Drawing Whales: Techniques for Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Drawing, Painting, Organic

Drawing Whales: Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Whales look simple - big, smooth shapes moving through the water - but they’re actually very particular animals. A small change in proportion or curve can make a whale instantly feel wrong.

In this exercise, you’ll break a whale down into simple shapes, study how those forms wrap in 3D space, and learn how to rotate and rebuild them from different angles instead of copying a single reference.

Step 1: Draw simple organic shapes

Start by drawing 5 simple organic shapes. Add contour lines to each one to describe their volume and direction in space.

Step 1: Drawing Whales: Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Step 2: Study contour lines from reference

Choose one whale reference and trace contour lines directly on top of the image.
Pay attention to how the lines wrap around the body and change direction as the form turns.

Step 2: Drawing Whales: Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Step 3: Rotate the form

Redraw the whale from Step 2 in a different angle. Use a simple perspective box as a guide and keep the shapes very basic.
Do this a few times to practice rotating the form in space rather than copying the reference.

Step 3: Drawing Whales: Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Step 4: Study whale features

Study at least three different whale features (for example: head shape, fins, tail, or texture).
Keep these as small, focused studies aimed at understanding structure, not rendering.

Step 4: Drawing Whales: Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Step 5: Refine one drawing

Choose one whale from Step 3 and refine it by adding the features you studied in Step 4.
Stay mindful of the underlying forms — details should follow the structure, not fight it.

Step 5: Drawing Whales: Realistic and Stylised Marine Art

Bonus Step: Turn it into an illustration

If you want to push it further, refine your drawing into a simple illustration using color.
Focus on clarity and form rather than over-rendering.

This exercise trains you to simplify complex animals into readable forms, rotate them in space, and then rebuild them with intention. That skill is essential for drawing creatures from imagination and designing your own.

Share your whale studies on Instagram or Discord, and upload them to the Artwod Feedback Tool to receive constructive visual feedback from the community.

Keep experimenting, keep rotating forms - and have fun with it 🐋

Feedback tool - all feedback in one place.

Discord community

Author: Artwod team

Published: Feb 27, 2026