How to Draw an Elephant

Stap met stap

1. Stap 1

   Draw one big oval for the chest and nothing else yet.

   The ribcage is the largest single mass in almost every four-legged animal, and drawing it too small is the most common structural error in the whole category. Draw it in one motion and make it bigger than feels right.

   Pas op Drawing the chest small to leave room for everything else.

   Gaan na The chest oval should take up around a third of the body's length on its own.

2. Stap 2

   Add a second, smaller oval for the hips.

   The gap between the two masses is information: it is most of what separates a long animal from a compact one. Decide the gap deliberately rather than letting it happen.

   Pas op Butting the pelvis directly against the chest.

   Gaan na You should see clear space between the two ovals.

3. Stap 3

   Join the two ovals with a single spine curve.

   One continuous curve, drawn in one pass. The spine sets the whole animal's attitude, and a spine assembled from three short strokes reads as three different animals stitched together.

   Pas op Drawing the spine as separate flat segments.

   Gaan na The curve should touch both masses without a corner.

4. Stap 4

   Put the skull in, and mark the line from chest to head.

   Note where the neck leaves the chest before you place the skull - on most animals it comes off the front of the chest mass, not the top, and that single angle carries the species.

   Pas op Hanging the head above the body instead of in front of it.

   Gaan na The neck guide should leave the FRONT half of the chest oval.

5. Stap 5

   Build the neck out of two lines so it has width.

   A neck is a solid with real thickness, and on most animals it is thicker than you think - nearly as deep as the head itself. Two curves, one over, one under.

   Pas op A thin stick neck, which makes any animal look fragile.

   Gaan na The neck should be nearly as thick as the head is tall.

6. Stap 6

   Draw the topline and the belly to join the masses up.

   This is where the animal stops being two eggs. Let the topline follow the spine you already drew and keep the belly line taut - a sagging belly is a decision, not an accident.

   Pas op Ignoring the spine curve you drew and inventing a new back.

   Gaan na The topline should agree with the spine curve underneath it.

7. Stap 7

   Draw the belly line underneath.

   The belly is a separate decision from the masses: it hangs below the line joining them, sagging most midway, and how much it sags is part of the animal - taut on a deer, generous on a cow. Draw it as one curve, not two arcs meeting.

   Pas op A straight line between the ovals, which reads as a table.

   Gaan na The belly should dip below both mass bottoms at its middle.

8. Stap 8

   Close the silhouette at both ends.

   Two curves seal the body into one shape: down the front of the chest into the belly, and from the top of the hips around the rump to meet it. Without them the animal has no front or back and the legs float - this is the step that turns parts into a body.

   Pas op Leaving the ends open because the ovals suggest them.

   Gaan na You should be able to trace the whole body without lifting your pen.

9. Stap 9

   Run the front legs down from the chest mass.

   Legs are chains of segments with a joint at each bend, and every leg bends somewhere. Draw joint to joint in straight strokes first; curves come later if at all.

   Pas op Straight tube legs with no joints, which read as furniture.

   Gaan na Each front leg should bend at least once.

10. Stap 10

    Put in the hind pair, bending backwards at the hock.

    The hind legs fold the opposite way to the front pair - the hock points backwards. Compare their length against the front legs rather than judging them alone.

    Pas op Back legs bending the same way as the front ones.

    Gaan na Front and back feet should reach the same ground line.

11. Stap 11

    Add the ears.

    Ears attach further back on the skull than feels natural, and their shape is one of the strongest species signals you have. Draw the second by comparing it to the first.

    Pas op Planting the ears on top of the head like handles.

    Gaan na Both ears should attach behind the midpoint of the skull.

12. Stap 12

    Put in the snout, the eye and the nose.

    The muzzle projects forward from the lower half of the head mass. Its length relative to the skull is the proportion to measure - it is the one that changes species when you get it wrong.

    Pas op A muzzle pointing down instead of forward.

    Gaan na The eye should sit in the top half of the head mass.

13. Stap 13

    Draw the tail and any remaining features.

    Detail is suggested, never itemised. Put the marks where they identify the animal and stop early - texture spread evenly everywhere flattens the drawing back out.

    Pas op Covering the body evenly in fur marks.

    Gaan na Step back: the big shapes should still read first.

14. Stap 14

    Give the elephant a real eye: three circles and a brow line.

    An eye is built in layers - iris, pupil inside it, one small highlight, and the brow line above that gives it a direction to look. The highlight and pupil must not touch, and the brow is what turns a circle into a gaze. This one feature carries more life than the rest of the head together.

    Pas op A single black dot, which reads as a bead.

    Gaan na The highlight should sit at the pupil's edge, not inside it.

15. Stap 15

    Add the feet - one line and one split per leg.

    A leg without a foot is a pole. One short base line at the bottom of each leg, angled with the ground, plus a single toe split, and all four legs suddenly bear weight. Feet are also where the ground line will attach, so place all four bases at nearly the same height.

    Pas op Legs ending in points, or feet at four different heights.

    Gaan na All four feet should sit within one pencil-width of the same line.

16. Stap 16

    Draw the ground line and the cast shadow.

    The ground is one line through the feet, and the cast shadow is one flattened arc beneath the body, darkest between the legs. Together they anchor the animal - without them even a perfect construction floats in white space. Keep the shadow tight under the body; a wide puddle reads as water.

    Pas op Skipping it, leaving the animal hovering.

    Gaan na The shadow should touch at least two of the feet.

17. Stap 17

    Let the coat break the silhouette in a few places.

    Fur is an edge event: a few tufts where the coat genuinely hangs - chest, belly, rump - and nowhere else. Each tuft leans the way the coat grows, back and down, and the outline should still read as one body between them. This is also where the sealed construction line stops looking mechanical.

    Pas op Scalloping the entire outline evenly, which turns any animal into a sheep.

    Gaan na Most of the outline should still be smooth between the tufts.

18. Stap 18

    Add a patch of shading beneath the body.

    Two or three patches of parallel strokes - under the belly, behind the shoulder - all leaning the same way, and the drawing suddenly has light in it. Keep the patches small: shading in a sketch is a note about where the dark lives, not a rendering.

    Pas op Scrubbing tone everywhere, which flattens the sketch it took fifteen steps to build.

    Gaan na All the hatch strokes should lean the same direction.

19. Stap 19

    Go over the lines you are keeping and lose the guides.

    Press harder on the outline and the face, leave the small marks light, and erase the construction ovals. That weight difference is what makes the drawing look decided.

    Pas op Going over every line at the same weight.

    Gaan na The outline should be clearly darker than the interior marks.