How to Draw a Shark Step by Step

What You’ll Be Creating

This tutorial is dedicated to selachophobia—the fear or extreme dislike of sharks. This cultural phenomenon is quite common; you can find references to it in many articles on the most frequent phobias.

One of the ways to overcome a fear is to face the object that causes it. I invite you on a drawing adventure, and this journey into the underwater world will be totally safe! In this quick tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a drawing of a shark step by step.

You may also find useful this great in-depth article on fish anatomy, and this tutorial on drawing with black and grey ink liners.

What You’ll Need to Create a Simple Drawing of a Shark

Here are a few things you’ll need to get started with your cool shark drawings:

a graphite pencil
an eraser
ink liners number 0.1 and 0.05 (grey color)
ink liners number 0.2, 0.1, and 0.05 (black color)

1. How to Draw an Easy Shark With a Graphite Pencil

Step 1

Let’s create a pencil shark sketch; it will help us to ink the drawing with confidence.

When drawing a shark, remember to draw its structure first. Here you can see a curved core line I did of the shark’s body and mark the side borders.

Step 2

I draw the narrowed shape of the shark’s head.

Then I add two rough segments of its body; drawing in parts is easier than trying to outline the whole shape at once.

Step 3

I add the shape of the tail and the caudal (tail) fin. Now you have your shark outline drawing.

Step 4

Now that I have the shark outline drawing, I mark a subsidiary line where the eyes are located, and add the eyes.

To draw an easy shark, remember to focus your attention on the shape of the open mouth. By the way, sharks use their gaping jaws as a way to communicate with each other!

Step 5

It’s time to refine the shape of the shark’s head.

Step 6

The lines of a shark’s body are in general smooth and slightly curved. I define this shape more precisely.

Feel free to erase the reference lines of the segments as you go.

Step 7

I refine the shape of the tail and draw the caudal fin. The upper part of the tail fin is a bit bigger than the lower part and has a distinctive prominence.

Step 8

I draw the front dorsal fin, also marking a small spine at the beginning of this fin.

Step 9

I draw a pair of pectoral fins, using the rounded subsidiary lines as a reference. It’s important to remember that we are creating an illusion of three-dimensionality in our drawing!

Step 10

I add the remaining fins: back dorsal, ventral, and anal.

Step 11

I mark five gill openings on the shark’s body. You can draw two reference lines to create the borders of the gills.

Step 12

I add the nostrils, using a reference line to preserve the symmetry.

Then I draw the teeth; great white sharks have three rows of them. Just draw some of the front teeth, and later we’ll create an illusion of greater detail.

Step 13

I add a line that creates a border between the white underside and the grey dorsal area.

Step 14

To make this composition more interesting, I add an outline of a small fish.

Step 15

I draw the fins of the small fish.

To achieve an illusion of three-dimensionality, I imagine that I’m looking at a real fish from below. This simple trick helps to design any object and make it look more realistic.

Step 16

I erase all the subsidiary lines to prepare this shark sketch for inking. You can also create a clean copy of this drawing, using a window glass during the day or a light table.