How to Draw an Elephant

Schrëtt fir Schrëtt

1. Schrëtt 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.

   Achtung Drawing the chest small to leave room for everything else.

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

2. Schrëtt 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.

   Achtung Butting the pelvis directly against the chest.

   Kontroll You should see clear space between the two ovals.

3. Schrëtt 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.

   Achtung Drawing the spine as separate flat segments.

   Kontroll The curve should touch both masses without a corner.

4. Schrëtt 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.

   Achtung Hanging the head above the body instead of in front of it.

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

5. Schrëtt 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.

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

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

6. Schrëtt 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.

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

   Kontroll The topline should agree with the spine curve underneath it.

7. Schrëtt 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.

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

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

8. Schrëtt 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.

   Achtung Leaving the ends open because the ovals suggest them.

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

9. Schrëtt 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.

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

   Kontroll Each front leg should bend at least once.

10. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung Back legs bending the same way as the front ones.

    Kontroll Front and back feet should reach the same ground line.

11. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung Planting the ears on top of the head like handles.

    Kontroll Both ears should attach behind the midpoint of the skull.

12. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung A muzzle pointing down instead of forward.

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

13. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung Covering the body evenly in fur marks.

    Kontroll Step back: the big shapes should still read first.

14. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung A single black dot, which reads as a bead.

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

15. Schrëtt 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.

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

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

16. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung Skipping it, leaving the animal hovering.

    Kontroll The shadow should touch at least two of the feet.

17. Schrëtt 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.

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

    Kontroll Most of the outline should still be smooth between the tufts.

18. Schrëtt 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.

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

    Kontroll All the hatch strokes should lean the same direction.

19. Schrëtt 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.

    Achtung Going over every line at the same weight.

    Kontroll The outline should be clearly darker than the interior marks.