How to Draw a Whale Step by Step (Easy for Beginners)

Big animals are often the easiest ones to draw, and a whale proves it. The whole body fits inside a single long oval, so you spend most of your time on fun extras like the tail and the spout instead of fiddly legs. Here I'll show you how to draw a whale step by step, starting with light guide shapes and ending with a smiling blue whale that has a pale belly and a splash of water on top. No art training needed. If you can draw an egg shape, you can draw this.

Every step picture has one job: show you the new lines. Those are drawn in blue. Anything gray was added in an earlier step, so leave it alone and only copy the blue part. The faint pale lines are guides that get erased near the end.

Quick overview
⏱️ Time: roughly 20 to 30 minutes
🎯 Level: easy, fine for kids around 5 and older
✏️ Steps: 10
🐋 You'll draw: a smiling blue whale swimming left, tail up and spout going

Gear for a Splashy Whale Sketch

• A regular pencil (HB or 2B)
• A clean eraser
• A black fineliner or thin marker
• Colored pencils or markers in two or three blues, plus pink and black
• Plain paper, used sideways

A whale is long and low, so landscape paper gives the tail room to curl up without running off the edge.

How to Draw a Whale Step by Step

Step 1: Sketch one long body oval

Lightly draw a wide oval across the left two thirds of your paper. It should be about twice as wide as it is tall. From the right end of the oval, draw a curved line that sweeps right and then bends upward. That curve marks the tail, which is just a narrowing continuation of the body.

💡 Tip: Draw the oval with your whole arm, not just your fingers. Big ovals come out rounder that way.

Step 2: Add guides for the tail and flipper

At the top end of the tail curve, draw two straight lines spreading out like a wide letter V. One points up and a little left, the other up and to the right. These show where the flukes will go. Then add a thin, tilted oval near the bottom of the body, slightly left of center, for the flipper.

💡 Tip: Make the V wide open. A narrow V turns the tail into a fish tail.

Step 3: Draw the whale body outline

Now trace the real shape over your guides. I begin at the front, where the head is tall and rounded, almost like a bump of bread dough. Follow the oval along the back, then let the top line dip down and curve up again as it heads into the tail. The belly line goes underneath, rising gently toward the tail so the body gets thinner.

💡 Tip: Keep the front of the head blunt. A pointed nose makes it look like a shark or a dolphin.

Step 4: Shape the two tail flukes

Use the V lines as the middle of each fluke. This is the part I slow down on. Draw each one like a long leaf that is pointy at the tip and wide where it joins the tail. Where the two leaves meet, leave a small dip, then add a short line down from that dip. That tiny crease makes the tail look like one piece that splits in two.

💡 Tip: Let the left fluke stand a bit taller than the right. Slight unevenness looks more alive.

Step 5: Add the flipper and the belly line

Turn the flipper guide into a rounded paddle: start where it touches the body and end with a soft, round tip. Next, draw a long smooth line from just under the face all the way to the tail. Everything below that line becomes the pale belly. Stop the belly line where it meets the flipper, because the flipper sits in front.

💡 Tip: Pull long curves in one slow stroke. Lots of short strokes leave a hairy line.

Step 6: Draw the eye, smile and cheek

A whale's eye is small for its size, but on a cartoon I make it a bit bigger. Place a circle about a third of the way back along the head, above the smile. Add a tiny circle inside for the shine. Below it, draw a long curve from the very front that turns up at the end, then a small oval cheek just under the eye.

💡 Tip: Put the eye above the end of the smile, not over the middle of it. That's what makes the face read as a grin.

Step 7: Add the belly grooves and blowhole

Real whales like humpbacks and blue whales have long folds under the throat. I find two thin lines inside the belly area, following its curve, are enough to suggest them. Stop them before the flipper and pick them up again on the other side. On top of the head, add a little curved mark for the blowhole.

💡 Tip: Keep the grooves thinner than the outline. They are texture, not edges.

Step 8: Draw the water spout

Draw a short, faint guide line straight up from the blowhole. Around it, build three leaf shapes: a thin one going straight up and two wider ones leaning out to each side. Add four small circles around them for flying drops. I keep the spout smaller than the head so it doesn't steal the attention from the face.

💡 Tip: Space the drops evenly on both sides so the spout looks balanced.

Step 9: Ink the lines and erase the guides

Trace every line you want to keep with your black pen. Most beginners press too hard on the long body lines, so go slowly and steady your hand on the paper. Skip the oval, the tail curve, the V lines and the spout guide. Wait for the ink to dry, then erase all the pencil.

💡 Tip: Ink the small face details first while your hand is steady, then the long body lines.

