A silly goober doodle is the fastest way to make your sketchbook laugh out loud. You do not need a plan, a reference board or a steady hand, just a fineliner and a willingness to let an animal look as ridiculous as animals actually are.
Below you will find 28 of them, from a cross-eyed cat with its tongue out to a seal blowing one enormous bubble. Each one is small enough to finish in a single sitting, so grab your pen and a splash of purple and yellow and work through the list in any order you like.
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 goofiest face on the list because it forgives every wobble. Draw a round cat head with the fineliner, two small triangle ears, then two big circles for eyes that overlap slightly in the middle so the pupils point inward and cross.
Add a small oval tongue poking out one side of the mouth and a single curved line for a closed, happy grin underneath it. Keep the body a simple rounded blob sitting below the head, since the face is doing all the comedy here.
If the crossed eyes end up looking more scared than silly, nudge the pupils a touch closer together and add a tiny upward curve at the mouth corners to read as a grin instead of a grimace. Color the tongue sunny yellow and leave the fur plain white with purple whisker dots.
If this is your first time drawing a cat face, sketch the eye circles lightly in pencil first so you can check the crossed angle before committing in ink.
Palette: Carbon Black,Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple
Keep the energy from the last doodle going with a dog who has gotten itself properly stuck. Draw a simple open cardboard box as a trapezoid shape with flaps sticking up, then poke the dog’s head through the open top so only the ears and snout show above the cardboard edge.
Give the body a wagging tail drawn as a few quick curved lines behind the box to show motion, and two front paws peeking out from under the flaps. A single confused eyebrow line above one eye sells the whole joke.
The box is where beginners rush, so take an extra moment to keep its top edge flat and the flaps symmetrical, or the dog will look like it is wearing a crown instead of stuck in a container. Color the flaps purple and leave the cardboard body plain with yellow accent lines for tape.
No fineliner handy yet, a fine ballpoint pen gives nearly the same clean line for this one.
Palette: Carbon Black,Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow
Move from a dog in a box to a frog sitting like it pays rent somewhere. Draw a simple round stool first, three or four straight legs and a flat seat, then perch the frog’s wide bottom on top with its back legs crossed one over the other like a person waiting for a bus.
Build the frog from one big rounded body shape, bulging eyes on top of the head, and a flat wide mouth set in a smug little smile. Hands rest on the knee of the crossed leg for extra attitude.
Where the eye level sits here matters: draw the stool seat at the frog’s middle so you are looking at it slightly from the side, which makes the crossed legs read clearly instead of flattening into one shape. Fill the frog in sunny yellow and leave the stool plain black line.
One concrete tip, draw the crossed leg first since everything else, the arms and the lean of the body, follows its angle.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black,Grape Purple
Give the page some air after all that sitting with a seal who just wants to blow bubbles. Draw the seal lying on its belly as one long smooth teardrop shape, flippers tucked close, then add a round bubble coming from its nose, drawn as a circle with a few curved highlight lines inside.
Work the body outline first in fineliner, then the bubble last so it sits cleanly over or beside the nose without crowding the face. Keep the seal’s expression calm and a little cross eyed with concentration, since blowing a perfect bubble takes focus.
The bubble is the easiest part to overwork, so stop after two or three thin curved lines inside it rather than filling it with detail, a bubble reads better empty. Tint the bubble a pale wash of purple marker and leave the seal body plain with yellow cheek dots.
Swap a bubble wand into the drawing instead if you would rather show where the bubble came from.
Palette: Carbon Black,Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow
Slow the pace right down with a pug who has given up on dignity entirely. Draw the body as one soft rounded shape lying on its back, belly facing up and round, with two bent back legs splayed open and front paws curled against the chest.
Place the wrinkled pug face sideways near the top, eyes shut in curved lines, tongue lolling slightly from the mouth, and a few short curved lines coming off the nose to show a snore. Keep the wrinkles on the forehead to just two or three short marks so the face stays readable at doodle size.
