How to Draw A Cute Giraffe. There are many amazing animals to see in Africa, each unique. The giraffe is arguably one of the most unique animals in Africa.
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Except for their long necks, they look like normal animals in everything! It helps them reach higher leaves to nibble on, making them an impressive sight.
Many people love giraffes for their unique looks and gentle nature, and they are also notable for their gold-flecked fur.
No wonder many people also like to use them in fine art and wildlife photography.
In this guide, we will make this famous animal even more adorable while learning how to draw a cute giraffe. We will cover this in 6 steps while showing how to color it.
There will also be a section on making this design even more unique with your ideas and additions. There is a lot to discover and a lot of fun to have!
So grab your favorite drawing tools and prepare for an art safari as we begin this drawing journey with this famous example of African wildlife.
How to Draw A Cute Giraffe
Step 1
In this tutorial, we will create a stylized version of a giraffe to make it even cuter. Because of this, the neck is shorter than a real giraffe’s.
To ensure consistency in the design, you can draw a very rough version of this cute little giraffe.
This works best with a pencil and light pressure on the page.
You could even narrow it down to simple shapes for the giraffe’s head, neck, body, and limbs. This would show you the proportions of the giraffe and then allow you to add finer detail later with your pen.
First, let’s draw the giraffe’s head. If you want to draw a rough shape, you’d better choose an oval shape.
When you’re ready to draw the actual outline, draw it with a few simple lines.
The top of the head is thinner than the bottom half, as you can see in the reference image. The small part of the chin is drawn in the shape of a rounded U.
On top of the giraffe’s head is a tuft of hair that can be drawn with curved lines ending in some sharp points.
This should be a solid shape, and we’ll add more elements in future steps. So leave enough space to draw the giraffe’s face later. Then we can proceed to step 2 of the guide!
Step 2
We have the head outline for this design of a cute giraffe, and now we can add some additional elements.
These are small details but important if we want this giraffe to look more complete.
Just like a real giraffe, this version has big ears on its head. The ears are thin at the base, thickening with increasing width, ending in some pointed tips.
After drawing the outlines of the ears, we can draw the inner parts of the ear.
These are drawn with simple curved lines to shape the inner ears, which will stand out even more when we color them later.
For example, if you want to add more personality to the image, you can drop one of the ears. Whether or not you do, that is up to you, but either way, the ears will be done!
So, in this step, one more element needs to be added. If you look at a real giraffe, you will see that it has two small horns on its head.
These look rather unusual as they are small and have a rounded part at the top. You can draw each one as its shape with a few slightly curved lines and a circle line on top.
That’s all this step has to offer. So let’s move on to step 3 if you are happy with the progress.
Step 3
You can’t have a giraffe without a long neck, and you can’t do without it! So in this step, we will add it to our guide on how to draw a cute giraffe.
First, we must draw some facial features, so let’s take care of those first. Fortunately, they will be very easy to draw. First, we’ll draw the eyes, which should be very simple.
All you have to do is draw two black dots on the face. Next, look at the small spot we drew earlier at the base of the face.
This will be the cute giraffe’s snout, and we will add some small dots for the nostrils and some more small lines for some creases on the snout.
Once those facial features are ready, it’s time to draw the famous neck! The line to the right will be very easy.
You have to draw a fairly straight line from the base of the head. It will have a very slight curve but should look like a mostly straight line.
The line on the left will be slightly different. The path starts fairly straight but then makes a sharp left turn.
This sharp curve represents the giraffe’s back, so you can see where the neck ends. You could lengthen the neck, but we think it looks prettier with a shorter neck.
Step 4
In this step, we will complete the outline of this cute giraffe by adding legs, belly, and tail.
So we’re ready to add some final touches and details in Step 5, but first, let’s add the final outline elements.
The first thing we will draw in this step is the front legs, which extend into the outline of the abdomen.
They are simple and can be drawn with a few slightly curved lines with a small line near the middle of the knee.
The hooves are curved lines that flare out a bit and then have a small part at the base that is flat. Then the belly of the giraffe is drawn with a curved line.
The hind legs will connect to the line you drew for the giraffe’s back in the previous step and to the belly. You will also see that the hind legs differ slightly from the front legs.
They have an extra section at the top of the legs and a more pronounced curve at the top of the back of that leg. It might not sound very clear, but you’ll see what we mean by looking at the reference image.
Finally, draw the giraffe’s short mane on the back of its neck for this step. After adding it, we can move on to step 5.
Step 5
You are now ready to finish this drawing of a cute giraffe with some final details.
This is also the step where you can add details and ideas. But let’s focus on the final details for now.
The most important thing we will add in this step is the dots covering this giraffe. They extend all over the body, each with an irregular, rounded shape.
You don’t have to place them exactly where we placed them, and you can also draw them in different shapes if you like.
You can also erase any pencil marks left on the drawing as they are no longer needed.
After adding these points, you can add any other details you want! You could draw another giraffe to spend time with.
If you’re creative, you can also draw cartoon versions of famous African animals like a lion, a leopard, or elephant.
Another great way to complement this image would be to draw a background backdrop. You’ll find plenty of wallpaper inspiration if you’re looking for images of African savannas and landscapes.
Or you could choose any other background you can think of. It’s up to you; there are so many ways to do it!
Step 6
You have reached the last step of this tutorial, and now it’s time to finish this cute giraffe drawing with some colors. In our example, we used a rather dark and muted color scheme for the giraffe.
These colors still match the colors of a real giraffe, but there are variations you can choose from.
For example, you can opt for bolder colors if you want a more striking image.
Perhaps the fur could be colored bright yellow with a few colored pencils or markers, for example.
Or you can go for a more classic look with some watercolor paints that will keep the colors nicely muted.
It’s entirely up to you and how you want this image to look. It can be as stylized or as realistic as you like.
You don’t have to stick to realistic colors if you want to use creative and vibrant colors for the giraffe’s fur. There are no wrong answers when coloring your drawing!
Mixing and matching different artistic tools and mediums can also be fun to make the colors even more unique. Using some craft materials can also be a way to add more fun to your photo. It’s all up to you, and we can’t wait to see how you color this cute giraffe.
Your Cute Giraffe Drawing is Finished!