Fun and Easy Guide: How to Draw a Cute Cartoon Dolphin

In this guide, I’ll show you how to draw a cute cartoon dolphin step by step. With its rounded features and friendly expression, this dolphin design is fun to work on and easy to follow. Let’s break it down together.

Key Features of a Cute Cartoon Dolphin

• Rounded body with smooth, flowing lines.
• A large, expressive eye with highlights for a cheerful look.
• A curved, smiling mouth that gives it a friendly appearance.
• Fins and tail with soft, rounded edges for a cartoon style.
• Playful curves in its pose to suggest movement and energy.

If you enjoy working on this dolphin, you might want to try drawing other marine animals like a more realistic dolphin, a realistic blue whale and a cute cartoon one for more variety.

About This Drawing Guide

To make things easier, this guide uses a simple color-coded system:

• Red Color: Highlights the current step you’re working on.
• Black Color: Displays the lines you’ve already completed.

These colors will keep you organized and ensure each step is clear and easy to follow.

Step 1: Start by drawing a long curved line from the top of the dolphin’s snout all the way to where the tail will begin. This will form the upper part of the dolphin’s body.

Step 2: Draw the upper part of the dolphin’s rostrum.

Step 3: Now, using a simple hook-like line, draw the lower part of the dolphin’s rostrum.

Step 4: Draw a curved line from the middle of the lower part of the rostrum down to where the tail will start. This line represents the lower part of the dolphin’s body.

Step 5: Draw the outline of the tail.

Step 6: Draw the dolphin’s mouth along the lower part of the rostrum, and above it, add a slightly curved line to indicate the dolphin’s cheek.

Step 7: Above the line indicating the cheek, draw an incomplete circle to form the outline of the eye.

Step 8: Since we’re drawing a cartoon dolphin, let’s create a more classic cartoon style eye with two highlights. Inside the outline we drew earlier, add an eye shape, and within it, draw an oval filled in with two uncolored circles for the highlights.

Step 9: Partially shade the inside of the mouth and create the shape of the dolphin’s tongue. Above the eye, draw a curved line to represent an eyebrow or upper eyelid.

Step 10: To finish, let’s draw the dolphin’s fins. Add two side pectoral fins: one fully visible closer to us, and the other partially hidden by the dolphin’s body. Also, add the dorsal fin on top.

Step 11: At this stage, we’ve finished the main sketch. Refine any imperfections, carefully erase unnecessary lines and smudges. Optionally, you can outline your sketch with a pen or ink, then erase all pencil lines at once.

Step 12: With the guide for sketching a cute cartoon dolphin now complete, you can color your drawing. You can either use the image below as a reference or choose your own colors and shading.

That wraps up this fun and easy guide to drawing sea animals and fish, and now it’s your turn to show off what you made. Head over to the pinned post on Pinterest and drop a photo or link to your finished sketch in the comments, it’s always great to see what everyone comes up with. If you want more guides like this one delivered to your inbox, the signup form is sitting at the top of the page, and video versions of some guides pop up on the SketchOk YouTube channel too.