You've probably seen a thousand "how to draw Bluey" tutorials that make it look like a breeze. You grab a blue marker, doodle a rectangle with rounded corners, and call it a day. But then you look at your drawing and it feels... off. Maybe the snout is too long. Or the eyebrows make her look like she’s judging your life choices instead of playing Keepy Uppy.
Getting that specific Ludo Studio aesthetic right is actually harder than it looks because the show uses a very rigid, geometric logic. It’s not just "cartoon dog." It’s a specific mathematical language of squares and circles. If you want to nail the look of everyone's favorite Heeler, you have to stop thinking about drawing an animal and start thinking about building a character out of blocks.
Honestly, the secret is in the "bean."
The Geometric Soul of a Blue Heeler
Most people start with the head. That’s mistake number one. When the animators at Ludo Studio (the Brisbane-based powerhouse behind the show) talk about character design, they focus on the "pills" or "beans" that make up the torso. Bluey isn't an oval. She’s basically a rounded rectangle.
Think of her body as a thick slice of bread.
If you draw a perfect circle, she’ll look like a Powerpuff Girl. If you draw a square, she’ll look like a Minecraft mod. You need that sweet spot—a rectangle where the corners have been sanded down by years of play. This "body block" should take up about two-thirds of the total height.
Why the snout ruins everything
Here is where 90% of fan art goes wrong. People try to draw a dog snout. They think "dog" and draw a protruding triangle. Bluey’s snout is actually a "snout-box." It’s a separate, smaller rectangle that sits right on the lower half of her face.
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It doesn't point down. It points straight at you.
Joe Brumm, the creator, has often highlighted how the show's simple style is meant to mirror the way children see the world—clear, bold, and uncomplicated. But that simplicity requires precision. The nose itself is a soft, black oval sitting right on top of that snout-box. If the nose is too high, she looks like a bear. Too low, and she loses that cheeky Heeler grin.
Nailing the "Heeler" Color Palette
You can't just grab "blue." Which blue? There are at least four distinct shades on Bluey’s body, and getting them mixed up is a one-way ticket to making her look like an off-brand knockoff.
- The Main Body: This is a mid-tone "Heeler Blue." It’s cool, but not neon.
- The Dark Patches: These are almost a navy or deep cobalt. They go around one eye and across her back.
- The Light "Belly" and Snout: This is a very pale, almost grayish-blue.
- The Accents: The tips of her ears and her tail have that signature dark blue.
If you’re using colored pencils, don't press too hard. Real Heelers have a "ticked" coat, which means their fur has multi-colored hairs. While the show uses flat colors, you can mimic the "vibe" by layering a light gray under your blue to give it that authentic Australian Cattle Dog desaturation.
The Eyes: The Window to the Chaos
Bluey’s eyes aren't eyes. They’re white ovals. But the placement is everything.
They need to be tucked right against the snout-box. If you leave a gap between the eyes and the snout, she looks surprised. If they overlap too much, she looks angry. The pupils are just solid black dots.
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Pro tip: The eyebrows are the most expressive part of the character. They aren't attached to her head. They float. In the show, those little tan rectangles (they’re actually called "pips" in some dog breeds) move independently. To make your drawing feel "alive," tilt those eyebrows. One up, one down. Now she’s curious. Both slanted inward? She’s focused on a game of "Magic Xylophone."
Small Details That Most People Ignore
We need to talk about the feet. Bluey’s legs are incredibly short. Like, shockingly short. They’re basically little pegs. If you draw long, elegant dog legs, you’ve drawn a Greyhound in a Bluey costume.
Her tail is also thick. It’s not a whip. It’s a sturdy, brush-like tail that stays relatively stiff.
And the ears? They’re triangles, sure, but they have rounded tips. Imagine a Dorito that’s been slightly melted. That’s the shape you’re going for. They sit on the very corners of her rectangular head.
The "Squash and Stretch" Rule
Even though you’re drawing a static image, the show relies on "squash and stretch" principles from classic Disney animation. When Bluey is happy, her whole body stretches tall. When she’s sad or "pouting" (usually because Bingo got the last ice block), her rectangle squashes down into a flatter shape.
Pick an emotion before you start. It changes the entire geometry of the character.
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Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Don't make her too skinny. Bluey is a sturdy kid dog. She has a bit of a belly. It’s cute. Embrace the chunk.
- The "Dark Eye" patch. Only her left eye (your right) has the dark blue patch around it. If you do both, she looks like a bandit. Which, to be fair, is her dad’s name, but it’s not her look.
- The arms. They should be thin. Unlike her chunky body, her arms are quite spindly, which allows for all those frantic hand gestures she makes when she’s explaining a complicated game rule.
Drawing Bluey isn't about being a master illustrator. It’s about being a master of shapes. If you can draw a rectangle, a few circles, and some triangles, you’re 90% of the way there. The rest is just making sure those shapes sit in the right spots.
Your Next Steps for a Perfect Heeler
Don't just stop at a pencil sketch. To really make the drawing pop, you need to focus on the line weight.
Grab a black felt-tip pen or a thick marker. The lines in the show are consistent—they aren't "sketchy" or tapered. They are bold, solid, and unwavering. Once you’ve finished your pencil layout, trace over it with one confident stroke. Don't "chicken scratch" the lines.
After that, erase your pencil marks completely. Use a high-quality eraser so you don't smudge the blue ink. If you’re working digitally, create a separate layer for your "inks" and use a brush with 100% stabilization to get those smooth, professional curves that make the character look like she jumped right out of the Disney+ player.
Finally, try drawing her in a specific pose from an episode like "Grannies" or "Dance Mode." It’s much easier to learn the proportions when you have a reference frame right in front of you. Once you master the basic "standing still" Bluey, try her mid-floss. That's the real test of a Heeler artist.