeks. A small curtain tied back at one top corner, drawn as a simple triangle, finishes the window nicely.
If you want a quicker version, skip the curtain and crossbar and just draw the bear waving inside a plain square, it still reads clearly in under ten minutes.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Take the bear shape outdoors with a small costume change. Draw the same round head and body as before in fineliner, then add a simple triangular raincoat hood framing the face and a short rounded coat body covering the bear’s middle, leaving the stubby legs visible below.
Give the bear one paw holding a tiny closed umbrella at its side rather than open, which keeps the silhouette simple and avoids the trickier curved umbrella canopy shape for now. A few short diagonal lines beside the bear suggest light rain without needing a full background.
Color the raincoat in soft pink and the umbrella in butter yellow, leaving the bear’s fur and face plain white or pale yellow so the coat stands out as the main shape. Keep the rain lines light and sparse, three or four strokes is plenty.
If the hood shape swallows the face, draw the face first and fit the hood around it afterward rather than the other way round.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Combine the bear shape with the cup shape you practiced earlier. Draw a wide, shallow teacup in fineliner, then curl a small round bear body inside it, knees tucked up and head resting on folded paws, so the whole bear fits snugly within the cup’s rim.
Pay attention to scale here: the cup needs to look generously oversized compared to the bear, so draw the cup first at a size that looks almost too big, then fit the curled bear inside it rather than drawing the bear first and squeezing a cup around it.
Color the cup in soft pink with a thin gold-toned rim line in butter yellow, and keep the bear itself pale and simple with closed sleepy eyes. A small saucer beneath the cup and a few z shapes above the bear’s head finish the sleepy mood.
If the bear looks like it is sitting rather than sleeping, drop the head lower onto the paws and close the eyes fully, an open-eyed bear in a curled pose reads as awake no matter the setting.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Raw Umber
Return to two bears for a simple paired pose. Draw two round bear bodies side by side in fineliner, angled slightly toward each other, with the inner arms meeting and overlapping at the paws to show them holding hands.
Vary something small between them so they read as two individuals rather than one bear copied twice: give one a slightly larger head, a bow on one ear, or a different cheek shade, any one small difference is enough without redesigning the whole second bear.
Color one bear in butter yellow and the other in soft pink so they contrast gently against each other, with matching pink cheeks on both. Keep the outer arms relaxed at their sides so the pose stays calm rather than busy.
If the joined paws look tangled, simplify the overlap to one small rounded shape where the two paws meet rather than drawing each paw in full detail.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Payne’s Grey
Swap the bear for a cat in the same cozy cup idea, which makes a nice companion piece if you drew the sleeping bear earlier. Draw a wide cup in fineliner, then a round cat body curled inside it, two triangular ears peeking over the rim and a tail curled around the base of the body.
Keep the cat’s face simple: closed curved eyes, a small triangle nose, and three short whisker lines on each cheek is all this pose needs, since the curled body does most of the work of reading as sleepy and relaxed.
Color the cup in butter yellow with a thin pink rim line, and leave the cat itself mostly white with soft pink inside the ears and on the cheeks. A heart-shaped steam wisp rising from beside the cup is an optional sweet touch.
If the cat looks stiff rather than curled, round out the back line into more of a full C shape, a tighter curl always reads as cozier.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Payne’s Grey
If you enjoy drawing small curled animals like this, a wider animal doodle painting session is a good way to practice more poses in one sitting.
Take the curled cat pose out of the cup and onto a soft surface instead. Draw a round, puffed cushion shape in fineliner, slightly flattened at the bottom where it rests, then curl the cat body on top of it the same way as before, tail wrapped around.
Add a stitched seam detail around the edge of the cushion, a dashed line following the outline, which is a small texture trick that instantly reads as fabric rather than a plain shape. Keep the dashes evenly spaced rather than scattered.