Bellies like this tend to end up too flat, so round the belly outline outward further than feels natural, a pug belly should look like it is about to pop a button. Shade the belly lightly with yellow marker and leave the rest of the body plain with purple ear tips.
If this is your first time drawing a sleeping pose, sketch the whole body as one bean shape before adding legs, ears or wrinkles.
Palette: Carbon Black,Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple
After a sleepy pug, bring back some swagger with a goat who has conquered a single small rock. Draw the rock first as a simple lumpy oval sitting on a baseline, then stand the goat on top with front legs close together and back legs slightly wider for balance.
Build the goat’s head with small curved horns, a short beard tuft under the chin, and rectangular pupils set in a half closed, supremely satisfied expression. A faint chest-out posture, just a slight forward lean, says the whole thing without any extra lines.
One measuring trick helps here, keep the rock no taller than the goat’s own leg length, a rock that is too big makes the goat look like it is struggling rather than posing. Color the horns and hooves purple and the beard tuft sunny yellow.
For more barnyard attitude in the same style, the goat drawing ideas page has plenty of other goats worth a sketchbook page of their own.
Palette: Carbon Black,Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow
Keep the proud animal energy going but turn the volume up to windy chaos with a llama mid gust. Draw the llama’s long neck and simple body shape first, calm standing legs, then put all the drama into the head, a tall tuft of hair swept hard to one side in several jagged spiky lines.
Give the face a completely unbothered flat expression, half lidded eyes and a small smile, so the contrast between the calm face and the wild hair is the whole joke. A few loose diagonal lines beside the head suggest wind without needing a background.
Hair like this goes wrong when every spike points the same direction evenly, so vary the length and angle of three or four spikes instead of drawing a neat row. Color the wild tuft sunny yellow and leave the body plain with a purple collar or tag for contrast.
Draw the wind lines last, after the hair, or they will fight the spikes for attention.
Palette: Carbon Black,Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple
Bring motion properly into the sketchbook with a dog chasing its own tail in a blur. Draw the dog’s body curved into a tight C shape, head turned back toward the tail, mouth open mid bark, then add two or three curved motion lines circling the whole body to show the spin.
Work the body outline first, then the tail tucked just ahead of the snout so the two nearly touch, which is what makes the chase read clearly. Keep the legs as simple bent shapes blurred slightly with a couple of short extra lines trailing behind each paw.
The quick ten minute version stops at the dog shape and two motion lines, which is plenty for a quick page filler. The forty minute version adds small dust puffs at the feet and tiny stars circling the head to show actual dizziness.
One concrete tip, draw the motion lines in purple marker so they stay separate from the black body outline and read instantly as movement rather than extra fur.
Palette: Carbon Black,Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow
Trade motion for a cat that refuses to move from somewhere it clearly should not fit. Draw a simple round fruit bowl first, a wide oval with a short stand underneath, then squeeze the cat’s body into it, folded legs tucked under, paws overlapping the rim, and the head poking up over the edge looking perfectly content.
Keep one or two pieces of fruit, an apple or a lemon shape, squashed beside the cat in the bowl to show just how little room is left. The cat’s expression should stay smug and relaxed, eyes half closed, to sell the idea that this was always the plan.
Bowls like this flatten easily, so draw the near rim as a curved line that dips lower than the far rim, which keeps the bowl looking round rather than like a flat plate. Color the bowl purple and the leftover fruit sunny yellow.
If you enjoy cats wedged into odd places, the cat sketchbook ideas page has more cats behaving like this.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Shrink the scale right down with a hamster who got ambitious about a tube that was never going to work. Draw a simple cylinder shape lying on its side first, open ends visible as ovals, then add just the hamster’s back half and tail poking out of one end, tiny back feet splayed against the tube’s inner edge.
Leave the front half of the hamster entirely hidden inside the tube, since the joke is in what you cannot see. A few short curved lines at the visible rear suggest effort, a little wiggle of stuck determination.
Getting the scale right matters most here, make the tube only a little wider than the hamster’s body so it genuinely looks snug rather than roomy. Color the tube sunny yellow and the visible hamster fur purple for contrast.
