How to Draw a Whale for Beginners

In the center of your paper, draw the whale's body — a large, rounded shape something like a fat comma or a rounded kidney bean, lying horizontally on the page. The left end should be wide and round for the head, the top arc should be smooth and gently curved like a hill, and the right end should taper and curve inward slightly where the tail will eventually attach. The bottom of the body should curve in a broad, gentle arc that mirrors the top, keeping the whole shape plump and soft. Whales should look weightless and buoyant, so aim for smooth, generous curves rather than anything angular or tight.

On the left portion of the body, draw a small round eye — a solid filled circle with a tiny white highlight dot left uncolored inside it for that lively, sparkling look. Just above the eye, add a short, slightly curved line for the eyebrow, angled inward very gently toward the nose. That simple eyebrow is the small detail that takes the expression from blank and neutral to cheerful and expressive — a single curved stroke, and suddenly the whale has a personality. Place the eye roughly a third of the way in from the left edge of the body and about halfway up the height of the head.

From just left of the eye, draw a long, gentle curved line that sweeps outward to the right and downward like a very wide, relaxed smile. Let it arc back up slightly at the far right end so the mouth doesn't just trail off — that upward flick at the end is what makes it read as a genuine smile rather than just a random line across the face. The whale's mouth is one of its most endearing features because of how wide and content it looks, so don't be shy about making this curve broad and sweeping.

At the narrowing right end of the body, draw the whale's tail — two curved, rounded fin shapes spreading outward in opposite directions from the same point, like an open butterfly or a wide letter V with rounded tips. The upper fin should sweep upward and the lower one should sweep downward, and both should have a gently notched or slightly indented center where they meet in the middle. These tail flukes are one of the most satisfying shapes in the whole drawing, and getting the two sides to feel roughly balanced is what makes the tail look powerful and symmetrical rather than lopsided.

Add two fins to the body — a small, rounded flipper-like fin tucked along the back near where the tail begins, and a slightly larger, more rounded fin hanging down from the underside of the body toward the front. The upper fin is subtle, just a small curved bump rising from the back, while the lower pectoral fin has a fuller, more prominent shape with a gently curved outer edge. These fins give the whale a sense of three-dimensional form, hinting that there are limbs underneath even though this is a flat, side-view drawing.

Along the lower-left portion of the body — the throat and belly area — draw a series of thin, gently curved parallel lines that follow the curve of the body from left to right. These stripes represent the throat pleats found on real baleen whales, the long grooves that run from the chin down to the belly. Draw five or six of them, letting each one arc softly to match the belly's curve below. This single detail is what distinguishes a blue whale drawing from a generic cartoon fish — those belly stripes are unmistakably whale, and they add beautiful texture to what would otherwise be a plain, empty lower body.

On the upper body just in front of where the tail meets the main torso, draw a small cluster of two or three tiny oval shapes — small, delicate markings like gentle freckles scattered on the skin. Keep them small and subtle, just enough to add a touch of natural variation to the body without making the whale look spotted or leopard-printed. These markings add character and make the whale feel like a living creature with its own little quirks rather than a perfectly uniform cartoon shape.

From the very top of the whale's head, draw the iconic water spout — a cluster of water droplet shapes rising upward and fanning outward like a little fountain or a firework of water. Draw a central droplet first shooting straight up, then add two or three smaller droplets on either side curving outward and downward from the same base point. Each droplet should be a simple teardrop shape — wider at the top and narrowing to a point at the bottom where it connects to the blowhole. The spout is the finishing detail that makes a whale instantly recognizable from any other ocean animal, and it's also just genuinely delightful to draw.

Now for the most satisfying part!

• Main body (upper half): Bright, vibrant blue — a bold cobalt or royal blue that covers the back, head, and sides

• Belly and throat area: Very pale blue or almost white, covering the lower body from the jaw down to where the belly stripes are, so the stripes read as slightly lighter lines against a pale background

• Belly stripe lines: White or very pale blue-white, just a shade lighter than the belly area they sit on

• Body spots: A slightly darker blue than the main body, like small shadowy markings

• Tail fins and pectoral fins: The same bright blue as the main body, with a slightly lighter blue along the edge of the tail flukes

• Eye: Solid black with a tiny white highlight dot

• Smile line: Dark blue or black — thin and clean

• Water spout droplets: Light sky blue or almost white, with a small bright highlight on the roundest part of each droplet to suggest the shine of water

Once the color goes on, that rich ocean blue from head to tail against the pale soft belly makes this whale look like it just surfaced from the deep Pacific and is having the time of its life. 🐋