How to Draw a Tropical Turtle in Illustrator

What You’ll Be Creating

Welcome to my new tutorial on how to draw a tropical turtle in Illustrator! If you’ve ever wanted to create a cute turtle drawing, you’re in the right place. We’ll go step by step through the process of creating a cute sea turtle using basic geometric shapes. It’s perfect for beginner artists who want to bring their digital artwork to life with Illustrator’s tools.

Did you know that you can get 12 premium files for free this month, including stunning fonts, top-notch presentations, and captivating videos? These hand-picked gems are available for a limited time. Create an account, and start downloading your free files today!

What You’ll Learn in This Tutorial

How to draw a turtle in Illustrator
How to use Warp Effects
How to use the Arc Tool in Illustrator
How to create a pattern in Illustrator
How to move anchor points in Illustrator
How to use the Transparency panel in Illustrator
How to use the Roughen effect in Illustrator
How to use the Shape Builder tool in Illustrator
How to use the Clipping Mask in Illustrator

1. How to Draw a Turtle in Illustrator

Step 1

After you’ve opened Adobe Illustrator, create a new document (File > New). Enter 850 px Width and 600 px Height in the new dialogue window, and press OK. This will be your new artboard.

Now, let’s start our easy turtle drawing by creating the head. Use the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw an ellipse (fill color R=237, G=193, B=95). While keeping it selected, go to Effect > Warp > Inflate and, in the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below. Then press OK. This is the first part of the vector turtle’s head.

Expand this shape (Object > Expand Appearance).

Step 2

Using the Selection Tool (V), rotate the head shape a little bit to the right.

Hit the Ellipse Tool (L) again, and draw an ellipse. Put it on the left side of the main part of the turtle, as shown in the image below. The black stroke color in the image below is just for better visibility; you don’t actually need it.

To combine the two parts, we want to use the Shape Builder Tool (Shift-M). Keep the two shapes selected, and use this tool to move your mouse over them.

Step 3

Change the fill color to R=84, G=37, B=37, as we will be creating the eye next. Using the Ellipse Tool (L), hold down the Shift key (to create an even circle), and draw a tiny circle.

Using the fill color R=247, G=210, B=137, create a small ellipse under the vector turtle’s eye. You just created a cheek!

Again using the Ellipse Tool (L), draw a tiny ellipse (fill color R=219, G=167, B=64). This is the nostril.

Step 4

Next, we will create the mouth. Click on the turtle’s eye to get its fill color. Make this fill color a stroke color by clicking on the Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X) button on the left panel. On the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke), click on the Round Cap button in the Cap section.

Using the Arc Tool, draw the turtle’s mouth.

Step 5

After that, we’ll create the turtle’s neck. Click on the head to get its fill color. Make this fill color a stroke color by clicking on the Swap Fill and Stroke (Shift-X) button on the left panel. On the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke), click on the Round Cap button in the Cap section. On the same panel, make the stroke Weight very thick, around 45 pixels.

Using the Arc Tool, draw the turtle’s neck, starting from the head and then going down. Using the same fill color as the turtle’s head, draw a big ellipse for its body using the Ellipse Tool (L).

Step 6

Now we will create the turtle’s vector shell. But first, we want to create a pattern for it. Make sure the fill color is black, with no stroke color. Draw a small polygon using the Polygon Tool. Hold Shift to make it even.

Then, using the Rotate Tool (R), you should rotate it 30 degrees so that the top point is sharp. To do this, keep the polygon selected, and hit the R button (it’s the Rotate Tool) on your keyboard, and then the Enter button. A new pop-up window called Rotate will appear. There you want to type 30 degrees and press OK.

After this, we want to make the sharp points of the polygon rounded. Go to View > Show Corner Widget. Now, when you select the polygon, it will have tiny dots in each corner. You should drag them inside the polygon shape to the center until the corners become rounded.

Step 7

Keep the polygon selected and go to Object > Pattern > Make. In the new dialogue window, enter the options shown in the image below. After that, click Done in the top left corner, and your new pattern should appear in the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches). We just created the vector turtle shell pattern.

Step 8

Time to create the turtle’s shell. Start with the Ellipse Tool (L) to draw an ellipse (fill color R=175, G=78, B=78). While keeping it selected, go to Effect > Warp > Arch and, in the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below. Then press OK.

It’s best to expand this shape: Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 9

Now let’s add a simple turtle shell pattern using the quickest method. Create a copy of the shell in front (Control-C, Control-F). Then go to the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) and choose the turtle shell pattern you created before. Now, on top of the main shape, you have a new one with a pattern.

The final thing we want to do here is to reduce the contrast of this pattern. Go to the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency) and click on the word Normal (which is the blending mode) to see the whole pop-out menu. Choose Soft Light. If you look a bit to the right, you will see the Opacity. Make it 60%.

Group the whole shell.

Step 10

Place the shell on the turtle’s back.

To draw the rim of the shell, we will use the Arc Tool, as we did for its mouth. Delete the fill color and set the stroke color to R=221, G=107, B=107. On the Stroke panel, make the stroke Weight around 18 pixels, and check Round Cap in the Cap section.

Draw the rim around the bottom of the shell.

Step 11

Now we want to create the front flipper. Draw a long ellipse—the fill color is the same as the turtle’s face. Remember, if you don’t want to manually enter the RGB color numbers, you can click on the turtle’s face to get the same fill color.

While keeping the ellipse selected, go to Effect > Warp > Arc and, in the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below. Then press OK.

Expand the shape.

Put the front flipper in the right place.

Step 12

To create another front flipper, we will simply create a copy of the first one. So create a copy (Control-C, Control-V), and place it behind (Control-X, Control-B).

Change its fill color to R=219, G=167, B=64. Place the second front flipper as shown in the image below.

Step 13

Now we want to create the hind flipper. Draw an ellipse—the fill color is the same as the first front flipper. While keeping the ellipse selected, go to Effect > Warp > Arc and, in the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below. Then press OK.

Expand the shape.

Put the hind flipper in its place.

Step 14

To create another hind flipper, we will again create a copy of the first hind flipper. So create a copy (Control-C, Control-V), and place it behind (Control-X, Control-B).

Change its fill color to R=219, G=167, B=64. Place the second hind flipper as shown in the image below.

Step 15

The last thing to create in this turtle vector art project is those typical turtle spots. Make the fill color black, and draw tiny ellipses on the head and flipper.

Then, select all of the black ellipses (Select > Same > Fill Color), and on the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency), choose Overlay.

Keep the dots selected, and go to Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen… In the new dialogue window, enter the options you see below in the image. Press OK.

Your vector sea turtle is ready. Group it for easy moving (right-click > Group).