No cylinder confidence yet, trace a marker cap or small bottle to get the tube ends perfectly round.
You Will Need
- marker cap or small bottle to trace the tube ends
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple,Carbon Black
Keep the sleepy small comedy going with a sloth whose enthusiasm ran out halfway through a gesture. Draw the sloth’s body first, a simple rounded shape hanging or sitting, one long arm raised with the paw open flat for the high five, the other arm relaxed at its side.
Give the raised arm a slight downward droop at the wrist and half closed eyes to show the moment sleep wins over the high five. A tiny curved line near the mouth suggests a yawn starting rather than finishing.
The high five arm is where this goes wrong if it stays perfectly straight and alert looking, so bend the elbow slightly and let the paw tilt rather than standing stiff. Color the paw pads sunny yellow and leave the fur plain with purple eyelid shading.
One concrete tip, draw the drooping arm last so you can judge exactly how sleepy to make it against the finished face.
Palette: Carbon Black,Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple
Get a little messy on purpose with a pig enjoying a puddle far too much. Draw a simple round puddle shape on the ground first, then the pig’s body rolled onto its side within it, legs kicked up slightly, a huge open mouth grin showing pure delight.
Add a few mud splashes as small irregular dots and short curved marks flicking out from the puddle edge to show the rolling motion. Keep the pig’s snout round and the nostrils as two simple dots for that classic silly pig face.
Where mud puddles usually go wrong is a perfectly round, flat looking shape, so give the puddle edge a few gentle bumps and let one splash mark escape past its border. Color the puddle grape purple for a fun unrealistic mud and leave the pig plain with yellow splash dots.
Picnic scenes love a bit of mess too, the picnic drawing lessons page has more outdoor moments drawn at this same relaxed pace.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Move from mud to a face only a horse could make. Draw the horse’s long head shape first, then curl the upper lip back in a wide curved line to expose a full row of big rectangular teeth, the classic horse grimace that always looks a little human.
Keep the eyes narrowed and half closed to sell the silliness, since wide alert eyes make the same mouth look alarmed instead of goofy. A single curved nostril line and a short flick for the mane finish the head without adding unnecessary detail.
Teeth are the part beginners tighten up on, so keep them loose and slightly uneven in size rather than ruling a perfect row, horse teeth are supposed to look a bit much. Color the teeth sunny yellow on purpose for extra silliness and leave the rest of the head plain.
If this is your first time drawing a curled lip, practice the lip line alone a few times before adding any teeth underneath it.
Palette: Carbon Black,Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple
Give the sketchbook a calm moment with a capybara doing the opposite of everything so far. Draw a simple rounded hot spring shape first, a wide oval of water, then sink the capybara’s body low into it so only the head, back and ears show above the surface, eyes half closed in total relaxation.
Float a small lemon beside the capybara’s head, drawn as a simple oval with a little stem dot, bobbing on the water’s surface. A few short wavy lines across the water suggest gentle ripples without crowding the scene.
Where the eye level sits changes everything here, draw the water surface as a slightly curved ellipse seen from a little above, which makes the spring read as round water rather than a flat gray rectangle. Color the water pale purple and the lemon sunny yellow.
One concrete tip, keep the capybara’s face completely still and flat, all the charm comes from how little it reacts to anything.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Return to a sillier exaggeration with a dachshund whose whole body is the joke. Draw a small round dog bed first, then stretch the dachshund’s long body across it and well past both edges, head hanging off one side and back legs dangling off the other.
Keep the bed cushion a simple soft rounded shape with a slightly bunched rim where the dog’s weight presses down, and let the dachshund’s short legs stick straight out, too short to reach the floor from either overhang. A relaxed, perfectly content face shows it does not mind one bit.
Proportion is everything in this one, make the dog at least twice as long as the bed is wide or the joke will not land, measure the bed width first and then triple it for the dog’s total length. Color the bed sunny yellow and the dog’s collar grape purple.
