How To Draw A Baby Elephant with this how-to video and step-by-step drawing instructions. Easy animals to draw for beginners and kids.
Please see the drawing tutorial in the video below
You can refer to the simple step-by-step drawing guide below
Step 1.
Draw circles for the body.
Elephants are solid, round animals. So to start, let’s simplify the body into three ovals: one for the head, trunk, and pelvic area. Use circles and curves throughout the drawing. Even for lines that look straight, retain a bit of a bend. Otherwise, your elephant will look stiff and lifeless.
Step 2.
Build your limbs.
Use your circles as a guide and fill in the shapes of the elephant’s body. This may seem like a big step, but with the help of your circles and reference photos, you’ll be surprised how easily they come together. “Think of the legs as cylinders and the ears as triangles or trapezoids,” advises illustrator Chioma Iloegbunam. Braun adds: “Make sure to draw a more pointed arch near the base of the back as the elephant’s backbone is very obvious. You can also sketch out details like the tail, toenails, and eyes at this stage, but don’t get bogged down by perfecting every detail.
Step 3.
Make an outline and fill in the body.
Reduce the opacity on your outline layer and create a new layer. Sketch and color the body with your desired color, leaving the hind legs, tusks, and a bun at the tail. Then, on a separate layer, paint the rest of the areas with the color you used for the main body. “We wanted to separate this base from the back of the leg and tusks, so we could give those areas separate gradients later,” says Braun.
Step 4.
Add gradients.
Create a new layer for your ivory and another for the eyes and ponytail. Next, apply a darker gradient around the trunk, legs and ivory using a soft brush. Create a soft, diffuse brush by reducing the Brush’s Hardness and Opacity to help it blend better. This will add dimension to your drawing and make it look more realistic. For each new gradient, lock all other layers to which you don’t want the gradient applied.
Step 5.
Add shadows and final strokes.
Reopen your outline layer and create a clipping mask. Set the blend mode to Multiply with an opacity of 50 to 60%. With this blend mode selected, everything below your clipping mask will be darkened, because the Multiply filter multiplies the effect of the layers it masks. This means you can use your body color to sweep over the areas you want to darken, as the two grays will combine into a darker shade that you can use as your shadow. “Be sure to define and separate the ear from the body so that shape doesn’t get lost,” says Braun. Add the final details like the crease on the elephant’s head and trunk and you’re done.