How To Draw An Owl

2010Instructional image parody / image macroclassic

Also known as: Draw the Rest of the Fucking Owl · Rest of the Owl · How to Draw an Owl Tutorial

How To Draw An Owl is a 2010 image-macro meme that sarcastically condenses owl drawing into two steps: simple circles, then a detailed owl with the punchline 'draw the rest of the fucking owl.

How To Draw an Owl is a satirical instructional image that pretends to teach you how to draw a detailed owl in just two steps. Step one shows a pair of simple circles. Step two shows a fully rendered, intricately detailed owl, with the instruction to simply "draw the rest of the fucking owl." First appearing on Tumblr and Reddit in August 2010, the image became a widely shared joke about tutorials and instructions that skip every important step between "start" and "finish."

tutorial parody memesearly 2010s memestwo panel memessarcasm memesanimal memes

Overview

The image is laid out like a page from a learn-to-draw book. It has two panels. The first panel, labeled "Step 1," shows two simple overlapping circles, the kind of basic shape you'd find in any beginner art guide. The second panel, labeled "Step 2," shows an incredibly detailed, realistic drawing of an owl, as if a professional wildlife illustrator had spent hours on it. The joke is obvious: the entire artistic process between "rough sketch" and "museum-quality owl" is just... missing5.

The humor works because everyone has encountered instructions like this. A recipe that says "sauté until perfect." A math textbook that says "the rest is trivial." An IKEA manual that seems to skip three critical steps2. The owl meme gave people a visual shorthand for that universal frustration with oversimplified guides.

The original illustrator behind the image is unknown. The earliest documented appearance was on a Tumblr blog, and it was submitted to the Reddit subreddit r/Pics on August 21, 20105. The Reddit post pulled in 1,787 upvotes, 893 points overall, and 124 comments before archiving5.

Commenters on the original post were quick to point out a predecessor. Ben Edlund's 1997 comic *The Tick Omnibus* included a similar gag where readers were instructed to: (1) draw an oval, (2) bisect the oval with a straight line, and (3) draw The Tick holding an oval bisected by a straight line5. That comic had been shared online as early as 20084. The owl image took the same joke structure and stripped it down to its purest, most sharable form.

Origin & Background

Platform
Tumblr (original post), Reddit r/Pics (viral spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2010

The original illustrator behind the image is unknown. The earliest documented appearance was on a Tumblr blog, and it was submitted to the Reddit subreddit r/Pics on August 21, 2010. The Reddit post pulled in 1,787 upvotes, 893 points overall, and 124 comments before archiving.

Commenters on the original post were quick to point out a predecessor. Ben Edlund's 1997 comic *The Tick Omnibus* included a similar gag where readers were instructed to: (1) draw an oval, (2) bisect the oval with a straight line, and (3) draw The Tick holding an oval bisected by a straight line. That comic had been shared online as early as 2008. The owl image took the same joke structure and stripped it down to its purest, most sharable form.

How It Spread

Within days of hitting Reddit in August 2010, the owl image popped up on FunnyJunk, BuzzFeed, and DeviantArt. Through the rest of 2010, it spread across DamnLOL, Democratic Underground, and MemeCenter. A June 2011 repost to r/Funny only managed 19 points, but by then the image had already been absorbed into the broader internet vocabulary.

The first major derivative came on January 5, 2012, when Tumblr artist Van Oktop posted a parody guide to drawing a horse using the same two-step format. The post picked up over 7,200 notes and was featured on Tumblr's curated Comics tag. In April 2012, someone recreated the owl gag using the mobile game Draw Something, sharing it to the r/DrawSome subreddit. More variations followed through 2012, including one using artwork by the late cartoonist Burne Hogarth.

In January 2013, artist Marlo Meekins posted a series of similarly absurd instructional drawings to her Tumblr.

### The Japanese Malfoy Twist

The meme's most unexpected spin came from Japan. On February 20, 2013, Twitter user @wasabeeef0630 posted an image applying the two-step joke to drawing Draco Malfoy from *Harry Potter*. The tweet was retweeted over 41,000 times and favorited more than 18,000 times.

The joke worked on a level English speakers wouldn't catch. Draco's Japanese name is "Marufoi" (マルフォイ), which sounds like "Maru kaite foi," roughly meaning "Draw a circle. Presto!". This wordplay connected to a well-known song from the anime *Doraemon* that teaches kids to draw the character starting with "Maru kaite" ("draw a circle"). The pun was irresistible, and other Twitter users started making similar images with different *Harry Potter* characters. By July 2013, someone had released a mobile app that generated a drawing of Draco after the user input a circle. Kotaku covered the whole drawing craze on July 4, 2013.

How to Use This Meme

The meme typically follows one of two formats:

Classic image format: Share the original owl image (or a variation) whenever someone posts a tutorial, guide, or set of instructions that clearly skips the hard parts. It works best as a reaction image in comment threads or group chats.

