Shy Guy is the masked little character from the Super Mario games — he wears a long red robe, brown belt and a white mask with two round eye holes. In this tutorial Parikshet shows you how to draw Shy Guy from the front, step by step, in his classic pose.

🎨 What You Need

  • White A4 paper
  • HB pencil
  • Black marker
  • Red, white, brown and grey colour pencils
  • Rubber

How to Draw Shy Guy Step by Step

  1. Step 1 — Draw a tall rounded rectangle in the middle of the page — this is the whole body and head together, like a little robe shape.
  2. Step 2 — At the top, draw a smaller oval for the mask. The mask sits inside the upper part of the rounded rectangle.
  3. Step 3 — On the mask, draw two big round eye holes and a small round mouth hole — fill all three completely black.
  4. Step 4 — At the very top of the body, draw a small round bobble like a pointed hat tip, with a tiny circle on the end.
  5. Step 5 — Around the middle, draw a brown belt going across the body with a small square buckle in the centre.
  6. Step 6 — Add two short stubby arms coming out from the sides, ending in little round mitten hands.
  7. Step 7 — At the bottom, draw two tiny brown boots peeking out from under the robe.
  8. Step 8 — Outline everything with a black marker, colour the robe and hat tip bright red, the mask white, the belt and boots brown, and add a soft grey shadow on one side.
💡 Parikshet's Tip: Keep Shy Guy's arms very short and his hands round — long arms make him look like a different character entirely. Stubby is the secret to the Shy Guy look.

🌟 Did You Know?

Shy Guy first appeared in the game Super Mario Bros 2 in 1988. Even after almost 40 years of games, nobody has ever officially shown what is behind his mask — it is one of gaming's oldest mysteries.

Easy Variations to Try

  • Draw a blue or yellow Shy Guy instead of red
  • Make Shy Guy holding a spear
  • Draw two Shy Guys standing side by side
  • Draw Shy Guy riding a Yoshi

🎯 Try This: Shy Guy Squad

  1. Draw four Shy Guys standing in a row
  2. Colour each one differently: red, blue, green and yellow
  3. Add a star or block above them
  4. Sign your name like a real video-game artist