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How To Draw Sharks The Easy Way

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So You Wanna Draw Sharks

Sharks are some of the most feared underwater animals on earth, and with good reason. Sharks can be huge, with gaping maws full of giant teeth. They also have little beady eyes that make them look suspicious, like they're just waiting for the perfect moment to do something evil. I guess that's why nearly every shark reference in popular culture tends to be negative. Jaws just had to mess things up for positive shark portrayals. Since sharks are seen as a vicious menace, no one seems to take an interest in them unless it's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and we all know that people only watch that in the hopes of seeing a shark attack. How cruel. We need more positive shark images.

That's why this lens is here. I will show you how to draw sharks, and then you will see them for the adorable, misunderstood beings they are...or maybe not. Either way, sharks will be drawn! Let's get started, shall we?

Getting Started - Stuff You'll Need

Since I want this shark drawing tutorial to be easy for anyone to do, you'll only need a pencil and some paper. I mean, you could get fancy and use non-photo blue pencils, a light box, and really expensive paper, but you won't need that stuff here. I guess I should mention what I'm using. To make this tutorial, I used a Staedtler Mechanical Pencil (it's my fancy pencil, and it feels comfortable in my hand), a brand X mechanical pencil with really dark lead, some copy paper (the cheap kind that comes in packs of 500), and a free image editing program called GIMP.

Art Supplies on Amazon

Some art supplies you might find interesting for your future artistic endeavors:
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Drawing A Shark In Ten Easy Steps - Step 1

Starting Point

Step 1Draw a circle. The circle doesn't have to be perfect, so don't stress out over it. Notice how sloppy and loose mine is. This circle is a guideline for the head. Next, put a dot either to the left or the right of your circle. That dot will help you figure out where the shark's body will be placed. I'm right-handed, so I decided to have my shark facing left. Since I tend to start with the head when I draw, I don't want to smudge my picture by drawing from right to left.

Drawing A Shark - Step 2

Making the Body

Now it's time to draw the basic shape of the body. Connect the top and bottom of the circle to that dot on the side. Your lines don't have to be straight, in fact, it's better that they curve a bit. Very few living things have perfectly straight lines in real life, and sharks aren't one of them. So put the ruler away, and just draw freely.

Drawing A Shark - Step 3

Adding the Tail

Step 3Now that you have the body and a bit of the head, you need to give this shark a tail. Different sharks have different types of tails. The tail of a Great White Shark is significantly different than that of a Tiger Shark or Nurse Shark. For this tutorial, I gave the shark a generic tail. You can make yours different, though. To draw the outline for the tail, make a triangle that starts somewhere before the dot. You want the shark's body and tail to connect nicely.

Drawing A Shark - Step 4

Making Faces

Step 4You have the beginnings of a body and tail, so I think now would be the time to add a face to this guy. When you make the face, you want to use the guidelines you made with the circle and the body. Extend the lines you made for the body past the circle. Unlike most other fish, sharks have a snout, probably so they can better smell your fear. If that scares you, think about it like this: Sharks have a snout, and dogs also have a snout, so sharks are more like sea dogs. Sea doggies with really sharp teeth.

Anyway, make a snout. I wanted my shark to smile, so I made the snout curve up into a grin. Since sharks have a smaller lower jaw, I added that in too. Notice how I used the circle and body guidelines to connect the lower jaw back to the body.

Drawing A Shark - Step 5

Add Some Fins

The head, body, and tail are mostly complete, so now it's time to start adding some fins. Our shark can't swim without them. First, add two fins underneath the shark's body and closer to the head than the tail. Those fins, called pectoral fins, help the shark swim. The next step is to draw a fin on the top of the shark's body, somewhere around the center of it, after the pectoral fins. This fin, called the dorsal fin, is the one that scares swimmers out of the water.

Drawing A Shark - Step 6

Add More Fins

Step 6Other than the pectoral and dorsal fins, sharks have other fins. Those other fins have names, but I don't know what they're called. These other fins aren't as scary as the dorsal fin; that's all I know about them. Since having these fins will make our shark look more shark-like, I added them.

Drawing A Shark - Step 7

More Face Time

Step 7We're almost done! Now, go back to the face. Add some eyes, nostrils, and teeth. I added some eyebrows on my shark so he doesn't look so creepy. Also, don't forget to add the gills. The gills are next to the pectoral fin.

Drawing A Shark - Step 8

A Darker Shark

Step 8Remember that brand X pencil with the darker lead I mentioned earlier? I used that pencil here. In this step, I darkened the lines that I wanted to keep. I added some extra shape and detail to the dorsal fin and tail to keep things interesting. I also changed the shape of the snout a bit. Be careful at this stage, since your darker lines will be difficult to erase.

