How to Draw a Crocodile

Please PAUSE the video after each step to draw at your own pace (scroll down to see the final crocodile drawing).

For the first few steps, don’t press down too hard with your pencil. Use light, smooth strokes to begin.

Step 1: Draw a long oval as a guide for the crocodile’s body. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s just a guide.

Step 2: Draw a circle on the right side as a guide for the crocodile’s head. Draw an arc next to that circle for the mouth.

Step 3: Draw two curved lines that connect the head and body to create the crocodile’s neck.

Step 4: Draw a long curved line on the left as a guide for the crocodile’s tail.
Step 5: Draw two angled lines underneath the body as guides for the crocodile’s feet.

That’s it for the initial sketch! From this point on, press harder with your pencil to get a more defined drawing.

Step 6: Draw the eye on the upper right side of the head. The eye is similar to the shape of a football with a circle inside it as the eyeball. Shade in a narrow slit for the crocodile’s pupil. Give the eyeball some shade too. And darken the inside shape of the eye. Draw a line over the crocodile’s eye as the top of his head and extra lines around it for detail. Another curve on top indicates the crocodile’s other eye.

Step 7: Use the initial arc as a guide to draw the top of the mouth. Crocodiles have rough skin, so draw the mouth with a series of bumps that extend into the circle. A small line on top indicates the nostril.

Step 8: Draw the lower jaw underneath using the initial guide. The lower jaw extends even farther back into the circle and is just as bumpy. Open the crocodile’s jaw by using a series of lines that curve toward the top of the mouth.

Step 9: Use a series of small, spiky triangle-like lines to line the crocodile’s mouth with teeth. The teeth on the lower jaw wrap around the back as well.
Step 10: Finish the crocodile’s head by drawing a few lines on the top and bottom.

Step 11: Draw the front foot using the initial line as a guide. Use curved lines to indicate the foot going forward and draw the fingers at the end. Draw a few lines within the arm to indicate the rough skin.

Step 12: Draw the hind leg using the initial line as a guide. Draw curved lines to indicate where the leg bends and draw the webbed toes at the end. Draw small lines within it to indicate the crocodile’s rough skin.

Step 13: Use the initial lines as guides to draw the neck. Remember to use curves to make the skin bumpy. Draw small curved lines inside the crocodile’s neck as well to indicate the bumps and scales.

Step 14: Use the initial oval shape to draw in the rest of the crocodile’s body. Draw the top side using a series of curves to indicate the armor-like skin and draw more rows of bumps inside the body. The bottom is smoother but still scaly. Draw a series of lines similar to plus signs to indicate this.

Step 15: Draw around the guide line to form the tail. Continue using bumps on top and overlap the guide line to make the tail curve around. Draw more small, curved lines on the top and bottom for the crocodile’s bumps and scales.

Step 16 (optional): You can stop here for a sketchy look or you can erase as much as you can of the guides for a cleaner look. Don’t worry about erasing all the guides. The crocodile’s scales make that difficult, so it’s okay to leave some behind.

Step 17 (optional): Add some shading to give your drawing more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source when shading so that the shadows are consistent with it. Vary the pressure on your pencil to get different degrees of tonal value.

Step 18 (optional): You can add more value throughout your crocodile drawing for extra detail. To indicate the rough, scaly skin, draw many squiggly lines all over. Don’t overthink it. Just add them randomly. It’s a good idea to use reference to be as accurate as possible. Draw a few extra lines for the smoother scales on the tail.