Step 10: Color your whale

Fill the body, tail and flipper with a medium blue. The belly gets the palest blue you have, or you can leave it white. Color the spout and drops a light sky blue so the water looks different from the skin. Finish with a pink cheek and a black eye, leaving the little shine circle white.

💡 Tip: Color the body in long strokes from head to tail, the way water slides along it.

Why Some Whales Turn Into Fish or Sharks

• A pointy nose. Sharks and dolphins have narrow snouts. A whale's head should stay round and blunt at the front.
• A tail that stands straight up like a fish fin. Whale flukes spread sideways. Draw them as two leaves opening into a wide V.
• A body with no taper. If the back and belly stay parallel, the whale looks like a sausage. Bring them closer together toward the tail.
• A huge spout. When the spout is as tall as the body, the eye goes straight to it. Keep it smaller than the head.
• A flipper stuck on top of the belly line. Draw the flipper first, then stop the belly line where it meets the flipper.

Fun Twists on This Ocean Giant

Once the basic whale feels comfortable, try changing it. Color it gray with white patches for a humpback, or black and white for an orca. Add a curly wave under the belly, or a tiny fish swimming near the smile. You could even draw a smaller baby whale beside it, using the same steps at half the size. Younger kids can skip the grooves and the drops and still get a cheerful whale. When you'd rather color than draw, grab these free whale coloring pages, and if you want a whale with a twist, try this narwhal drawing tutorial.

Printable Whale Coloring Page and Step Guide

Want to keep this offline? The free whale coloring page shows a finished whale at the top with a color key that says which blue goes where, plus a big outline to color below. The step-by-step PDF guide has all 10 steps and tips on a few pages. Both print on Letter or A4 paper.

📱 On a phone? Tap a download button, then open the file and choose Share → Save to Files or Print. On a computer, the PDF opens or saves straight to your Downloads folder.

Pin the Whole Whale Lesson

Whale Done? More Animals to Draw Step by Step

Every link below opens a full step-by-step tutorial, from a sitting arctic fox to a shaded apple.

• Arctic Fox Drawing: Draw a sitting fox with cheek tufts and a tail curled to one side in this arctic fox drawing tutorial, which takes 11 steps.
• Narwhal Drawing: Stay in cold water with how to draw a narwhal step by step. The tusk points up, and the whole animal is done in 11 steps.
• Miraculous Ladybug Drawing: This Miraculous Ladybug drawing tutorial turns the hero into a chibi with her mask on and her yo-yo ready.
• Rat Drawing: Start with the nose and finish with a curled tail in this rat drawing step by step lesson for a curious gray rat.
• Penguin Drawing: Rosy cheeks, a small tuft and flippers held out for balance: learn how to draw a penguin in 10 steps.
• Puppy Drawing: The easy puppy drawing tutorial builds a pup with its tongue out and a collar on, ready for a walk.
• Paw Print Drawing: Learn how to draw a paw print for both a dog and a cat, with a small heart between them.
• Dragonfly Drawing: Wings spread and eyes wide, the dragonfly drawing tutorial gets you there in ten steps.
• Godzilla Drawing: Two ovals grow into a kaiju in this Godzilla drawing step by step guide for beginners.
• Sloth Drawing: For a slower animal, try how to draw a sloth step by step. It hangs with a happy face after 11 short steps.
• King Kong Drawing: The King Kong drawing tutorial shows the giant gorilla with fists down and mouth open, mid-roar.
• Ant Drawing: Three ovals become a red ant with antennae up and six feet on the ground in this ant drawing tutorial.
• Kitten Drawing: Follow how to draw a kitten step by step to get a ginger kitten sitting politely, in 11 steps.
• Realistic Drawing: When you want to practice shading, the realistic drawing tutorial walks you through one shiny apple under a single lamp.

Whale Drawing Questions From Beginners

What is the easiest way to draw a whale?

Start with one long oval for the body and a curved line for the tail. Add a V for the flukes, then draw the outline over those guides. Building on shapes first keeps the body and tail in proportion.

How do you draw a cute whale for kids?

Give it a big round head, a short body, a small eye with a shine and a wide smile. Kids can leave out the grooves and use thick markers for the outline, which makes coloring inside the lines easier.

How long does it take to draw a whale?

Around 20 to 30 minutes with inking and coloring. The outline goes quickly, while the tail and spout take a little more care.

What colors should I use for a whale?

A medium blue for the body and a very pale blue or white for the belly work well. Blue whales are actually blue-gray, humpbacks are dark gray, and orcas are black and white, so any of those makes sense too.

Grab a blue pencil, start with that big oval, and see what name your whale ends up with. 🐋✏️

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