How to Draw Cartoon Ocean Animals

A blue whale, cartoon style

Besides being a fun activity, drawing cartoon ocean animals can be a stepping stone to more complex drawings. This is true because drawing such animals provides training in making the ovals, curves and other basic shapes found in complex drawings. Drawing cartoon ocean animals also builds another artistic skill: converting nature's complex visual information into information that's easier to render for the artist, and easier to interpret for the viewer.

Things You'll Need

• Paper and pencil

Instructions

Draw a Lobster

1. Lightly draw a guideline that curves upward and toward the right. Make the curve at least 3 inches long.

2. Form the lobster's body segments as a series of overlapping ovals whose centers surround the guideline. Move from the left to the right of the guideline as you draw, and make each oval bigger than the previous one.

3. Convert the leftmost oval into a tailfin, by first making a lightly-drawn "M" inside the oval. Surround the outer legs of the "M", and the center "V" part of the "M," with ovals. Keep the tops of the ovals open so they appear as one connected shape.

4. Draw the arms as a chain of small ovals emerging from the side of the second-largest body oval. Curve the chain slightly down and away from the main body ovals.

5. Make the left claw a small "C" inside a bigger "C." Connect the top and bottom endpoints of the two "C"s.

6. Complete the claw by drawing a jagged edge that follows the contour of the inner "C."

7. Form the right arm and claw by following steps 4 through 6. But, make the arm curve to the right of the body, not left. And reverse the "C"s so they are backwards. This will make them open to the left.

8. Draw the lobster's eyestalks as two curves whose endpoints begin near each other, in the center of the frontmost body oval. The curves then separate as they move upward for a short distance.

9. Draw each eye as a small circle within a larger circle that rests on the end of an eyestalk.

Draw a Whale

1. Make an oval at least 4 inches in diameter at the center of the page.

2. Begin the tailfin: Lightly sketch a large "M" a short distance from the body oval's right end. Tilt the "M" slightly to the right, with the "V" portion of the "M" pointed towards the body.

3. Add two small lines to the outer legs of the "M," to properly shape the tailfin. Connect the lines to the "M"s leg endpoints, and make the lines point upward and away from the outer legs.

4. Trace a curve that flows over each segment of the expanded "M." This step replaces the hard angles of the "M" with more natural angles.

5. Draw curves that start at the expanded "M"s endpoints and end just inside the right edge of the body oval. This step connects the tailfin to the whale's body.

6. Draw a pectoral fin as a large "U" whose top is just above the central bottom outline of the body oval. Tilt the "U" slightly to the left.

7. Draw circles for the eye sockets. Place the left eye at the left edge of the body outline, and the right eye a short distance from the left eye.

8. Make pupils as smaller circles within the eye socket circles.

9. Draw the mouth as a downward pointing triangle with sides that bow inward slightly toward the triangle's center. Center the mouth between the two eyes.

References

• How to Draw and Paint: "How to Draw Animals"
• How to Draw Cartoons Online: "How to Draw Cartoon Animals"