Drawing A Shark - Step 9

Details and Shading

Step 9So, you've darkened the lines. What now? I like to spice up my illustrations by adding little extras, so I'll mention some art techniques you can use to make your shark drawing stand out. I added some "action lines" near the pectoral fins and tail to give this shark a sense of motion. Sharks move in the water, so the action lines are an easy way of showing that. If this were an animation, we'd be able to draw the shark's tail and fins moving around.

I added some bubbles to better show that this shark is underwater and splashing around. Also, bubbles look cool.

Finally, I added some shading to the fins that are in the background. Notice how the fins that are shaded in look like they're behind the unshaded fins? That's what shading does. It helps you achieve a sense of depth and distance. Shading is awesome.

Drawing A Shark - Step 10

The Final Touches

Step 10The final step is to clean up our image. That means erasing the guidelines from earlier. Our shark would look nicer without that distracting circle in his head, right? So get rid of those unneeded lines. I used GIMP to erase mine, but a regular eraser will be just fine. Now, you're left with a shark and some bubbles. I guess we should put him somewhere so he's not just floating. I added a nice ocean floor, some rocks, and some seaweed as a background. That looks better.

With that, you're done! You've successfully passed my How To Draw A Shark tutorial. You're a real artist now, so sign your name on your drawing and be proud!

Cartoon Shark Gifts on Zazzle

These are just a few of the cartoon shark gifts I have in my Zazzle store. I have shark mugs, ties, buttons, stickers, and other things too, so here's a link to all of my shark stuff.

Hungry Shark and Laughing Fish Poster print
Hungry Shark and Laughing Fish Poster by anwarart
See other prints & posters from zazzle.com

Hungry Blue Shark and Fish Stationery (Ruled) stationery
Hungry Blue Shark and Fish Stationery (Ruled) by anwarart
Browse other Paper Stationery

Cartoon Great White Shark shirt
Cartoon Great White Shark by anwarart
Browse Shark T-Shirts

The Cutest Shark Gift Ever

Melissa & Doug Plush Shark

Melissa & Doug Plush Shark

Amazon Price: $20.69 (as of 05/30/2012)Buy Now
List Price: $39.99

Since I'm all about making sharks look good, I'd like to show you this awesome guy. A huge, plush shark just waiting for a hug. What a great gift for a shark-loving child. Just make sure that your kid doesn't try to hug a real shark. I've heard they don't like that too much.

Other Shark Gifts on Amazon

Some of the less creepy shark gifts on Amazon. Notice that Shark Week is listed, just in case you really want it.
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Super-Quick Shark Survey

Happy Cartoon Shark

I made this cartoon shark tutorial to share my love of sharks and art with the world. I also wanted to make these predators of the deep seem a bit less scary. I hope I succeeded, and that you now find sharks to be pretty awesome. Since I'm the curious type, I have a question for you:

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My Other Drawing Tutorials

If you're interested, I have other cartoon art tutorials. I hope you enjoy them!
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Talk To Me

I'm really happy you took the time to visit my lens, and I'll be even happier if you leave a comment. Let me know if my shark tutorial worked for you!

  • Magg (Science Gal!) Dec 5, 2011 @ 1:10 pm | delete
    Wow! Thanks soo much! It makes people who don't know how to draw real well look great!! My friend is an amazing artist but I stink at drawing so this really helped! Thanks again!
  • Jordyn Jun 18, 2011 @ 8:13 pm | delete
    This was soo helpful! Amazing details. Great job & thanks! :)
  • cyberminz May 25, 2011 @ 3:03 am | delete
    wow! Nice lens. I am shark fanatic and I love your sharks.
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  • Chinajoy Feb 7, 2011 @ 7:58 am | delete
    How cute! I love your sharks!
  • EditorDave Jan 4, 2011 @ 11:21 am | delete
    Nice lens! I *like* sharks! The best way I've found to draw sharks is to throw some dead fish in the water. (oops, just kidding!). I've liked, thumbs-upped, favorited, and lensrolled your masterpiece to my lens on .... what else? ... sharks. Congrats on a great job!
  • ZablonMukuba Nov 16, 2010 @ 9:55 pm | delete
    you make it look so easy
  • SofiaMann Nov 16, 2010 @ 7:40 pm | delete
    You've made it easy something that is hard for me. Thanks.
  • puzzlemaker Nov 6, 2010 @ 9:39 pm | delete
    This is a wonderful How-to with step by step instructions. It think I could draw a shark now. Very nice. Headed over to see the Lion.
  • javrsmith Nov 6, 2010 @ 4:54 pm | delete
    Very nice drawing.
  • sandyspider Nov 6, 2010 @ 12:14 pm | delete
    You make this look so easy with the step by step details. Thanks for sharing this.
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by

Anwarart

Hello! Despite what my avatar might suggest, I am not a cat. I am, however, a cartoonist. At least that's what I tell myself. I'm also really good at... more »

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