For more long dog energy in this loose style, the dachshund painting ideas page has plenty more to try next.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple,Carbon Black
Bring in a bit of pattern play with a chameleon whose camouflage plan has clearly failed. Draw a simple square cushion first with a few straight stripe lines across it, then perch the chameleon on top trying to match the stripes but ending up a completely wrong, obvious color against them.
Keep the chameleon’s body curled with its tail spiraled underneath and its eyes rotated in two different directions, one classic chameleon touch that always reads as funny. The mismatch between its plain colored skin and the striped cushion is the whole visual joke, so keep the stripes bold and evenly spaced.
Stripes drawn freehand tend to drift off parallel, so lightly rule two guide lines at top and bottom of the cushion in pencil first and space the stripes between them before inking. Color the chameleon sunny yellow against grape purple cushion stripes for maximum clash.
One concrete tip, draw the independently rotating eyes last so you can place them for the most comic effect once the body is finished.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple,Carbon Black
Keep playing with exaggerated proportion using a cat mid stretch that has gone comically far. Draw the front paws planted first, reaching well out ahead, then pull the back half of the body and tail an equal distance behind so the whole cat reads twice its normal resting length.
Keep the spine as one long smooth curve dipping slightly in the middle, the classic stretch arch, and tuck the head low between the front paws with eyes shut in pure satisfaction. Short straight lines along the back suggest fur pulled taut rather than relaxed.
One measuring trick saves this every time, decide how long the cat’s head is first and then make the stretched body about six head lengths from nose to tail tip, which reliably looks exaggerated without turning into a snake. Color the paws grape purple and leave the body plain with yellow tail stripes.
If this is your first time drawing a full body stretch, block in the stretched spine curve lightly before adding legs, head or tail.
Palette: Carbon Black,Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow
Add some clumsy motion with a puppy whose ears have become a genuine obstacle. Draw the puppy mid tumble, front legs collapsed forward, back legs still kicked up behind, and both ears drawn long and flopping directly under the front paws where they have clearly caused the trip.
Keep the face looking surprised rather than upset, eyebrows raised, mouth open in a small confused shape, since the tone here is gentle clumsiness, not a disaster. A couple of short motion lines trailing off the back paws show the speed that led to the fall.
The ears need to look obviously longer than the legs for the joke to read clearly, so draw them reaching past the puppy’s own chin before it starts its trip. Color the ears sunny yellow and leave the body plain with purple paw pads.
Swap in floppy spaniel style ears instead of pointed ones if you want an even clumsier silhouette.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black,Grape Purple
Bring the goat family back for a smaller, quieter kind of mischief. Draw the goat’s head and shoulders first, then a single sock hanging from its mouth, drawn as a simple soft tube shape with a few short lines for a ribbed cuff, chewed a little ragged at one end.
Keep the eyes half closed and the chin slightly lifted for maximum smugness, as if the sock were a trophy rather than contraband. A short wagging tail line behind the shoulders adds a little extra pride to the pose.
The sock goes wrong if it hangs perfectly straight and clean looking, so give it a slight droop and a ragged chewed edge to show it has actually been worked on for a while. Color the sock sunny yellow with a purple stripe at the cuff.
One concrete tip, draw the proud chin tilt before the sock, since the angle of the whole head decides how the sock will hang from the mouth.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple,Carbon Black
Keep the farmyard mood going with a cow performing one enormous, impressively flexible lick. Draw the cow’s head first, then the tongue curling up and over the top of the snout to reach the nostrils, a long curved shape that bends back on itself slightly at the tip.
Keep the eyes crossed slightly as they follow the tongue’s path, which adds to the silliness without needing any extra lines elsewhere. The classic cow spots on the face and ears can be left simple, two or three irregular blotches rather than a full pattern.
Tongues like this flatten out if drawn as one straight curve, so add a slight S bend partway along its length to show it genuinely wrapping over the nose rather than just resting on top. Color the tongue grape purple and the spots sunny yellow for a stylized, unrealistic cow.
