How to Draw a Cartoon Shark

The steps of this simple tutorial will show you how to draw a cartoon shark with characteristic body shapes and triangular fin.

When drawing cartoon animals and characters, it is important to capture the key defining features and convey them on paper without overcomplicating the overall drawing.

We all know what a shark looks like, and many of us have likely drawn one before, especially since we have seen this animal in many cartoons.

We already have a general idea of its simplified form. In this tutorial, we will show you how to draw a cartoon shark from a more artistic perspective and explain how to give this animal a truly charismatic look, as a shark should have.

How to draw a cartoon shark step by step

Step 1

The shark’s body looks like an elongated cylindrical form that tapers at both ends. If simplified, it resembles an elongated oval or even a banana, as in our example. At this stage, you can set the direction of the body.

Step 2: Draw the cartoon shark fins

On the upper part of the body, draw a slightly curved triangular dorsal fin. Then, a bit lower, add a similarly shaped pectoral fin. Do not try to make the drawing too detailed or add too many elements.

Step 3: Draw the cartoon shark tail

At the back, draw the tail, where the upper lobe is more elongated and larger than the lower one. Between the dorsal fin and the tail, add a small additional triangular fin.

Step 4: Add the cartoon animal eye and mouth

Draw a round eye with a frowning cartoon eyebrow. In front, add a menacing smile using two smooth lines. Anthropomorphism is one of the key features of the cartoon style, so do not be afraid to give the animal more human-like traits.

Step 5: Remove unnecessary lines from the head

Gradually remove all the construction lines from the shark drawing, trying not to affect the important details and final lines. Start from the front of the body, erasing the guidelines step by step while refining the elements. Draw the pupil inside the eye and shape the menacing grin with smooth, long lines.

Step 6: Erase the remaining guidelines from the tail

Erase any remaining unnecessary lines, clean up the drawing, and correct any mistakes if needed. At this stage, you can also refine details or add small additional elements.

Step 7: Draw the cartoon shark gills

On the side of the body, just behind the head, draw three gills that gradually decrease in size toward the tail. Then draw a line separating the upper and lower parts of the cartoon shark body.

Step 8: Trace the animal with bold lines

The cartoon style is characterized by clean, dark lines and minimal details. To emphasize this, trace the entire drawing with a darker pencil or another tool capable of creating such lines. You can make the elements of the cartoon shark’s body that you want to highlight slightly darker. This will also create an additional sense of volume.

Practice in drawing cartoon sharks

You can make your cartoon shark drawing more complex by adding additional elements. Anthropomorphism in the style of animated series means that the animal not only has human-like facial features but can also include clothing or accessories.

You can add glasses or even draw a tattoo. You can make the drawing even more anthropomorphic by turning the pectoral fins into full arms.

In short, the most important thing is consistent practice and drawing different cartoon animals in various poses and from different angles. You can also draw a cartoon fish to further develop your skills with similar ocean creatures.

These animals differ significantly in a biological sense, but are quite similar to each other in appearance. Another similar yet biologically different animal is the dolphin.

We covered it in our cartoon dolphin drawing tutorial. Studying different variations of drawing similar animals in the cartoon style will help you strongly reinforce your skills and understand how the basic fundamentals of visual art are applied to specific animals in animation.

To study other variations of drawing different animals, as well as the fundamentals of this style, be sure to visit our cartoon category.