Please PAUSE the "How to Draw a Dolphin (Cartoon)" video after each step to draw at your own pace.

 

Written step-by-step video tutorial:

 

For the first few steps, don't press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.

 

Step 1: Draw a small, curved line for the cartoon dolphin's eye. Sketch lightly at first so that it's easy to erase if you make a mistake. When you get the shape right, darken the line and make it thicker. The overall shape of the curved line should be similar to the letter C on its side.

 

Step 2: Inside the eye, draw a small circle for the iris. Draw the iris close to the top, left side of the dolphin's eye.

 

Step 3: Inside the iris, off to the side, draw a tiny circle to represent glare. In the middle of the iris, draw a big dot for the dolphin's pupil. Don't overlap the glare circle.

 

Step 4: Close to the eye, on the bottom, right side, draw a short, horizontal line for the first part of the head. Continue drawing the line so that it curves up and to the left and ends high above the eye. You can also first make a mark above the eye to determine the height of the dolphin's head, and then complete the curved line.

 

Step 5: On the lower, right side of the head, draw a curved line for the dolphin's mouth. Sketch lightly at first. When you get the shape right, darken the line. The line should curve up and end near the eye. Add a small, curved line at the end.

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Step 6: Under the mouth, draw a line that curves to the left for the bottom part of the dolphin's body.

 

Step 7: To the left, draw a line similar to a tilted letter V for the dolphin's first flipper. Curve the left end of the line a bit.

 

Step 8: Draw another V-shaped line on the right for the dolphin's other flipper.

 

Step 9: At the top, extend the line for the head toward the left to create the top part of the body. Sketch lightly at first and only darken the line when you get the shape right. The longer the line, the longer the dolphin's body.

 

Step 10: To the left of the flipper, draw another line for the bottom part of the dolphin's body. The two body lines should almost meet.

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Step 11: Add the top of the dolphin's tail by first drawing a short, curved line where the top of the body ends. Now draw another curved line that connects to the bottom part of the body to close off this part of the tail.

 

Step 12: Draw a short, angled line on the right side for the other half of the dolphin's tail.

 

Step 13: At the top of the body, near the middle, draw a line similar to an upside-down letter V for the dolphin's dorsal fin. You can make the dorsal fin bigger or smaller if you'd like. Draw a small, curved line above the eye for the dolphin's blowhole.

 

Step 14: Using a pen or marker, carefully go over the lines to make your dolphin drawing permanent. After inking, get rid of every pencil mark with an eraser.

 

Final Step: Color your cartoon dolphin using color pencils, markers or crayons! Use light blue to outline the bottom part of the body. Then color the top part of the body light blue. As you color the body, leave a few sections on the dorsal fin, tail and head blank for a shiny, wet effect.

Outline the bottom of the eye and don't color the inside. Color lightly at first and build up to the level of darkness you want. For a gradient effect on the dolphin's eyes, color the top part dark blue and the bottom part light blue. Add a bit of gray to the bottom of the body. You can also leave it blank if you'd like. Don't forget to pause to draw at your own pace.

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To learn how to draw popular cartoon characters, visit EasyDrawingTutorials.com.

 

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