How to Draw Kaa from the Jungle Book
The steps of this tutorial will show you how to draw Kaa from The Jungle Book and explain how to create cartoon snake characters.
For the steps of this tutorial, we chose the canonical image of Kaa from the classic Disney animated film, but there are also other versions from different adaptations.
In addition, there are illustrations of this character in various editions of the book that differ slightly from the version we present.
This drawing tutorial is suitable for any of these interpretations. As mentioned at the beginning, this guide will also teach you how to draw cartoon snakes, giving them a distinct anthropomorphic look.
How to draw Kaa from the Jungle Book step by step
Step 1: Sketch Kaa’s head and body guides
As always, start by sketching the character’s head in the upper part of the page. Use a simple horizontally oriented oval shape. Then, from it, indicate the cartoon snake’s body with smooth lines and clearly defined curves. These are only preliminary outlines that will be erased later, so use very light lines.
Step 2: Draw the body contours of Kaa
Now, using the same smooth and light lines, draw the contours of the body, slightly widening in the central part and gradually tapering toward the tail. Use overlapping forms so that the parts closer to the viewer partially cover those farther away, creating a sense of volume in the drawing.
Step 3: Sketch the snake snout contours
Start working on the facial details by drawing the snout of the cartoon snake. First, sketch the upper part of the snout using smooth lines with clearly defined changes in form. Then indicate the lower part of the snout, or the chin, and create a smiling expression.
Step 4: Draw the eyes of Kaa
Slightly above the snout, draw the eyes using two vertically oriented smooth lines. The lower part of the eyes should be partially overlapped by the snout. Above them, indicate the brows or brow ridges with two short curved lines.
Step 5: Refine Kaa’s face and remove guides
Begin gradually refining the details of the character while erasing unnecessary construction lines. Draw the upper eyelids of Kaa with a couple of short lines and add the pupils inside the eyes. Remove all remaining guidelines, giving the drawing a cleaner appearance.
Step 6: Define the snake pattern base
One of the key design elements of the character is the snake pattern, so begin outlining it with a central line. This line separates the upper and lower parts of the coloration. First, mark this division on the snout, then continue along the body, following the contours of the snake’s form.
Step 7: Draw Kaa’s tongue and patterns
Draw a forked tongue of Kaa extending from the mouth. Then, on the lower part of the body, add crosswise lines with slight curves. On the upper part, draw irregular shapes arranged in a random pattern, gradually decreasing in size toward the tip of the tail. Make sure all patterns follow the flow of the body.
Step 8: Outline the cartoon snake with thick lines
You can leave your drawing of Kaa as it is, or trace it with darker, bolder lines to enhance the cartoon effect. Make the lines in curved areas and along the lower edges of the forms slightly thicker to strengthen the sense of volume while preserving the cartoon style.
Practice drawing characters from The Jungle Book
In our cartoon category, we often mention that drawing characters in this style involves several important principles, one of which is anthropomorphism.
However, anthropomorphism is not always used when drawing cartoon animals. It depends on what the creators of the character and the work as a whole want to convey.
For example, most animals in The Jungle Book, as well as in many other Disney works, have a highly anthropomorphic, human-like appearance.
At the same time, a snake can be drawn in a cartoon style while using a less anthropomorphic design. We discussed this in our cartoon snake drawing tutorial.
You can also try drawing the character with reduced anthropomorphism while keeping the overall cartoon look.
To practice drawing cartoon characters and animals, you can also refer to our Shere Khan drawing tutorial from the same film and pay attention to how a consistent style is maintained across different characters within the same work.
