Draw a Shark

The ocean is home to all sorts of incredible animals, including creatures as enigmatic as sharks. These beings from the Cretaceous period, who have hardly needed to evolve since the era of the dinosaurs, remain the kings of the seas today, and their silhouette inspires as much admiration as fear.

Today, we're going to dive into the animal world to draw a shark step by step; I invite you to join me in this tutorial where we will explore its dynamic shape and characteristic features.

Draw a shark step by step

We will start with something simple: draw a medium-sized circle, this will be the chest of the imposing animal. This circle represents its center of gravity, which means that the other elements will be drawn starting from this point.

Then, draw two curved lines that meet to form a cone marking the tip of the muzzle.

From this point, draw the line of action that extends to the tail; this line should form a curve that gradually narrows towards the end.

Connect the initial cone to the end of the action line with parallel curves that taper as they approach the tail of the animal.

Add the emblematic fins: start with the side fins; one will be seen at an angle, the other more frontal and triangular. Then draw the opposing fins near the tail and finally the dorsal fin; you can add some irregularities to suggest the scars of marine life.

Add gills and other small fins: draw a few parallel curved lines just above the side fin; for the other fins near the tail, use small triangles.

Head towards the shark's head to draw its features: start with the jaw, often shaped like an inverted moon. The eyes will be positioned more or less halfway up from the mouth, almost at the top of the skull; the nostrils will be very close to each other, elongated and of similar size.

Once this base is finished, we can move on to the final phase. We will refine the features of the animal's head. I recommend you to change the sketch to a light or slightly opaque shade, or to make it transparent.

Draw the details of a shark

Now draw the shark's round, shiny eye, adding some small wrinkles to mark the eyelids. The snout will be an elongated opening, very similar to the initial sketch. We refine the pointed shape of the snout, and for the mouth, draw lips with undefined folds as well as sharp and irregular teeth.

For the gills: add volume to the already drawn curves by using finer auxiliary lines.

Regarding the fins: keep in mind that they are not completely flat; they have volume. Observe carefully and add folds at their base or lines indicating increased thickness.

Finally, connect all the elements to form the body by following the outlines of the initial sketch; add some extra volumes for a more organic rendering.

Add color to the shark drawing

Start by filling the figure with a neutral or medium base color, as it is from this that we will work on the shadow and light areas to handle the volumes.

If you're drawing on paper: use the typical colors of shark skin texture (the dark back and white belly). If you are working digitally: create these areas on a separate layer to overlay later.

Before starting to shade, apply a few even spots of a neutral tone to create a more visually interesting skin texture.

Add shadows to the drawing

We have now prepared a well-structured base, which will save us a lot of work on the shadows and volumes to achieve a good result.

We are going to start shading our shark: add a dark area on the lower and inner part of the body. Observe the volumes around the orbits, the position of the fins, and the structure of the torso.

For the lighting: consider that the main shape is cylindrical, receiving light from above and reflected from below. Draw a very light outline around the edges, and crown it with an almost white border. Also illuminate the most prominent volumes close to the light: for example, the top of the gills or the edge of the fins.

Here is our drawing finished!

As mentioned earlier, it is not necessary to be exhaustive in shading or to give volume to every detail. The basic texture of the skin suffices to visually captivate. Start now and incorporate these tools to create this drawing of a shark or other marine animals.

Writer and illustrator: Bryam