How to draw a whale and an iceberg

Step 1 of 40Guide lines

Head and body guides

Tide has come north, where icebergs drift. Start light: a long oval for her head, tipping down to the right from left of the middle; a body oval across its end, tipped up.

Draw these lightly: they’re only there to help, and you’ll rub them out in step 28.

Step 2 of 40Guide lines

Flipper guides

A long, thin oval slanting down to the right from where the two ovals cross, for the near flipper; a shorter one hanging down from under her head for the far flipper.

Draw these lightly: they’re only there to help, and you’ll rub them out in step 28.

Step 3 of 40Guide lines

Tail guides

Above the body oval's right end, two leaf shapes for the halves of her tail: a short one pointing up and a little left, a long one out to the right.

Draw these lightly: they’re only there to help, and you’ll rub them out in step 28.

Step 4 of 40

Her back

Now the ink. From under her snout, round its knobbly tip, over her head, along her back and little fin, and up between the tail leaves, stopping at the long leaf's left end.

Step 5 of 40

Her near flipper

Her long flipper is in front of everything. From its root, where the head and body ovals cross: along the smooth top edge to the tip, back along the knobbly edge, up its front.

Step 6 of 40

Under her chin

From the bottom of her snout, one long line under her chin and along her throat, to where it meets the flipper's front edge.

Step 7 of 40

Her far flipper

The far flipper hangs behind her, from the chin line: down its smooth edge to the tip and back up its knobbly side to the chin line.

Step 8 of 40

Her tail

Now her tail: from the back line, up round the left half to its tip and down into the notch, then out along the long right half to its point and back underneath.

Step 9 of 40

Her belly

From under the tail, her belly in one long, smooth curve down and forward to the near flipper's top edge.

Step 10 of 40

The mouth

From her snout's tip: the long mouth line, back and down, bending low past the middle of the head oval. Then a softer line from near its end towards the flipper's root.

Step 11 of 40

The eye

Her eye sits just behind where the mouth line bends down, above where the softer line starts. Both lids from the front corner, a round iris pressed up under the top lid, a glint inside.

Step 12 of 40

Around the eye

A crease just over the eye, a long curved brow above that, and a curve under it, each from the front.

Step 13 of 40

The barnacles

Three barnacles behind the eye: one hanging under the back line, a line inside its top; a small oval below it; one more from the back line beyond; then a small loop under the eye.

Step 14 of 40

Bumps on her head

Humpbacks have knobby heads. Four small marks along the top of the back line, left to right; then five below them, between the back line and the mouth line, left to right.

Step 15 of 40

Bumps on her jaw

Below the mouth line: first a short line up the inside of the snout's tip, then eight small knobs along her jaw, left to right.

Step 16 of 40

Throat grooves

Ten throat grooves, the top one first: eight long ones, each from the flipper's front edge forward towards her chin, then two short ones by her chin.

Step 17 of 40

Behind the flipper

A short crease above the flipper's root. Then seven lines behind the flipper, top to bottom, each from its top edge back along her belly, carrying the grooves on.

Step 18 of 40

Inside the near flipper

Inside the near flipper: a crease from its root, a curl, a longer crease. Then six marks on the knobbly edge with a crease among them; four by the smooth edge, down to the tip.

Step 19 of 40

Inside the far flipper

Inside the far flipper: a short line at the top; nine small marks top to bottom, the last few round the tip; then a long line down near the smooth edge to the tip.

Step 20 of 40

Along her side and tail

A short line under her back before the little fin, two tiny knobs behind it, a line where the tail's right half crosses its root, then a long soft line up her side.

Step 21 of 40

The surface

Now the sea. One long, level line for the surface, right across the paper, a little above the tip of her tail.

Step 22 of 40

Ice in front

A chunk of ice floats just under the surface, above her head. Its flat top as one lumpy loop, its thick side underneath, and a short upright line on the side.

Step 23 of 40

The iceberg's left edge

Now the iceberg. From a sharp peak above her snout: down to a shoulder, then down the left in long flat facets, to a point near the bottom, level with her far flipper's tip.

Step 24 of 40

The right edge

From the peak, down the right side to the ice chunk; then from under the chunk to her head, and from under her throat down to the bottom point.

Step 25 of 40

Lines on the tip

Ice has flat faces and sharp corners. On the tip: a ridge from the peak, a line beside it, a V in the left shoulder, then a line and a V from the right edge.

Step 26 of 40

Lines below the water

Seven facets underwater. Near the top: a short line, a wide V, one by her head; lower: a long line nearly to the point, its branch, one below her throat, one at the point.

Step 27 of 40

More ice

Three more chunks: one far left by the iceberg, then two right of the chunk above her head, stacked. Each a lumpy top loop and its side; the first two get an upright line.

Step 28 of 40

Erase the guides

Rub out the guide shapes. Tide, the iceberg and the floating ice stay.

Step 29 of 40

Go over her back

Now press harder, on Tide only. From the bottom of her snout, round its tip, over her head and along her back to her tail.

Step 30 of 40

Go over her tail

Then on round her tail, from where the back line ends, and her belly from under the tail down to the flipper.

Step 31 of 40

Go over her flippers

Then round the near flipper from its root, under her chin from the snout to the flipper, and round the far flipper. The ice stays light, so it sits back behind her.

Step 32 of 40

Shade her tail

Shading now, soft and light; the light is above, on the right. A tone on the left half of the tail, a thin strip under the right half, and under the tail's root.

Step 33 of 40

Along her belly

A touch under the little fin, then a soft strip along the bottom of her belly, behind the flipper.

Step 34 of 40

Under her head

Then a little tone under the snout's tip, and a strip between two throat grooves. Keep the top of her head white.

Step 35 of 40

Shade the far flipper

The far flipper is behind her, in her shadow: a soft tone all down it, then on its tip, then a darker patch at its root under her chin.

Step 36 of 40

The shadow side of the tip

Now the ice. The tip's left face turns away from the light: a light, even tone from near the peak down past the surface line.

Step 37 of 40

The iceberg's shadow face

The same light tone on down the long left face below the water. Keep its edges crisp: flat planes, not soft curves.

Step 38 of 40

Down to the point

Carry the tone down the face towards the bottom point, stopping cleanly at the facet lines.

Step 39 of 40

The right face

A light tone down the narrow right face, under her throat. The front of the iceberg stays white, which is what makes it look like ice.

Step 40 of 40

The darks

Last of all, fill in her iris around the glint, leaving the glint white. Tide is in the far north now, among the ice.