Color the cushion in soft pink and the cat in a pale wash or left white, with pink ears and cheeks to match. A small tassel at one corner of the cushion in butter yellow adds a nice finishing detail without much extra drawing time.
If you have no second colored marker for the tassel, a few fineliner loops in that spot still read clearly as a tassel shape.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Give the cat an activity for a change of pose. Draw the cat sitting upright this time, round body, triangle ears, with both front paws holding a small open book propped against its chest, the book drawn as two slightly curved rectangles meeting in the middle.
Keep the book small relative to the cat’s body, about the width of its shoulders, since an oversized book will overwhelm the character and make the pose harder to read at a glance. A few short wavy lines on the open pages suggest text without needing real lettering.
Color the cat in a pale wash with pink ears and cheeks, and the book cover in soft pink or butter yellow, whichever you have not used much elsewhere on the page yet. Half-closed, content eyes suit this pose better than wide open ones.
If the paws holding the book look awkward, simplify them to two small rounded mitten shapes resting on the book’s edges rather than drawing individual paw pads.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Payne’s Grey
Bring in one dog alongside the cats and bears for variety. Draw a round puppy head and body in fineliner with two floppy ear shapes hanging down rather than pointed up, a small round nose, and short legs standing or sitting.
Give it one raised paw holding a thin string that leads up to a heart-shaped balloon floating above, drawn as one rounded heart with a small triangular dip at the bottom point, the balloon larger than the puppy’s head so it reads clearly as floating rather than resting on something. If puppies are a favorite subject, a set of dog doodles is worth exploring further once this one is done.
Color the puppy in a pale butter yellow wash with soft pink ears, and the balloon in a fuller soft pink with a thin fineliner string trailing down to the paw.
If the balloon string looks stiff, add one small curve partway along its length rather than drawing it perfectly straight.
Palette: Butter Yellow,Soft Pink,Payne’s Grey
Finish the list with the most detailed character, a small girl figure. Draw a simple rounded head in fineliner with a small bun shape on top, then a soft, slightly rounded body shape for her outfit, with both arms wrapped forward around a round plushie bear held against her chest.
Build this one in layers to keep it manageable: head and bun first, then the body outline, then the plushie last on top, overlapping the arms, since drawing the hug in that order keeps the proportions between girl and plushie easier to judge than trying to place both at once.
Color her hair in a warm brown or leave it as outline, her outfit in soft pink, and the hugged plushie in butter yellow with its own tiny pink cheeks to match hers. Two small closed, content eyes and pink cheeks finish her face.
If the arms around the plushie look tangled, simplify them to one smooth curved line wrapping around rather than drawing each arm separately.
Palette: Soft Pink,Butter Yellow,Raw Umber
What to Do Next
Pick one idea near the top of the list, the peach or the little cherry pair are good places to start, and keep your fineliner and two markers within reach so you can move straight from outline to color while the page still feels fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
What pens work best for a korean doodle style?
A fine black fineliner, around 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters, gives the clean rounded outline this style needs. Add soft pastel markers or coloured pencils in pink and yellow for the accents, and a white gel pen for small highlights on top of color.
Do I need to know how to draw before trying these?
No prior drawing skill is needed, since every subject here builds from simple circles, ovals and curved lines. Working through the list in order, from the simplest fruit shapes to the small character scenes, builds confidence gradually.
How do I keep my coloring from looking patchy?
Work quickly while the marker ink is still slightly wet so new strokes blend into the last one instead of leaving a hard edge. Light, even pressure in one direction also helps more than scrubbing back and forth over the same spot.
Can I use coloured pencils instead of markers?
Yes, coloured pencils work well for softer, less saturated blushes and blend nicely with a finger or blending stump. They take a little longer to build up color than markers but give you more control over how light the shading stays.
What paper should I use for these small doodles?
A smooth bristol or marker pad paper stops fineliner ink from feathering and keeps marker colors from bleeding through to the next page. Plain sketchbook paper works fine too if you only plan to use fineliner and coloured pencil.