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How to draw an elephant. Step-by-step tutorial.

Updated: Dec 6, 2023


How to draw an elephant. Step-by-step tutorial.

In this lesson, you will learn how to draw an elephant step by step with a pencil. The elephant has a large body and huge thick legs like pedestals, but unlike other animals, drawing an elephant is quite simple. True, its large ears, trunk, and tusks, while simple in appearance, are actually not easy to draw so they look realistic. The picture of an elephant will be more picturesque if you draw other elephants nearby, as well as the landscape surrounding it.


1. Draw the basic contours of the elephant's torso

How to draw elephant. Step 1. Draw the basic contours of the elephant's torso

Start drawing with the initial outline in the form of a large circle for the torso. Draw a smaller circle for the head at a slight distance to the right. Connect these figures, approximately as shown in my drawing. This will be the elephant's neck. It is not necessary to observe the geometric accuracy of these contours. These are only preliminary outlines needed to mark out the proportions and location in the drawing of the parts of the elephant's torso, which can later be removed.

You need to draw two more elongated ovals below the main circle for the elephant's legs.


2. Draw the contours of the trunk and legs

How to draw elephant. Step 2. Draw the basic contours of the elephant's torso

Start this step with the outline of the trunk; it is easiest to do it. You just need to draw an arc and a circle on its edge. It will be required to maintain the proportions of the massive head and trunk accurately. Next, from the contour of the head to the back, draw another arc. This will be the upper border of the ear. Then, you need to draw the lower line of the abdomen. The elephant is a massive animal, which must be accurately conveyed in the drawing so that this line will help you with that. Then, add two more contours for the legs.


3. Draw the general contour of the shape of the body of an elephant

How to draw elephant. Step 3. Draw the general contour of the shape of the body of an elephant

We have the main contours, now we need to add the contours of the legs to the drawing.

The elephant in our drawing is moving. You can convey this movement using the position of the legs. Draw the left leg slightly raised, for this, lift the outline of the upper part of the leg up a little and turn the lower part to the left. In the next step, we will draw a general outline of the elephant, and then it will be seen that he is walking.


4. Drawing of an elephant in detail

How to draw elephant. Step 4. Drawing of an elephant in detail

Start this drawing step by drawing the outline of the trunk and the elephant's huge ear. The span of its ears is equal to the length of an elephant. It is not difficult to draw a trunk according to the already existing contour marking, and the ear can be drawn in an arbitrary shape. Don't make the elephant's trunk too thin or too thick. The elephant's legs are like columns, and the feet are flattened, almost round.


5. Drawing elephant's skin

How to draw elephant. Step 5. Drawing elephant skin

First, remove the extra contour lines. After that, start drawing from the simplest. Draw an eye. Then you can draw two tusks and a tail. It will be a little more difficult to draw an elephant's ear. Most importantly, note that the edge of the second ear is also visible in the figure.


After we managed to correctly draw the torso and head of the elephant in stages, we will begin to draw the skin. In some places, it can be covered with wrinkles, and folds (trunk). You can do this with pencil strokes. And on the rest of the skin, apply a fine "grid" in the form of intersecting lines. Do not press hard on the pencil. The lines should be barely visible.


6. How to draw an elephant. Final step

How to draw an elephant. Final step

By this step, you should have completely drawn the elephant, and you can start coloring the picture. If you decide to draw only with a simple pencil, then you need to take a soft pencil (2B) and apply shadows. The shadows will give volume, and the drawing of the elephant will be more realistic. To accurately draw shadows on the body of an elephant, you need to imagine from which side the light falls or the sun shines. The one closer will be lighter. At the junction of the legs with the body, the ears with the head, the shadows will be thicker.

If you draw an elephant next to its other relatives or a small baby elephant, as well as the surrounding African landscape, then your drawing will become more lively, realistic, and attractive.


Hope you liked our drawing tutorial! If you like our website, please also subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ImagiDraw


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