If you’re a Brawl Stars fan who loves creating fan art, you’ve probably wanted to try your hand at sketching the game’s edgy, trash can-wielding brawler at least once. I’ve been drawing Brawl Stars characters for three years for small fan communities, and I’ve broken down the process to make it accessible even if you’ve never picked up a pencil for character art before. This guide walks you through how to draw Ash from Brawl Stars without fancy supplies, and we’ll cover all his iconic details so your final sketch looks exactly like the character you know from the game.
Prep Steps Before You Learn How to Draw Ash from Brawl Stars
You don’t need expensive art supplies to get a great Ash sketch, but a few basic items will make the process way easier. I’ve tested all these supplies for beginner artists, and they work just as well as premium options for this type of cartoon character art. Before you start, gather these items:
- A standard HB pencil for light sketching (you can erase mistakes easily without leaving smudges)
- A kneaded eraser for cleaning up small edges without ruining your paper or leaving faint gray marks
- Fine liner pens for outlining your final sketch if you want to color it later without bleeding
- Plain printer paper or a basic sketchbook, no fancy heavyweight paper needed for this project
Always pull up an official reference image of Ash first before you put pencil to paper. A lot of fan art mixes up his arm band details or the size of his trash can helmet, and having the official design open will save you from fixing big mistakes later. You don’t need to trace the reference, just keep it off to the side to check proportions as you work. It’s totally okay if your first sketch lines are messy, you’ll erase those guide lines later anyway.
Step 1: Sketch Ash’s Core Proportions First
The biggest mistake new artists make when drawing Ash is skipping basic shape guides and jumping straight to small details like spikes or facial features. Start with very light, simple shapes to map out his body first, and don’t press hard with your pencil so you can adjust lines easily if something looks off. Ash has a very short, stocky build, so all his shapes will be wider than they are tall for the most part.
His trash can helmet takes up 60% of his total upper body height, so start with a large, slightly rounded rectangle for the helmet first. I can’t tell you how many of my early Ash sketches looked like he was wearing a tiny bucket instead of a trash can, so don’t skip this measurement check. Next, add a small, wide rectangle under the helmet for his torso, then two thick, rounded rectangles for his arms, and two short, thick shapes for his legs.
Once you have the basic shapes down, step back from your sketch for 10 seconds and compare it to your reference. If the helmet looks too small or his arms look too long, adjust those lines now before you add any details. This step only takes a minute, but it will make your final sketch look 10 times more accurate.
Step 2: Add Ash’s Iconic Signature Details
Once you’re happy with your proportions, you can start adding the small details that make Ash instantly recognizable. Start with the helmet first, since it’s his most defining feature. Draw the rim of the trash can around the bottom of the large rectangle you sketched earlier, leaving a small gap for his face to peek through.
The spikes on the top of his trash can are uneven, not perfectly uniform, so don’t stress about making them all the same size or height. That uneven shape is what gives him his rough, punk rock vibe, so slight imperfections here actually make the sketch better. Next, add his face: he only has two glowing, slanted orange eyes and a sharp scowl peeking out from under the helmet rim, no visible nose or mouth details needed.
Move down to his body next: add spiked wrist bands on both of his arms, a broken wooden baseball bat in his right hand, and a clenched fist in his left. His shirt has small rips along the bottom hem, his jeans are torn at the knees, and his boots are scuffed at the toes. Don’t forget the small dents on the side of his trash can helmet, that’s a tiny detail that makes your sketch look way more accurate, and most beginner artists skip it without realizing how much it adds to the design. If you’re unsure about any detail, zoom in on your reference image instead of guessing, it saves you time fixing mistakes later.
Step 3: Finalize, Outline, and Color Your Ash Sketch
Once you’re happy with all the details, erase all the light guide lines you drew for the initial proportions. Be gentle when erasing around small details like spikes or the bat edge so you don’t smudge the lines you want to keep. If you plan to color your sketch, trace over your final pencil lines with a fine liner pen first to make the edges crisp. Wait 30 seconds after outlining before you erase the remaining pencil lines, so you don’t smudge the wet ink.
Ash’s core color palette is very simple, so you don’t need a huge set of markers or colored pencils to finish him off. His trash can helmet is dark gray, his shirt is black, his jeans are dark faded blue, his eyes and the stripes on his bat are bright neon orange, and his spikes and wrist band hardware are silver. You can add light shading under the helmet rim and on the underside of his arms to make him look more 3D, but that’s totally optional if you’re a total beginner. If you make a small coloring mistake, you can use a white gel pen to cover smudges, or draw over it with a darker color if it’s on a dark part of his design.
If you want to make your sketch look more dynamic, you can add a simple background like a Brawl Stars battle arena floor, or draw small dust particles around his bat to make it look like he just swung it. There’s no right or wrong way to customize your sketch once you have the base design down, so feel free to get creative with it.
Don't get discouraged if your first attempt doesn't look perfect, I messed up Ash's helmet size at least four times when I first started drawing him. The more you practice, the faster you'll get at nailing his proportions and small details without even needing to check a reference every time. Once you master how to draw Ash from Brawl Stars, you can move on to other fan favorite brawlers, or even create your own custom skins for Ash to share with the Brawl Stars fan community. If you share your finished sketch online, tag us so we can see your work!