If this is your first time drawing a tongue mid motion, trace the path with a finger in the air first to feel the curve before committing it in ink.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Slow right down again with a cat enjoying the simplest pleasure on the whole list. Draw a square or rectangle of light on the ground first, a few straight fineliner lines left mostly open and uncolored to suggest brightness, then lay the cat’s body flat inside it, legs sprawled loosely, belly exposed.
Keep the cat’s pose completely boneless, one back leg kicked out past the light square’s edge and a tail curled lazily, with eyes closed and a tiny closed mouth smile. The contrast between the structured square and the floppy cat pose carries the whole doodle.
Where the light source sits matters here, decide the square comes from a window just out of frame and keep its edges straight and slightly angled, not a perfect flat rectangle, to suggest it is falling across the floor rather than painted on it. Leave the sunlight square uncolored and tint only the cat lightly in yellow.
One concrete tip, draw the square first and lightly, then fit the cat’s sprawl to it rather than the other way around.
Palette: Carbon Black,Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple
If you enjoy quiet cat moments like this one, the vintage cat stickers and black cat drawing pages both have more low key cat poses in a similar relaxed line.
Switch to the water for a pufferfish having the most dramatic reaction to the smallest fright. Draw the body as one large round puffed up circle first, then add short triangular spikes evenly around the whole outline, wide surprised eyes near the top, and tiny fins barely visible against the inflated body.
Keep the mouth a small round surprised O shape rather than a smile, since the whole joke is overreaction, not confidence. A couple of small bubbles near the mouth suggest it is still mid gasp.
The quick ten minute version is just the round spiky body and the startled face. The forty minute version adds a tiny crab or small pebble beside it as the thing that caused all this fuss, giving the drama some context.
Color the spikes sunny yellow and the body grape purple, which keeps the whole shape reading as one puffed up unit even with all those spikes breaking the outline.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Bring the comedy back to land with a corgi whose stubby legs have met their match in a single step. Draw the step first as a simple rectangle block, then put the corgi’s front paws up on top of it while the stubby back legs stay firmly on the ground, body stretched at an awkward angle between the two levels.
Keep the corgi’s ears alert and upright even mid struggle, which somehow makes the whole scene funnier than a defeated looking face would. A determined straight line mouth, rather than an open panting one, shows real effort.
Short legs like these flatten the joke if the step is too low, so make the step at least half the height of the corgi’s whole body so the stretch between front and back paws looks genuinely difficult. Color the step grape purple and leave the corgi’s body plain with yellow chest fur.
For more short legged charm in the same loose style, the goose drawing ideas page has other small determined creatures worth a look.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Bring back the frog for one more round, this time in full costume. Draw the frog’s wide rounded body and bulging eyes first, then perch a small cowboy hat on top of the head, drawn as a simple curved brim with a rounded crown sitting slightly tilted for attitude.
Keep the mouth drawn as one wide confident grin stretching nearly the full width of the face, since that grin paired with the hat is the entire joke. Short bent legs in a relaxed stance finish the pose.
Hats at this scale look awkward if drawn flat on top of a round head, so tilt the hat slightly to one side and let the brim dip lower over one eye for a rakish, confident angle. Color the hat grape purple and the frog’s body sunny yellow.
One concrete tip, draw the grin before the hat so you can center the hat’s tilt against an expression that already works.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple,Carbon Black
Add some color and movement with a parrot fully committed to its own dance. Draw the perch first as a simple horizontal bar, then the parrot’s feet gripping it at an angle that shows real movement, body leaning to one side, wings slightly lifted away from the body.
Raise the head crest into several tall spiky feathers to show excitement, and tilt the head itself to match the lean of the body for a convincing sense of rhythm. A few short motion lines near the feet suggest a shuffling dance step.
Parrots tend to look stiff if the body stays upright and symmetrical, so lean the whole torso a clear ten to fifteen degrees off vertical and let one wing lift higher than the other. Color the crest and tail feathers in alternating grape purple and sunny yellow for a bold, cheerful look.
