How to draw a penguin
A penguin is a wide oval head resting on a big round body. Trace the two guides, draw the head and the belly, then add the eyes, the flippers and the feet, one part per step.
- 7 steps
- 9 minutes
- 4-10 Ages
- Easy
How do you draw a penguin?
Sketch a wide oval for the head and a big circle right under it for the body. Draw the head outline, then the body sides with the big belly oval in the middle. Fill in the two round eyes and add the small triangle beak, finish the belly oval, draw a long U flipper on each side, and end with two flat oval feet. Seven steps.
Watch it drawn, line by line
The whole drawing in under half a minute, in the same order as the steps below. No sound, so play it anywhere.
Draw it step by step
The new lines for each step are drawn in red. The grey dashed shapes are guides, sketch them lightly and rub them out at the end.
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1 Step 1: Guide shapes
Lightly sketch a wide oval for the head and a big circle right under it for the body. The two guide shapes should just touch.
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2 Step 2: Top of head
Draw a curved line over the top of the head, plus two short curved lines down the sides.
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3 Step 3: Belly and body
Draw a big oval in the middle for the belly patch. Add a gentle curved line under the head, two long curved lines down the sides, and close the body along the bottom.
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4 Step 4: Eyes and beak
Fill in two round eyes near the top of the head, leaving a little white shine in each. Then add a small triangle beak between them, pointing down.
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5 Step 5: Belly details
Add a few short curved lines along the edge of the belly oval to complete it.
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6 Step 6: Side flippers
Draw two long U shapes on the sides for the flippers.
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7 Step 7: Small feet
Draw two flat ovals at the bottom for the feet.
What do you need to draw a penguin?
A pencil, paper and an eraser. A penguin is all soft curves: there is not one straight line in the whole drawing, and the only sharp shape on it is the little triangle beak.
Where do you start?
With the two grey guide shapes, sketched lightly: a wide oval for the head and a big circle right under it for the body, just touching. On a penguin the head is nearly as wide as the body, so make that top oval generous. If the head comes out small, the drawing turns into a duck.
What is the hardest part of drawing a penguin?
The belly patch. It is one big oval that nearly fills the body, and the mistake is drawing it timid. Let it climb up close to the chin and swing low near the bottom, leaving only a narrow band of body showing around it. A small belly patch in the middle of a big body is what makes a penguin drawing look wrong without your being able to say why.
Second thing: a penguin has no neck. The head sits straight on the body, and the short curved line you draw under the head is what tucks it in. Leave a gap there and the head floats.
How do you make it your own?
- Make it a chick. Bigger head, smaller body, and the belly patch drawn extra wide.
- Give it a scarf. A band across the join between head and body, with two little tails hanging to one side.
- Put it on ice. A long wavy line under the feet, and a few small triangles behind it for distant ice.
- Colour it. Black head, back and flippers, white belly, orange beak and feet.
What else is worth knowing about penguins?
A penguin cannot fly in the air, but it does exactly what your drawing suggests underwater: the long U shapes you drew as flippers are its wings, and it flaps them to fly through the sea. The colours you finish with are not decoration either. Seen from below, the white belly blends into the bright surface; seen from above, the dark back disappears into deep water. And when walking gets too slow on the ice, a penguin drops onto that big belly you drew and slides.
Questions people ask about drawing a penguin
Is this a good first animal for a 5 year old?
Yes. Seven steps, every shape is an oval or a circle, and nothing has to be symmetrical: a lopsided belly patch still reads as a penguin.
How long does it take?
About nine minutes. Step three, the body and the belly oval, is the longest part; everything after it is quick.
How do I make it look like a penguin and not an owl?
Big filled eyes on a round head can drift owl-wards. Keep the flippers long, reaching most of the way down the body, keep the beak small and pointing down, and keep the belly patch big. Those three things say penguin.
