Whale Drawing – A Guide to Drawing the Ocean’s Gentle Giant
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Whales make for great visual artworks because of how versatile they are as a feature to be used within various seascape artworks. Whales also are diverse in species, making them a rich subject to draw inspiration from. In this tutorial, we will look specifically at how to draw the world’s largest animal and whale, the blue whale. Blue whales are incredibly beautiful and can stand alone as artwork on their own. They also have a diverse set of features, allowing us to explore line work, shading, colors, and layering details to define unique features. Blue whales provide a few learning curves that are great for a drawing exercise, so let’s get going!
Step-by-Step Guide on How to Draw a Whale
The process of drawing a whale is broken up into a few simple steps. We will start with a light general sketch, where we form the animal in its basic shapes to capture its form. From there, we will start to add layers of color and shading, bringing more form and structure to the different features of the whale. As we proceed, we will then build up our layers of color and detail, slowly enhancing the various features. Lastly, we will work with linework, shading, and highlights to refine the details, and overall enhance the drawing of a whale. Now that we know what to expect, let’s get into this tutorial on how to draw a whale.
Step 1: Shaping the Whale
We can start with a very light sketch, slowly establishing the basic shape of the whale drawing. We want to make sure that all the features are represented in the correct proportions.
The whale is made up of a few features that differ in scale, we want to lightly establish these different features in the correct proportions. Mainly, we want to work on the head, body, flippers and tail.
The eye of the whale is quite small and is placed slightly above the mouth and ventral throat pleats that define the lower section of the lower jaw. We can also consider how visible some features will be due to the perspective from which we draw the whale.
Step 2: Establishing Light Tonal Values
Once we have established a light sketch, we can now proceed to establish some shading to determine which areas will be darkest and lightest in the whale drawing. A good suggestion is to work with a reference image to assist you as it can help to guide you in the placement of darker and lighter tonal values. With blue whales, the top of their bodies are generally darker in color.
However, the intention is to work out the areas where shadows will be greatest, but also where the pigment will be darkest and lightest in the whale drawing.
We want to use our shading quite strategically to represent both the darkest areas in the whale and the areas with darker pigment in the skin. Slowly it gives more shape to the different features, and the top represents a color change in the body of the whale drawing. As we shape the different features, we are making them more three-dimensional in structure. So we want to think about how these moments of lighter tonal values can be used to shape different features and der fringe their shapes more significantly.
Step 3: Refining the Shading With Color
Once we have worked out the basic shape and areas where shading must be integrated, we can lightly erase our drawing. This will leave some ghost marks, to work over and refine the drawing with layering color.
We do want to make sure the whale drawing is erased significantly enough that it only leaves a light image of where to establish lighter and darker marks within the whale drawing. The blue whale’s color is more of a blue-gray combination within the surface area of their skin. We want to work on building up these color values with a darker blue color that is closer to gray.
This is where we start to work our way through the entire whale drawing, slowly establishing the details in the color placement. This means we want to use color to determine which areas are lighter and darker in the whale. As we do this, a good suggestion is to work from one side of the whale through to the other side. In doing so we have control over how the color should shift throughout the entire body of the whale drawing. We can use the ghost marks also to help guide where we establish these color values in the whale.
We are also not just coloring but using color to define the various shapes with linework.
We want to work with our colored marks to represent the unique structures of the different features, such as the ventral throat pleats that flow along the underbelly of the whale.
Again, we want to build up the details with light tonal values, allowing the layering process to bring the whale drawing together.
Step 4: Adding Darker Shading to the Whale Drawing
Once we have established these gray-blue color values in the different areas of the whale, we can start enhancing them with a darker tonal variation of said blue-gray coloration. The intention here is to work with darker tonal values but to also work with lighter blues for the lighter areas in the whale drawing.
