How to Draw a Niffler

Last Updated: October 21, 2021

Nifflers are mythical creatures from Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They are really good at hunting in the ground for lost change and other small treasures. Although you can't really get a niffler for yourself, you sure can draw one! This article will show you how.

Steps

1
Find a reference picture online. Since nifflers are magical (and not real) creatures, there aren't any real images of them. Your best bet is to find a shot from the movie, or maybe a nice piece of fanart. Be sure not to copy exactly, however, as that person is entitled to their work.
2
Break your image into simple geometric shapes. Keep it really simple. Think of circles, triangles, lines, and squares, in a similar way to the image shown above. Using those various shapes, draw a frame for niffler.

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3
Begin refining your shapes. Clearly, the niffler's beak isn't a flat quadrilateral. It has a bit of a curve to it. Using the shape you drew in the previous step as a guide, change the shape to look more like a beak. Do this with other areas too, such as the paws.
- After you do this, erase it so that the shapes barely show. The shapes you drew darker in this step will show more prominently. Trace these, and leave the others.
4
Erase and refine continuously until you are pleased with your skeleton. Trace only the outside and parts that will show, and erase all unnecessary lines. It should sort of resemble a platypus.
5
Texture the border. A niffler has fur that clumps in such a way that it looks like scales and spines. Add this to your outline, as shown in the picture above.
6
Edit the beak. Draw some oblong round shapes for nostrils at the top end of the beak, as well as a line showing where it opens and closes.
7
Breathe life into the eye. Draw a highlight and an eyelid. The rest of the niffler's eye is black, so feel free to color that in.
8
Add some creativity to the paws. Nifflers have very sharp nails, so be sure to show that. You might want to draw some other details as well, such as a coin in his/her paw, if you wish.
9
Draw the fur. It clumps into spiny shapes down the back and on the head, like scales for most of the arms, and then it looks like fluffy down near the beginning of each paw and the beak. This was similar to what was done for the border.
10
Color in your picture.