Draw a great looking Cartoon Dolphin with easy, step-by-step drawing instructions and video tutorial, plus FREE printable pages. Great for kids and beginner artists!
Jump to the step-by-step instructions.
Would you like to swim with a playful dolphin friend? You can learn how to draw a cartoon dolphin with the help of this easy animal drawing tutorial.
Dolphins are small toothed whales. They are mammals like you and me. That means they are warm-blooded, give birth to live young, and feed their young with milk. Dolphins, however, spend their whole lives in the water. Their bodies are designed for swimming, and they hunt fish and squid.
There are nearly 40 different types of dolphins. The orca is the largest. All dolphins are noted for their playfulness and intelligence. Captive dolphins are trained to perform tricks, and even wild dolphins take interest in human activities. Some have even been known to rescue divers in distress.
Scroll down for a downloadable PDF of this tutorial.
Did you know? Scientists once attempted to teach dolphins to speak! A young male dolphin was actually taught a handful of words, including numbers, but he had difficulty in making the sounds of human language.
Other experiments have involved soundboxes that allow humans to "speak" to dolphins using recordings of dolphin sounds.
From Lisa Frank to classical paintings such as The Birth of Venus, dolphins have long appeared in works of art. They have also been popular characters in literature and film.
Young adult novels include Island of the Blue Dolphins and A Ring of Endless Light. Flipper was the star of his namesake movies and television shows. Even films like A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy prominently featured performing dolphins.
If you liked this tutorial, see also the following drawing guides: Humpback Whale, Swordfish, and Salmon.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Drawing a Cartoon Dolphin
1. Begin by sketching the details of the dolphin’s face. Use a “U” shaped line to form the upper part of its beak or mouth. Use curved lines to enclose the oval-shaped eye, and shade the pupil within it.
2. Draw the lower jaw using a "U" shaped line. Use curved lines to enclose the interior of the mouth, the tongue, the corner of the mouth, and the crease of the tongue.
3. Outline the dolphin's body. Use a long curved line for the forehead, called the melon, and the back. Use a shorter line for the belly. Then, extend a curved line and double it back upon itself to form the flipper or pectoral fin.
4. Extend a curved line from the dolphin's back and double it back upon itself. This is the dorsal fin. Then, continue the line of the belly on the opposite side of the fin. At the end of this line, extend another curved line and double it back upon itself to form the first half of the tail.
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5. Complete the tail by extending a curved line and doubling it back upon itself. Then, draw the remaining pectoral fin. Extend a curved line from the belly and double it back upon itself.
6. Detail the dolphin's belly with a curved line. Then use curved lines, doubled back upon themselves, to begin sketching the splashing water beneath the dolphin.
7. Continue drawing curved lines of various lengths to complete the starburst shape of the splash.
MORE DRAWING TUTORIALS:
9. Draw more waves in the background.
Color your cartoon dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins are the most familiar, and they are bluish-grey in color with slightly lighter bellies. But there are many other types of dolphins. Some are white with grey spots. Others have black, white, and even yellow markings. And at least one type of river dolphin is pink in color!
Printable Drawing Tutorial
The following printable pages are FREE to all readers.
Click the picture or button below to view the free printable PDF of this drawing guide.
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this was absolutely amazing and helpful
Thanks! Happy you liked it. 🙂
your cool
this is the best step by step drawing ever
Dolphins are so fun to draw. 🙂
It didn’t help at all
Hey, sorry to hear that. What would have helped you better? Is it something wrong with the drawing tutorial?
That is not nice at all
Nothing wrong with having an opinion. It's OK, but thanks for pointing that out. 🙂
Not helpful
Sorry to hear that, was it too hard for you?
This was helpful for my homework.
Great to hear! 🙂