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A blue dolphin with a pale tummy leaping in an arc over two wavy lines of water, with splash drops near its tail.
The finished drawing.

How to draw

How to Draw a Dolphin

  • Growing (level 3 of 5)
  • 15 min
  • 13 steps
  • Ages 6–10 (a guide, not a rule)
Start Drawing Draw on Screen Print

Draw on paper: Paper, Pencil. Optional: Eraser, Blue and light blue crayons, colored pencils or markers.

Draw it on the screen

A leaping dolphin is one long curve. First you draw a light curved line, like a rainbow, that shows how the whole body bends. Then you build the dolphin around it: the head at one end, the tail at the other. The fin and the flipper sit on top of the body, so the body lines stop where they meet them.

Rather color it? Print the dolphin coloring page.

Step by step

  • New lines: purple, thick and glowing
  • Lines you already drew: gray
  • Guides: dashed blue, draw them lightly
  • Erase: dotted pink with an eraser
  1. Step 1 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 1 of 13 Draw a long curved line like a rainbow: low on the left, high on the right. Press lightly. It shows how the dolphin bends.
  2. Step 2 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 2 of 13 Draw a light circle at the high end of the curve for the head.
  3. Step 3 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 3 of 13 Draw the head: a round forehead that bumps out, a short beak with a round tip, and the bottom of the beak back under the head.
  4. Step 4 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 4 of 13 Add an eye and a smiling mouth line along the beak.
  5. Step 5 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 5 of 13 Draw the back from the top of the head along the curve. Stop near the middle of the curve: the fin goes there.
  6. Step 6 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 6 of 13 Draw the fin: a curved triangle that leans back toward the tail.
  7. Step 7 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 7 of 13 Keep drawing the back from the end of the fin, down along the curve. Let the body get thin near the tail.
  8. Step 8 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 8 of 13 Draw a flipper under the head, pointing down and back.
  9. Step 9 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 9 of 13 Draw the tummy line from under the beak toward the tail. Lift your pencil where the flipper is, then keep going.
  10. Step 10 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 10 of 13 Draw the tail at the thin end: two pointed halves that spread out to each side.
  11. Step 11 diagram, showing what to erase
    Step 11 of 13 Erase the curved guide line and the head circle.
  12. Step 12 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 12 of 13 Draw two wavy lines of water under the dolphin, and some splash drops near the tail.
  13. Step 13 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 13 of 13 Finish with a curved line along the side for the pale tummy, and a small curve on top of the head for the blowhole.
A blue dolphin with a pale tummy leaping in an arc over two wavy lines of water, with splash drops near its tail.

You did it!

Your drawing does not have to look like this one. Every artist draws a little differently.

Color it on screen Print a practice sheet

Tips for this drawing

Helpful hints

  • Make the guide curve smooth and long. A wobbly curve makes a wobbly dolphin.
  • The body is thickest just behind the head and gets thin toward the tail.
  • Lift your pencil at the fin and the flipper so the body lines do not cross them.

Common mistakes

  • The dolphin looks like a fish. Give it a round bumpy forehead and a short beak, and draw the tail halves sideways, not up and down.
  • The tummy line runs right through the flipper. The flipper is in front. Stop the tummy line at the flipper and start it again on the other side.
  • The body is the same thickness all the way along. Draw the back and tummy lines farther apart near the head and closer together near the tail.

Make it simpler

Leave out the flipper, the splash drops and the pale tummy: draw the curve, the head, the back with a fin, the tummy line and the tail.

Action line

One light curved line shows how the whole body bends. Drawing it first makes the dolphin look like it is moving.

Overlap

The fin and the flipper are in front of the body edge. Stop the back and tummy lines where they meet them, then start again on the other side.

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