How to Draw Whales

Whales are so similar to fish, especially to the shark family, that it’s very easy to confuse their body traits when drawing. That’s why we need to know them better to draw them properly.

Follow me on a journey through the world of giant, intelligent, marine mammals—and learn to distinguish them from fish once and for all!

Draw a Whale & Its Body Features

Draw a Whale Skeleton

Before starting with our drawing of a whale, let’s look at a skeleton of a dolphin first. It’s going to be similar for all the whales. What can we say about it?

1. The skull has elongated jaws and a distinctive braincase.
2. The dorsal fin doesn’t have any bones or rays inside (some dolphins don’t develop this fin).
3. The spine is similar to other mammals.
4. The tail is horizontal.
5. The pectoral fin (flipper) is actually a modified arm, with the same bones as in yours.
6. The chest with ribs is present.
7. There’s a remnant of a pelvis, called vestigial pelvis.

Let’s see how a dolphin (1) looks in comparison to a shark (2) and a typical fish (3). A good way to remember it is to imagine dolphins are mammals modified to look more like a fish. So you can see a skeleton of a human, a dog, or a cat in your mind, and change it to look more fish-like.

What’s also important, whales don’t have gills. They need to breathe air, and that’s why they have a blowhole at the top of their heads, in the neck area.

Eyes

The eyes of whales are very simple and we don’t need to draw them in detail. You can draw them as small dark ellipses with other ellipses as the ridges around.

How to Draw a Whale’s Tail and Flippers

Learning how to draw a whale tail is easy. Take a look at both the flukes (tail fins) and flippers (arm fins)—these can be drawn with the same method:

Movement

Let’s see how whales move. Since their tail is horizontal, not vertical, they move in a different way than fish.

To remember this, keep in mind these two “arch” poses:

Compare the movement with a fish:

Meet the Whale Family

Let’s learn about the actual species so our drawings of whales can be easier!

Bottlenose Dolphin

Smart and cute, bottlenose dolphins are known well as friends of humans. What do we know about how they look?

1. The characteristic bottle nose is just a long, rounded snout. Notice the smile!
2. The forehead is rounded.
3. The dorsal fin is slightly curved.
4. The body is gray, with a lighter bottom and a darker stripe along the back. Other species of dolphins may have more interesting patterns.

Porpoise

Porpoises are very similar to dolphins, but they aren’t counted as ones. What’s the difference between them?

1. The snout is much shorter than with bottlenose dolphins, which makes them easy to distinguish.
2. The dorsal fin is shorter and more rounded.
3. There are characteristic, faint “stripes” between the eye and flippers.
4. The colors are similar to a bottlenose dolphin.

Killer Whale (Orca)

Learning how to draw an orca whale has never been easier. These magnificent animals are very intelligent and they’re able to create a whole culture that they pass to their young. Think about it next time you see them doing tricks in a small pool!

1. The head is rounded, with each jaw having a different color.
2. The dorsal fin is very large and long.
3. The flippers are big and rounded.
4. The body has a characteristic black and white pattern.

Now let’s take a look at some easy orca drawings and how their body is structured: 

Beluga

1. There’s a distinctive round “melon” on the head. Notice the wrinkle under it.
2. The dorsal fin is reduced to a ridge.
3. There’s a real neck behind the head—belugas don’t have these bones fused as other whales do.
4. The body is clean white.

Narwhal

They are called “unicorns of the sea”, and that must be the reason they’re often drawn incorrectly. What’s so hard about drawing them?

1. The long horn is actually a tooth, so don’t place it in the middle of forehead.
2. Notice the lack of the dorsal fin.
3. Narwhals, just like belugas, do have functional necks.
4. The whole body is covered with speckles of gray and white.

Since the horn is a tooth, and there’s no “middle” tooth in any mammal species, there’s no way for the horn to be in the center as with a unicorn. It’s usually the left tooth, and some narwhals grow another one on the right, too!

Blue Whale

The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived on Earth—bigger than any dinosaur! Luckily for us, they’re peaceful krill-eaters.

1. The head is long, with flattened jaws. There are two blowholes on a special ridge on the head.
2. The dorsal fin is small and placed towards the back of the body.
3. The stripes under the throat are called ventral pleats and are able to expand when the animal is drinking.
4. The body is much more elongated than those of other whales we’ve been talking about.

Final Exercise

Let’s draw an example illustration of a mama killer whale and her baby.

Step 1

Start with a simple sketch. It should be just a doodle, nothing refined. Use your autopilot to draw it. If it’s problematic for you, you may find this article helpful.

Step 2

Use the simplified scheme of a killer whale body to build the structure of the animals. Remember: if you feel it’s too hard for you, it doesn’t mean you can’t draw a killer whale. Your problem lies in drawing simple forms in perspective, and that’s what you should practice! You can also check out this article.

Step 3

Use the simple forms as guide lines for the general outline.

Step 4

Sketch the pattern.

Step 5

Use all the sketches to create clean line art.

Step 6

Finish the picture as you like.

That’s It! Now You Know How to Draw Whales

I hope I made whale drawings simple for you. The next time you think about creating a drawing of a whale, I’m sure you won’t have any problems. If you enjoyed the lesson, take a look at other tutorials of mine—there’s a whole animal world waiting to be discovered!

5 Best Realistic Drawings of Whales Turned Into Logos (From Envato Elements)

If you’re on the hunt for the best premium whale logos, you’ve come to the right place. For a low monthly fee, Envato Elements gives you access to thousands of creative assets for your projects. Here you can get all sorts of files like fonts, stock photos, illustrations, logos, and more! 

1. Minimal Whale Logo (AI, EPS, JPG, PDF, PNG)

Whales are symbolic of wisdom, communication, and peace. Use this professional whale logo to convey those qualities. Download this file and get a 100% scalable vector logo, with editable fonts and ready to use in programs like Adobe Illustrator.

2. Whale With Purple Gradient Logo (AI, EPS, PDF, PNG, PSD)

If you look closely, you’ll notice that some whales, such as the minke whale, have purple undertones. This whale logo isn’t too far from reality. It features a cute purple whale that is suitable for many types of businesses. Download this logo and get a high-quality file ready to be edited and customized to your needs.

3. Modern Orca Logo (AI, EPS, PDF, PSD, PNG)

If you ever create a drawing of a whale or an orca, be sure to digitalize it, as you can always turn it into a cool icon or logo. Here we have a round-shaped killer whale, which makes it a circular logo mark. Circular logos represent cyclical movements, wholeness, friendship, and community. With this cool logo, you can show potential customers that you’re a reliable company.

4. Abstract & Trendy Whale Logo (EPS)

This is a great example of how you don’t need to have a fully designed whale in your logo—sometimes simplified ideas and designs work best. Here we can see the ocean, a whale, and some mountains in the background in a very abstract design created with thick lines. It’s clean, minimal, and adapts to many design options.

5. Whale Logo With a Sunset Gradient (AI, EPS, PDF, PNG, PSD)

Go outside the box with this beautiful logo. This design features a whale and a sunset, both with striking gradient color palettes that match perfectly, making it hard to take your eyes off it. Download this logo and get a fully scalable and editable file, with fonts available and easy to use.

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