How to draw a dragonfly — easy step by step drawing ideas

Dragonfly drawing ideas turn up every summer in our house, usually about ten minutes after somebody has spent an afternoon by a pond. Dragonflies are one of those creatures that look impossibly complicated — all that glittering wing and those enormous eyes — and then turn out to be one of the simplest things on the whole site to draw. A circle, a little oval, a row of segments and four long leaves. That is genuinely all there is to it.

Learning how to draw a dragonfly teaches one skill that will serve a young artist for years: symmetry. Four wings arranged in two matching pairs means you have to think about balance, about what is happening on the left of the page while your pencil is busy on the right. It is the same skill butterflies need, and kites, and faces, and it is much easier to practise on a dragonfly because the shapes are simple.

In this tutorial we will build a cheerful cartoon dragonfly in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips that keep the wings even, the mistakes that turn dragonflies into aeroplanes, and some ideas for what to add once the first one is done. Find a turquoise crayon and something pale purple, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy dragonfly drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the head

Keep your paper upright this time, and draw one small round circle near the top, roughly in the middle from left to right. That is the head. A dragonfly is a tall, thin creature that hangs downward from its head, so almost all the paper below this circle is going to be used.

Make the head smaller than you expect — about the size of a large coin if you are working on ordinary paper. It is tempting to draw a big head because the eyes are the best part, but a dragonfly body is long, and a head that is too large makes the whole thing look like a tadpole.

Step 2 — Add the face and antennae

Fill most of the head with two big round eyes, set close together and each with a white shine dot left blank inside. Real dragonfly eyes are enormous — they wrap right around the head and are made of thousands of tiny lenses — so in a cartoon you can make them as big as you like and still be roughly accurate. Then add a small curved smile below them and two little round blush cheeks.

On top of the head, draw two thin antennae, curving up and slightly outward, each finishing in a tiny ball. Keep them short and springy. This is the detail that says insect, and it takes about five seconds.

Step 3 — Add the body and tail

Directly under the head, draw a small rounded shape a little wider than the head itself. This is the thorax, the sturdy middle section where all four wings and all the legs attach. Tuck it right up against the head with no gap.

From the bottom of the thorax, draw the long tail running straight down the page — a slim tube, about three times the length of the head and body together, tapering very slightly toward the tip. Then divide it into segments with short curved lines across it, about eight or nine of them, spaced fairly evenly. Those little dividing lines are what make the tail read as an insect abdomen rather than a stick.

Step 4 — Add the top wings

Now the wings. From the top of the thorax, draw one long narrow wing sweeping out to the left and slightly upward — a very stretched leaf shape, rounded at the far end, about twice as long as the whole head and thorax. Then draw its partner on the right.

Try to make the second wing a mirror of the first rather than a fresh invention. It helps to turn the paper upside down and draw the second wing with the same hand movement you used for the first; your arm remembers the motion even when your eye is not sure.

Step 5 — Add the bottom wings and legs

Under each top wing, draw a second wing: the same shape, a little shorter, angled slightly further downward so that the two on each side form a shallow V. Four wings in total. This is the step that people skip, and it is the difference between a dragonfly and a rather puzzled fly.

Then add the veins. Inside each wing, draw one long line running the length of the wing and a handful of short lines branching off it, like the veins of a leaf. Keep them light and do not try to make them match between wings — nature does not. Finally, two tiny legs tucked under the thorax, no bigger than commas.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Trace over every line you want to keep with a firmer stroke or a fine black pen, then erase the guide lines — the piece of the head circle hidden behind the thorax, the pencil dots, any stray sketching. Suddenly the shapes lock together into one insect.

Colour the head and the long tail bright turquoise blue, with each segment slightly darker along its lower edge so the tail looks round. Make the thorax a shade deeper, almost teal, so it reads as the solid middle of the body. Leave the shine dots in the eyes white.

The wings are the part people worry about, and the rule is simple: press lightly. Sweep a pale lavender crayon across each wing with barely any pressure and leave little patches of white paper showing through, then go over the vein lines again so they still read. Light colour plus visible veins is exactly what our eyes interpret as see-through, and it works every time.

Common mistakes to avoid

Only drawing two wings

Dragonflies have four, and the pair you leave out is nearly always the bottom one. With two wings the drawing quietly turns into a bee or a housefly, and nobody can say why it looks wrong — only that it does.

If you have already coloured a two-winged dragonfly, you can still rescue it: draw the lower pair slightly behind the upper ones, angled a little further down, and colour them a touch paler. Overlapping wings look deliberate, as though the lower pair is further away.

The wings are lopsided

A dragonfly is almost perfectly symmetrical, so any difference between left and right jumps straight out. Usually the second wing ends up shorter, because the hand is working across the body and naturally cramps up.

Fix it by checking angles before you commit to ink, and by drawing the far wing with the paper rotated so your hand makes the same comfortable outward sweep both times. If one wing is already too short, lengthen the shorter one rather than trying to trim the longer.

The tail is too short and too fat

The abdomen of a dragonfly is long and slim — much longer than beginners expect. A short thick tail makes the drawing look like a bee, and it also makes the wings look oversized in comparison.

Aim for a tail at least three times the length of the head and thorax together, and keep it narrow. If it already looks stubby, extend it downward by a couple of extra segments rather than widening anything.

Troubleshooting

My dragonfly looks like an aeroplane

Probably because the wings are straight-edged and set at right angles to the body. Curve the front edge of each wing gently, round off the wingtips, and angle the pairs so they fan slightly rather than sticking straight out. Curves are what make it look alive.

The wings came out too dark

Almost everybody presses too hard the first time. If it has happened, go over the wings with a white crayon or a white pencil, which will lift and soften the colour a little, then re-draw the vein lines on top in a darker blue. Strong veins over a soft wash still reads as delicate.

The tail wanders off to one side

This comes from drawing the tail segment by segment. Start again with two long guide lines running down from the thorax, drawn in one confident movement each, and fill the segments in afterwards. The guide lines keep everything straight.

Key takeaways

FAQ

Is a dragonfly easy for kids to draw? Yes, surprisingly easy. A dragonfly is a circle, a small oval and a row of segments with four long leaf shapes attached. The only fiddly part is keeping the wings even, and this tutorial has a trick for that.

How many wings does a dragonfly have? Four — two on each side, arranged as an upper and a lower pair. This is worth knowing because drawing only two wings is the most common dragonfly mistake, and four is what makes the drawing look right.

How do I make the wings look see-through? Colour them very lightly with a pale lavender or pale blue crayon, press gently, and leave a few small areas of white paper showing. Then add thin vein lines in a slightly darker shade. Light colour plus visible veins reads as transparent.

What is the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly? A dragonfly rests with its wings spread out flat to the sides, which is how we draw it here. A damselfly is slimmer and folds its wings back along its body when it lands. Spread wings make the friendlier drawing for kids.

And there is your dragonfly! Whether the wings came out perfectly matched or charmingly wonky, you just practised symmetry, one of the trickiest things in drawing — and that belongs on the fridge. Try a whole pond scene next, with reeds and lily pads and two or three dragonflies at different sizes, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

More tutorials: All tutorials · How to draw a butterfly · How to draw a bee · How to draw a ladybug