If this is your first time drawing a bird mid motion, pose yourself leaning to one side for a second to feel where the weight actually sits.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Build toward the big finish with a walrus committing fully to a belly flop that was never going to be graceful. Draw the walrus mid air first, body stretched flat and horizontal, flippers out to the sides, tusks pointing slightly down toward the small puddle waiting below.
Keep the face calm and determined rather than panicked, since the joke works best when the walrus looks completely confident about a plan that is clearly going to make a mess. Add a few splash lines shooting up from the puddle’s edge to show the impact is about to happen.
The forty minute version adds a couple of small droplets already flying outward above the puddle to suggest the flop is mid impact rather than just about to start, which gives the drawing more energy than the quick ten minute version that stops at the falling pose alone. Color the splash lines sunny yellow and the puddle grape purple.
One concrete tip, keep the body perfectly flat and horizontal in the air, any curve makes it look like swimming instead of falling.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
Bring the energy back up near the end with a kitten locked in battle with a part of itself. Draw the kitten’s body twisted into a tight curl, head bent down low toward one raised back leg, front paws gripping that leg mid attack, wide focused eyes fixed entirely on the target.
Keep the twisted spine as one smooth continuous curve even though the pose is extreme, which keeps the kitten looking flexible rather than broken. A fluffed out tail sticking straight up adds a last touch of total commitment to the cause.
Poses this twisted go wrong if the front and back halves of the body do not line up along one believable curve, so sketch the full spine line lightly first before adding legs or paws on either end of it. Color the fluffed tail sunny yellow and the gripping paws grape purple.
No fineliner steady enough for a tight curl yet, draw the pose larger than you think you need, tight curves are easier to control at a bigger size.
Palette: Sunny Yellow,Grape Purple,Carbon Black
Close the whole set with the ultimate goofy dog classic, caught in full escape. Draw the dog mid run, body stretched long and low, all four legs extended in a galloping stride, one shoe gripped firmly in its mouth with the laces trailing behind.
Keep the grin wide and the eyes bright and a little wild, since the joy of getting away with it is the entire expression here. A cloud of short dust or motion lines at the back paws finishes the sense of speed.
Once this pose works, vary it next time by swapping the shoe for a sock, a slipper or a rolled up newspaper, the running body and grin stay exactly the same while the stolen object changes the whole story. Color the shoe grape purple and the trailing laces sunny yellow.
Looking for more ways to fill a sketchbook with a running theme like this one, the sketchbook pages ideas show how a single happy theme can carry a whole spread.
Palette: Grape Purple,Sunny Yellow,Carbon Black
What to Do Next
Pick whichever one made you smile first, grab a fineliner and a scrap of paper, and just start with the body shape before worrying about the face. Once you have worked through a few, a plain sketchbook page filled with these silly little animals makes a far better spread than any single tidy drawing ever could.
Frequently Asked Questions
What pens work best for a silly goober doodle?
A black fineliner in a fine to medium tip gives the cleanest outline for this style. Add grape purple and sunny yellow markers or alcohol markers afterward for quick accent color without any blending needed.
Do I need to be good at drawing animals to try this?
No, these doodles rely on exaggeration rather than accuracy, so a wobbly line often adds to the charm. Simple round shapes, big expressions and one clear silly action matter far more than anatomical correctness.
How long does one silly goober doodle take?
Most of these finish in ten to twenty minutes once you know the pose you want. A few, like the walrus belly flop or the dancing parrot, can stretch to forty minutes if you add extra motion details.
Should I sketch in pencil first or go straight to ink?
Light pencil first is the safer choice for any pose with tricky proportion, like the stretched cat or the too long dachshund. Simple faces, like the cross eyed cat, can usually go straight to fineliner.
How do I keep the purple and yellow accents from looking messy?
Keep marker color inside one or two simple shapes per doodle rather than scattering it everywhere. A tongue, a belly, a hat or a splash works well, letting the black ink carry most of the drawing.
Have any thoughts?
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