An elephant is built from a large body oval, a smaller head circle, and the trunk drawn as two curved lines that run down from the head — eight steps.
Elephants are the largest living land animal on earth. And because of their size and their gentle character, many children are fascinated with this animal. So, if you know a kid who’s interested in elephants, you’ll find this drawing lesson helpful! You do not only learn about how to draw but also some facts about the animals you love.
Here are some easy steps on how to draw an elephant.
But before that, you can add colors to elephant illustrations by simply clicking here!
How to Draw an Elephant
Materials
- Pencil
- Paper
Instructions
Step 1: Draw the Head
We start by drawing a circle in the middle of the page for the elephant’s head. Fun fact, the elephant’s brain is larger than any other land mammal. It weighs between 8 to 12 pounds that’s 3 to 4 times that of humans!
Step 2: Draw the Eyes
To make the eyes, we draw two small circles inside the big circle that we’ve drawn. Make sure to draw them a little bit above the center of the circle. Trivia, the eyes of elephants are actually located on the sides of the head. This allows them to see a wider angle of vision while roaming through forests, savannas, and grasslands.
Step 3: Draw the Right Ear
We do this by drawing an incomplete oblong at the right side of the elephant’s head. Make sure that the ears are big because elephants have big ears! Because of this they have good hearing and can hear more sounds than us humans.
Step 4: Draw the Left Ear
Now we do the same thing we did in the previous step. Draw an incomplete oblong this time, at the left side of the elephant’s head.
Step 5: Draw the Nose/Trunk
Another striking feature of an elephant is its long nose or what we call the “Trunk”. To draw the nose, we draw a shape that looks like an inverted flask bottle. Make sure the nose is drawn wider near the head and narrower as it drops down towards the floor. Fun fact, the elephant’s trunk has a wide range of uses. They use it for eating, drinking water, picking up objects, and breathing too!
Step 6: Draw the Body
To draw the elephant’s body we draw another circle on the left lower side of the elephant’s head, just behind the left ear.
Step 7: Draw the Legs
Elephants have thick and heavy legs. To do that, we draw two small and thick rectangles attached to the body of the elephant. Make sure the edges have blunted edges instead of sharp ones.
Step 8: Finishing Details!
To finish the drawing off, we erase the parts of the rectangles that overlap on the elephant’s body. After that, we’re done! You can choose whatever color you like to paint your elephant or you can finish without it.
Make it easier for a younger child
Draw the elephant side-on and let the trunk hang straight down instead of curling. A straight trunk is a single line each side, and curls are where most young drawings go wrong.
Turn it into a cute cartoon elephant
Make the head bigger relative to the body, round the ears into wide fans, and place the eye low and close to the trunk. Big ears and a big head are what make a cartoon elephant read as friendly.
Use the finished outline for tracing and colouring
The elephant outline has large open areas — body, ears, head — so it works well as a colouring sheet once the pencil lines are inked over.
Questions parents ask about drawing an elephant
How many steps is it, and can we stop partway?
It is 8 steps, and they are meant to be stopped partway. Each step adds one shape to a drawing that already looks like something, so a drawing put down after the main body shape is still a finished picture rather than an abandoned one.
What supplies do we need?
A pencil, an eraser and paper. The eraser does more work than the pencil here — several steps put down a guide shape and rub it out once the real line is drawn, so start light.
Which step is hardest when drawing a elephant?
The trunk, because it is two lines that have to stay parallel as they curve. Draw one line first, then follow it with the second line at an even distance, rather than trying to draw both edges at once.
Should we use pencil, or go straight in with crayons?
A pencil first, then colour over the finished lines. Crayon and marker cannot be erased, so a guide shape drawn in marker stays in the picture. If you would rather skip the drawing and go straight to colouring, our Elephant Coloring Pages are already drawn and ready to print.