Phrase format: Quote "draw the rest of the fucking owl" or "draw the rest of the owl" as a verbal shorthand. This version is common in workplace and professional settings when someone presents a plan that glosses over the difficult middle steps. For example: "The roadmap says 'Step 1: Build MVP. Step 2: Scale to 10 million users.' Classic draw-the-owl situation."

People also create original two-step parodies by picking any complex skill, showing an absurdly simple starting point in panel one, and a masterwork result in panel two.

Cultural Impact

The meme crossed over from internet humor into corporate culture in a significant way. Twilio, the cloud communications company, adopted "Draw the rest of the fucking owl" as one of its core company values. The phrase stuck with the company even after it grew into a $4 billion+ public company. For Twilio employees, it was a rallying cry meaning "figure it out yourself, there's no playbook".

The broader phrase "draw the rest of the owl" entered everyday language as a way to call out oversimplified instructions. It gets applied to everything from self-help books that promise easy solutions to complex problems, to success advice from billionaires that boils down to "just believe in yourself". The concept hit a nerve because the gap between step 1 and the finished product is where all the actual work, skill, and struggle live.

Fun Facts

The top comment on the original 2010 Reddit post referenced The Tick Omnibus comic from 1997, proving the joke format had been around for at least 13 years before the owl made it famous.

The Japanese Malfoy version became popular enough to spawn a mobile app where the size of the circle you draw determines the size of the Malfoy that appears.

The Doraemon "draw a circle" song that partially inspired the Malfoy meme has taught generations of Japanese kids how to draw the robotic cat character.

Twilio's C-level executives regularly said "Draw the rest of the fucking owl" in meetings, profanity and all.

The phrase has been applied far beyond art tutorials, covering IKEA instructions, self-help books, recipe blogs, and billionaire success advice.

Derivatives & Variations

How to Draw a Horse

by Van Oktop (January 2012): Same two-step format applied to drawing a horse, gaining 7,200+ notes on Tumblr[5].

Draw Something recreations

(April 2012): Users replicated the gag using the Draw Something mobile game on Reddit's r/DrawSome[5].

How to Draw Malfoy

(February 2013): Japanese wordplay adaptation featuring Draco Malfoy, spawning 41,000+ retweets and its own mobile app[1].

Marlo Meekins series

(January 2013): Multiple satirical instructional drawings posted to Tumblr[5].

Burne Hogarth variation

(May 2012): A version using the late cartoonist's detailed artwork, posted on Ki Creative Studio[5].

The Tick Omnibus precursor

(1997): Ben Edlund's original comic gag that predated the owl meme by over a decade, where step 3 was "Draw The Tick holding an oval bisected by a straight line"[4].

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Draw An Owl

2010Instructional image parody / image macroclassic

Also known as: Draw the Rest of the Fucking Owl · Rest of the Owl · How to Draw an Owl Tutorial

How To Draw An Owl is a 2010 image-macro meme that sarcastically condenses owl drawing into two steps: simple circles, then a detailed owl with the punchline 'draw the rest of the fucking owl.

How To Draw an Owl is a satirical instructional image that pretends to teach you how to draw a detailed owl in just two steps. Step one shows a pair of simple circles. Step two shows a fully rendered, intricately detailed owl, with the instruction to simply "draw the rest of the fucking owl." First appearing on Tumblr and Reddit in August 2010, the image became a widely shared joke about tutorials and instructions that skip every important step between "start" and "finish."

tutorial parody memes early 2010s memes two panel memes sarcasm memes animal memes

Overview

The image is laid out like a page from a learn-to-draw book. It has two panels. The first panel, labeled "Step 1," shows two simple overlapping circles, the kind of basic shape you'd find in any beginner art guide. The second panel, labeled "Step 2," shows an incredibly detailed, realistic drawing of an owl, as if a professional wildlife illustrator had spent hours on it. The joke is obvious: the entire artistic process between "rough sketch" and "museum-quality owl" is just... missing.

The humor works because everyone has encountered instructions like this. A recipe that says "sauté until perfect." A math textbook that says "the rest is trivial." An IKEA manual that seems to skip three critical steps. The owl meme gave people a visual shorthand for that universal frustration with oversimplified guides.

The original illustrator behind the image is unknown. The earliest documented appearance was on a Tumblr blog, and it was submitted to the Reddit subreddit r/Pics on August 21, 2010. The Reddit post pulled in 1,787 upvotes, 893 points overall, and 124 comments before archiving.

Commenters on the original post were quick to point out a predecessor. Ben Edlund's 1997 comic *The Tick Omnibus* included a similar gag where readers were instructed to: (1) draw an oval, (2) bisect the oval with a straight line, and (3) draw The Tick holding an oval bisected by a straight line. That comic had been shared online as early as 2008. The owl image took the same joke structure and stripped it down to its purest, most sharable form.

Origin & Background

Platform
Tumblr (original post), Reddit r/Pics (viral spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2010

The original illustrator behind the image is unknown. The earliest documented appearance was on a Tumblr blog, and it was submitted to the Reddit subreddit r/Pics on August 21, 2010. The Reddit post pulled in 1,787 upvotes, 893 points overall, and 124 comments before archiving.

