How to Draw a Whale Shark (Easy Step by Step)
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A whale shark is a gentle giant, and it is mostly built from one big oval. Add a smiling curve, a few triangle fins, a leaf-shaped tail and lots of little dots, and you have a friendly ocean star. Two tiny fish swimming nearby make it feel like a real underwater scene.
- Easy
- 12 minutes
- 9 steps
You need: paper, a pencil, an eraser, and crayons or markers for coloring.
Start drawing
In this article (7 sections)
How to draw a whale shark step by step
How to Draw a Whale Shark · tinyhandscreate.com
Step 1: Guide shapes
Lightly sketch this oval. It only shows where the big parts go, so press softly. You will erase it at the end.
Step 2: The big body
Draw a long, fat oval for the whale shark's body. Make the left end wide and round like a blunt nose, and let the right end narrow to a gentle point where the tail will go.
Step 3: The tall back fin
On top of the body, draw a tall fin shaped like a curved triangle. Start on the back, sweep up to a sharp point, then come back down to the body.
Step 4: The big tail
At the narrow end of the body, draw a tall tail shaped like a long leaf standing up and down. Add a little notch in the middle of its right edge.
Step 5: The belly fin
Under the body, a little left of the middle, draw a small triangle fin that points down. It is like the fin on top, only smaller.
Step 6: The happy mouth
Near the left end, draw one long smiling curve. Start at the edge of the nose, sweep to the right, and curl the end upward like a grin.
Step 7: The eye
Above the smile, near the left end, draw one small round dot for the eye.
Step 8: The spots
Dot lots of little spots on the body behind the eye, spread out like stars in the sky. Then draw a tiny curve where the body meets the tail.
Step 9: Two little fish
Under the whale shark, draw two tiny fish. Each has a small oval body and a triangle tail on its right side.
All done!
Erase the guide shapes, go over your lines, then color it in.
Finished your whale shark? Keep the pencils out and learn how to draw a dolphin or how to draw a shark next.
Tips for drawing a whale shark
- Draw the body oval lightly first, then press harder once it looks right. The nose end should be wider and rounder than the tail end.
- Put the tail's notch on the right edge, not the left. It helps to draw the tall leaf shape first, then pinch in the notch.
- Space the spots out and make them different distances apart. If they are in perfect lines, they look like buttons instead of spots.
Free whale shark coloring page
Want to go straight to coloring? Open this whale shark coloring page at full size and print it. It is the same drawing you just learned, with clean lines ready for crayons or markers.
How to color your whale shark drawing
Try deep ocean blue on the back with pale blue on the belly, and leave the spots white or yellow. For a creative twist, give each spot a different color to make a rainbow whale shark.
Whale shark fun fact for kids
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean, but they are gentle and eat tiny floating plants and animals called plankton. The spots on each whale shark make a pattern that is different from every other one, like a fingerprint.
Questions about drawing a whale shark
What shapes do I need to draw a whale shark?
You need one big oval for the body, a few triangles for the fins, and a long leaf shape for the tail. Little dots finish the spots and the eye.
How do I make my whale shark look friendlier?
Draw the mouth as a long curve that turns up at the end, like a smile. A small round eye placed above the smile also helps.
How many spots should a whale shark have?
There is no right number. Try fifteen or more, and spread them out on the body behind the eye.
