How to draw
How to Draw an Elephant
- Growing (level 3 of 5)
- 20 min
- 14 steps
- Ages 6–10 (a guide, not a rule)
Draw on paper: Paper, Pencil. Optional: Eraser, Gray and pink crayons, colored pencils or markers.
Draw it on the screen
An elephant is mostly big round shapes, which makes it a great animal to build from guides. Start with a big oval for the body, a circle for the head and four light lines for the legs. The huge ear hangs in front of the head and body, so you draw it early and let the other lines stop at its edge.
Rather color it? Print the elephant 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
Step 1 of 14
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Step 1 of 14 Draw a big oval for the body, a little right of the middle of your paper. Press lightly: it is a guide. -
Step 2 of 14 Draw a circle for the head on the left. Let it overlap the front of the body oval. -
Step 3 of 14 Draw four light lines down to the ground for the legs: two near the front and two near the back. -
Step 4 of 14 Draw a huge ear shaped like a capital D where the head circle meets the body oval. -
Step 5 of 14 From the top of the ear, draw the forehead and the front of the long trunk. Curl the trunk out at the bottom. -
Step 6 of 14 Draw the back of the trunk up to a small mouth, then the cheek back to the ear. Add an eye. -
Step 7 of 14 Draw the back: start behind the ear, go over the top of the body oval and round off the back end. -
Step 8 of 14 Draw a thick, straight front leg around the leg line under the ear, with a flat foot. -
Step 9 of 14 Draw the back leg around the line nearest the tail. Its back edge keeps going down from the round back end. -
Step 10 of 14 Join the two legs with a curved tummy line. -
Step 11 of 14 Draw the two far legs on the middle lines. They are behind the near legs, so each foot stops where it meets a near foot. -
Step 12 of 14 Draw a thin tail hanging from the back end, with a little tuft at its tip. -
Step 13 of 14 Erase the body oval, the head circle and the four leg lines. -
Step 14 of 14 Finish with details: the inside of the ear, wrinkles across the trunk, an eyebrow and toenails on the near feet.
You did it!
Your drawing does not have to look like this one. Every artist draws a little differently.
Tips for this drawing
Helpful hints
- Keep all the guides light. You will draw over parts of them and erase the rest.
- Make the ear big: almost as tall as the head circle.
- Elephant legs are thick and straight, like tree trunks. Keep both edges of a leg the same distance apart.
Common mistakes
- The trunk is a thin line, like a string. Draw two lines for the trunk: wide at the top, a little narrower at the tip.
- The back line goes over the ear. The ear is in front. Start the back line at the edge of the ear, not inside it.
- The legs are thin and the elephant looks wobbly. Make each leg wide, about half as wide as the head, with a flat foot.
Make it simpler
Draw just the two near legs and leave out the far legs, the tail tuft and the wrinkles.
Guide shapes
A big oval for the body, a circle for the head and four lines for the legs show where the parts go. You draw around them, then erase them.
Overlap
The ear is in front of the head and the body, and the near legs are in front of the far legs. Lines that go behind something stop at its edge.