Commenters on the original post were quick to point out a predecessor. Ben Edlund's 1997 comic *The Tick Omnibus* included a similar gag where readers were instructed to: (1) draw an oval, (2) bisect the oval with a straight line, and (3) draw The Tick holding an oval bisected by a straight line. That comic had been shared online as early as 2008. The owl image took the same joke structure and stripped it down to its purest, most sharable form.

How It Spread

Within days of hitting Reddit in August 2010, the owl image popped up on FunnyJunk, BuzzFeed, and DeviantArt. Through the rest of 2010, it spread across DamnLOL, Democratic Underground, and MemeCenter. A June 2011 repost to r/Funny only managed 19 points, but by then the image had already been absorbed into the broader internet vocabulary.

The first major derivative came on January 5, 2012, when Tumblr artist Van Oktop posted a parody guide to drawing a horse using the same two-step format. The post picked up over 7,200 notes and was featured on Tumblr's curated Comics tag. In April 2012, someone recreated the owl gag using the mobile game Draw Something, sharing it to the r/DrawSome subreddit. More variations followed through 2012, including one using artwork by the late cartoonist Burne Hogarth.

In January 2013, artist Marlo Meekins posted a series of similarly absurd instructional drawings to her Tumblr.

### The Japanese Malfoy Twist

The meme's most unexpected spin came from Japan. On February 20, 2013, Twitter user @wasabeeef0630 posted an image applying the two-step joke to drawing Draco Malfoy from *Harry Potter*. The tweet was retweeted over 41,000 times and favorited more than 18,000 times.

The joke worked on a level English speakers wouldn't catch. Draco's Japanese name is "Marufoi" (マルフォイ), which sounds like "Maru kaite foi," roughly meaning "Draw a circle. Presto!". This wordplay connected to a well-known song from the anime *Doraemon* that teaches kids to draw the character starting with "Maru kaite" ("draw a circle"). The pun was irresistible, and other Twitter users started making similar images with different *Harry Potter* characters. By July 2013, someone had released a mobile app that generated a drawing of Draco after the user input a circle. Kotaku covered the whole drawing craze on July 4, 2013.

How to Use This Meme

The meme typically follows one of two formats:

Classic image format: Share the original owl image (or a variation) whenever someone posts a tutorial, guide, or set of instructions that clearly skips the hard parts. It works best as a reaction image in comment threads or group chats.

Phrase format: Quote "draw the rest of the fucking owl" or "draw the rest of the owl" as a verbal shorthand. This version is common in workplace and professional settings when someone presents a plan that glosses over the difficult middle steps. For example: "The roadmap says 'Step 1: Build MVP. Step 2: Scale to 10 million users.' Classic draw-the-owl situation."

People also create original two-step parodies by picking any complex skill, showing an absurdly simple starting point in panel one, and a masterwork result in panel two.

Cultural Impact

The meme crossed over from internet humor into corporate culture in a significant way. Twilio, the cloud communications company, adopted "Draw the rest of the fucking owl" as one of its core company values. The phrase stuck with the company even after it grew into a $4 billion+ public company. For Twilio employees, it was a rallying cry meaning "figure it out yourself, there's no playbook".

The broader phrase "draw the rest of the owl" entered everyday language as a way to call out oversimplified instructions. It gets applied to everything from self-help books that promise easy solutions to complex problems, to success advice from billionaires that boils down to "just believe in yourself". The concept hit a nerve because the gap between step 1 and the finished product is where all the actual work, skill, and struggle live.

Fun Facts

The top comment on the original 2010 Reddit post referenced The Tick Omnibus comic from 1997, proving the joke format had been around for at least 13 years before the owl made it famous.

The Japanese Malfoy version became popular enough to spawn a mobile app where the size of the circle you draw determines the size of the Malfoy that appears.

The Doraemon "draw a circle" song that partially inspired the Malfoy meme has taught generations of Japanese kids how to draw the robotic cat character.

Twilio's C-level executives regularly said "Draw the rest of the fucking owl" in meetings, profanity and all.

The phrase has been applied far beyond art tutorials, covering IKEA instructions, self-help books, recipe blogs, and billionaire success advice.

Derivatives & Variations

How to Draw a Horse

by Van Oktop (January 2012): Same two-step format applied to drawing a horse, gaining 7,200+ notes on Tumblr[5].

Draw Something recreations

(April 2012): Users replicated the gag using the Draw Something mobile game on Reddit's r/DrawSome[5].

How to Draw Malfoy

(February 2013): Japanese wordplay adaptation featuring Draco Malfoy, spawning 41,000+ retweets and its own mobile app[1].

Marlo Meekins series

(January 2013): Multiple satirical instructional drawings posted to Tumblr[5].

Burne Hogarth variation

(May 2012): A version using the late cartoonist's detailed artwork, posted on Ki Creative Studio[5].

The Tick Omnibus precursor

(1997): Ben Edlund's original comic gag that predated the owl meme by over a decade, where step 3 was "Draw The Tick holding an oval bisected by a straight line"[4].

Frequently Asked Questions