Slowly we can use darker shading and linework to emphasize three-dimensional unity in the shadows. This is useful for reads such as the ventral pleats, that cause striations and unique shadow formations in the lower section of the whale. We want to make sure we take our time building up these darker color values in the darkest areas of the whale. We also want to work with lighter grays to establish a difference in pigmentation on the back of the whale.
Again, the whale is darker in its pigment along the surface area on the whale’s back. We want to establish the difference between the lighter belly and darker back color in the whale.
Step 5: Enhancing Features With Darker Details and Highlights
We can now start incorporating black shading into the darkest areas of the shadows. We can also use linework to refine the shape of unique features such as the eyes, the ventral pleats, the flippers, and so on.
We can also darken the barnacles near the upper jaw of the whale, in doing so we enhance this unique feature of the whale. We want to use highlights to also create these spots or white marks along the darker areas of the body to suggest texture. This gives the whale a more seamless and realistic integration between its lightest and darkest areas.
We want to also make sure we maintain highlights throughout the mouth of the whale, to distinguish the difference between the upper and lower jaw features of the whale. As we continue, we can also take time to enhance the lines of the ventral pleats that run through the lower jaw. We also want to make sure we have a good balance of highlights and shadows within the underbelly of the whale.
As we continue to refine the whale drawing with darker detailing and highlights, we can apply this balance of the two to most features. For instance, we can use highlights and shadows to define the shape of the flippers. And there you have it, how to draw a whale in a few simple steps. Most importantly, make sure you take your time and use a reference image to guide your drawing process.
Tips and Tricks to Remember
- Work out the basic shape of the whale. You want to work out the scale of the different features in the whale before refining its features.
- Build up the details through layers. Try to work with softer tonal values, slowly building them up with darker tonal values each time.
- Use line work and shading to refine the structure of the whale. We can refine the shape of the whale with shading, color, and line work for detail.
- Use highlights strategically. Always add highlights last and make sure you don’t overdo the highlights. Try to find a good balance between shadow and light.
Learning how to draw a whale is a fun activity that also teaches us how to work with refining basic shapes into unique structures. This tutorial on how to draw a whale also demonstrates how we can utilize line work, shading, and colors through a layering process to build up a more realistic representation of a blue whale.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Draw the Tale of a Whale?
The whale has a few features within the tail. As it merges into the body of the whale, we can see the dorsal fin at the top back section of the whale. We can also see that the whale flows into these two main flippers, otherwise known as the median notch. The median notch also has these edges called flukes, which look like a serrated knife edge along the two main flippers. The intention is to establish these features in a light sketch to define their basic shapes. From there, we can refine the shape of these features with some light shading and line work. We want to also build up the right color values in the whale with the light layering of color, which could be described as a gray-blue coloration. Lastly, we want to use some delicate line work to enhance the outline of these different features.
How to Shade in a Whale Drawing?
Whales come in different colors and shapes, however, in this tutorial, we look specifically at how to draw the blue whale. The blue whale is unique in its coloration, which can be described as gray-blue. The intention is to build up the whale in light layers, slowly layering color into the whale drawing and working our way up to darker color values. As we do this, we slowly establish the areas that would be lighter and darker whilst maintaining agency over the coloring process. In doing so, we can establish the right tonal values, working from lighter blues to darker grays and allowing these layers to build up until they achieve the right coloration. The idea is to always take your time, and slowly build up the colors from light to darker tonal values. Lastly, you can work in some darker shading and highlights to refine the whale drawing.
Matthew Matthysen is a multidisciplinary artist. He completed his fine art degree, majoring in History of Art and Contemporary Drawing Practice at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Before joining acrylgiessen In 2020, Matthew worked part-time as an art teacher at Reddford Blue Hills High school. Matthew creates drawing and painting tutorials for acrylgiessen and captures them not only photographically and in written form. He also records the creation of his works in his own creative studio as in video format, from which later with a voiceover and a video editor also drawing tutorials for the Youtube channel of acrylgiessen are created.
Learn more about Matthew Matthysen and about acrylgiessen.
