There are so many fun AI trends that transform ordinary photos into imaginative works of art. One of my favorites is the crayon-style drawing AI trend, which makes a photograph look as though it were drawn by a 5- or 10-year-old child.
Of course, I had to try this photo trend with some of KB & KENZO’s photos. The finished drawing feels playful, nostalgic, and almost like a special piece of refrigerator art featuring my two favorite golden retrievers.
What Is the Childlike Crayon-Style AI Photo Trend?
The childlike crayon-style trend transforms a photograph into a simple drawing made with wobbly outlines, uneven coloring, visible crayon strokes, and slightly exaggerated shapes.
The charm of this style is its imperfection. The coloring may extend outside the lines, the proportions may not be completely accurate, and some areas may look scribbled or unfinished.
That is exactly what makes the finished image so cute.
Instead of looking like polished digital art, it feels personal, innocent, and handmade—almost as though a child carefully drew a picture of your dog to display on the refrigerator.
Why This Crayon-Style Dog Art Is So Much Fun
Dog photos already capture so much personality. Turning one into a crayon-style drawing adds another layer of sweetness and creativity.
You can preserve your dog’s recognizable face, pose, and expression while adding bright colors, flowers, hearts, stars, rainbows, clouds, and other cheerful doodles.
For me, the best part is seeing KB & KENZO transformed into playful little crayon characters while still recognizing their individual expressions and coat colors.
It is also a fun way to give a fun dog photo a completely different look without needing any drawing experience.
How to Turn Your Dog Photo Into a Childlike Crayon-Style Drawing
Step 1: Choose a Clear, Well-Lit Dog Photo
Start with a photo in which your dog’s face, body, and pose are easy to see.
A clear image gives the AI more information to work with and can help preserve your dog’s most recognizable features. Photos with simple or uncluttered backgrounds are often easier to transform into a clean crayon-style drawing.
For a photo with more than one dog, choose an image where each dog is clearly visible and not blocking the other.
Step 2: Choose an AI Image Tool
This style can be created with ChatGPT or another AI image-editing tool that allows you to upload a photograph and provide written editing instructions.
For my example, I used ChatGPT.
Step 3: Upload Your Dog Photo and Add Your Prompt
Upload the dog photo you want to transform. Then, copy and paste either the simple prompt or the detailed prompt below.
Simple Crayon-Style Prompt
Turn the attached photo into a children’s crayon drawing, as though it were drawn by a young child. Use thick, uneven crayon outlines, simple shapes, and slightly messy coloring that does not stay perfectly inside the lines. Add visible wax crayon marks and a plain white paper background. Keep the dog’s main features, pose, and expression recognizable. Add a few simple decorations, such as a sun, grass, stars, flowers, hearts, or a rainbow.
Detailed Crayon-Style Prompt
Turn the attached image into a simple crayon drawing that looks like it was made by a 10-year-old child. Replace realistic details with soft, uneven shapes, wobbly outlines, and visible wax crayon marks. The coloring should look imperfect, with scribbled strokes, small gaps, uneven edges, and colors that sometimes overlap. Avoid sharp lines, smooth shading, or a polished digital appearance.
Use a bright and cheerful color palette instead of copying the exact colors from the original photo. Place the drawing on a mostly white background with a light paper texture, so it looks like real artwork made on a sheet of drawing paper.
Add playful decorations around the main subjects, such as hand-drawn hearts, stars, flowers, clouds, rainbows, sparkles, candy, and other cute doodles. Scatter them naturally throughout the scene without covering the important parts of the image.
Keep the main subjects, poses, and general layout recognizable, but give them slightly exaggerated, childlike proportions. Their expressions should remain happy, sweet, and friendly.
The finished image should look colorful, joyful, innocent, and handmade—like a real child’s crayon drawing brought to life. Keep the crayon texture clearly visible throughout, including rough strokes, uneven coloring, simple shapes, and natural drawing mistakes.
Create the final image in a 4:5 vertical aspect ratio. (you can change the size ratio)
For this crayon-style image of KB & KENZO, I used the detailed prompt.
Step 4: Refine the Image if Needed
The first result may not look exactly as you imagined. That is normal.
If the image looks too polished or realistic, ask the AI to:
– Make the outlines more uneven and wobbly
– Add more visible wax crayon strokes
– Make the coloring messier
– Simplify the dogs’ shapes
– Add more white space
– Reduce realistic shading
– Make the proportions slightly more childlike
– Add or remove background doodles
– Keep the dogs’ faces closer to the original photo
It is usually better to request one or two specific changes at a time rather than rewriting the entire prompt. Clear, targeted revisions can help preserve the parts you already like while improving individual details.
You can also experiment with different paper backgrounds, such as:
– White drawing paper
– Construction paper
– Lined notebook paper
– Kraft paper
– Lightly textured sketchbook paper
Step 5: Save and Share Your Crayon Drawing
Once you are happy with the final result, save the image and share it.
Now It’s Your Turn: Turn Your Dog Photo Into a Childlike Crayon-Style Drawing
Turning a dog photo into a childlike crayon-style drawing is such a simple way to give a photo a completely fun look. The wobbly lines, scribbled coloring, and little imperfections are what make this AI photo trend so charming. As a dog parent, I simply enjoy finding fun and creative ways to turn fun photo moments with KB & KENZO into images that make me smile.
Now it’s your turn to upload a favorite photo of your dog, use one of the prompts above, and create your own childlike crayon-style drawing.
Explore More AI Ideas for Dog Lovers
Visit our AI for Dog Lovers page for more fun AI dog photo transformations, creative prompts, and playful ways to turn your favorite dog photos into unique artwork.
English (US) · 