How To Draw A Whale Shark

Want to learn how to plan out a whale shark drawing?

With 6 easy steps to follow, children will enjoy drawing their own whale shark on paper. Also included is a downloadable version of this whale shark drawing lesson.

Perfect for art teachers and homeschoolers looking to instruct kids how to draw a whale shark.

Art making is much more fun when you have a simple lesson to reference. Keep practicing!

Materials

Pencil
Drawing Paper
Crayon or Colored Pencils
Black Marker
Whale Shark Drawing Printable PDF (see bottom of lesson)

Whale Shark Drawing: All Steps

This lesson will instruct you how to draw a whale shark. We will draw attention to the shapes of each part and variety of lines created ensuring that the drawing looks great.

Time Needed: 20 minutes

Start The Body Shape

In the middle of the page, use a curved line to draw the top of the main body shape.
Complete The Body Shape

Use another curved line to finish the main body shape, make sure not to connect the lines on the left side.
Add Fins

Draw one large fin on the top of the body, and two on the bottom.
Draw The Tail And More Fins

Draw the tail shape using rounded triangle shapes, make sure the top is larger than the bottom. Add three small fins to the body, one on top, two on bottom.
Draw The Face

Use an oval for the large open mouth and a small circle for the eye. Use curved lines to add gills.
Add Color

Whale sharks are grey-ish in color and have lots of spots and a lighter underbelly.

Whale Shark Drawing PDF Download

Click the link below to view or download this drawing lesson. The PDF is a printable drawing lesson for Whale Shark Drawing. The last page of the downloadable PDF includes a coloring book page with just the outlines and an extension exercise for prompting kids to get creative!

The World's Largest Fish

The largest fish in the world is the Whale Shark. It can grow up to 40ft long. They live in deep water, mainly in subtropical oceans, and can eat in excess of 40 pounds of food a day.

Even though they are the largest fish, their diet consists of some of the smallest creatures the ocean has to offer.

Whale sharks have a mouth that hangs open with very small teeth on its bottom jaw. This mouth helps them vacuum up food from the ocean such as plankton and fish eggs.

Here are some fascinating facts about this enormous sea creature:

They have a dorsal fin that might be up to 15 inches tall.

They are one of the longest living fish on earth. Recent studies estimate that these gigantic fish can live up to 130 years old! Talk about a grandpa fish!

Whale sharks eat plankton and tiny fish, and they are filter feeders. For this reason their eating habits are similar to many whales. Unlike a whale however, these sharks do not have to breathe air from the top of the ocean.