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

Walrus drawing ideas always get a laugh in the studio, because a walrus is such a wonderfully silly-looking animal. It is a big brown blob with a moustache, two enormous teeth and a pair of flippers, and it looks permanently pleased with itself. Children adore it. Learning how to draw a walrus is also one of the easiest lessons on the site, because the whole animal is basically one shape with a face.

I like to use this tutorial right after the seal, because the two animals share the same simple blob body, and the walrus just adds a few extra details on top: the puffy muzzle, the whisker dots and, of course, the tusks. Children who already know how to draw a seal feel like experts here, and children who do not can start with this one and go on to the seal afterward.

In this tutorial we will build a friendly brown walrus in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips I use when teaching it, the mistakes that trip up nearly every beginner, and quick fixes for when your walrus starts looking like a seal or a potato. Grab a pencil and a brown crayon, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy walrus drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the body

Start with the body, right in the middle of the paper. Draw one big, soft blob shape: rounded at the top where the head is, bulging out a little at the sides, and widest at the bottom where the walrus sits. Think of a large pear, or a snowman that has melted into a single lump. The head and body are one shape — a walrus has no neck to speak of.

Make it big and plump. A walrus is a heavy, comfortable animal, and a chubby body is what makes the drawing look right. Let the bottom edge be fairly flat, so the walrus looks like it is sitting solidly on the ice. Keep the pencil light; you will darken the keeper lines at the end.

Step 2 — Add the face

Now the walrus gets its face. In the upper part of the blob, draw two big round eyes, set fairly far apart, with a small white shine dot in each. Below them, draw the muzzle: a wide, puffy shape like two round cheeks side by side, taking up most of the width of the head. This puffy muzzle is the walrus's most important feature, so make it big.

At the top of the muzzle, in the middle, draw a small rounded nose. Then add a soft blush circle on each side of the face, just outside the eyes. That is the face done, and already it looks like something friendly is peering out from the blob.

Step 3 — Add the tusks and whiskers

Here is the step that makes a walrus a walrus. From the bottom of the muzzle, one on each side of the middle, draw two long tusks hanging straight down: each one a narrow shape, slightly wider at the top, tapering to a soft rounded point, and curving very gently inward at the tip. They should be about as long as the muzzle is wide.

Then the whiskers. Scatter a few small dots across each half of the muzzle — four or five per side, in a loose cluster. Walrus whiskers are short and bristly, so dots work much better than long lines here. The dots and the tusks together give the walrus its wonderful grumpy-grandpa moustache.

Step 4 — Add the flippers

On each side of the body, low down near the bottom, draw a flipper: a soft rounded shape like a mitten or a paddle, pointing outward and slightly forward, with the rounded end resting on the ground. The flippers should be small compared to the body — a walrus's front flippers are stubby — and they sit where the body meets the ground.

Draw two or three short curved lines at the tip of each flipper for the fingers, if you like. Keep both flippers the same size and at the same height so the walrus sits evenly. They are what stop the blob looking like a potato, so do not skip them.

Step 5 — Add the tail flipper and wrinkles

At the back of the body, just behind one of the flippers, draw the tail flipper: a rounded, fan-like shape peeking out from behind the body, like a small heart or a pair of rounded lobes lying flat on the ground. Only a little of it needs to show. It is a small detail, but it makes the walrus look like a whole animal rather than just a front half.

Then add the wrinkles. Draw two curved lines across the body just below the face, like a couple of smiles stacked under the chin. Walruses have thick, folded necks, and these two lines are all you need to suggest it. Keep them soft and light — they are a hint, not an outline.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Darken the lines you want to keep and erase the light scaffolding underneath — the part of the body hidden behind the flippers, and the bit of body behind the tail flipper. Then color: fill the whole body, face and flippers a warm brown, with the muzzle a slightly lighter tan if you have it, and color the tusks cream or off-white. The nose is dark brown.

Add pink to the blush cheeks and leave the shine dots in the eyes uncolored so they sparkle. Then give your walrus somewhere to be — a slab of pale blue ice, some wavy water, a few snowflakes, a little fish for lunch. Sign your name in the corner; every finished drawing deserves a signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

Tusks that are too short

Tiny tusks look like two teeth, and a walrus with two teeth just looks like a beaver in the wrong color. The long tusks are the walrus's most famous feature and they need room to hang.

Make each tusk about as long as the muzzle is wide, hanging straight down from the bottom of the muzzle. If yours came out short, simply extend them downward with a soft point at the end.

A small, flat muzzle

Beginners often draw a small nose and mouth in the middle of the face, the way they would for a bear. But the puffy muzzle is what gives the walrus its character, and without it the face looks bare.

Draw the muzzle as two big overlapping circles filling most of the lower face, with the nose at the top in the middle and whisker dots scattered across both halves.

Forgetting the flippers

A blob with a face and tusks but no flippers looks like a potato with a moustache. The flippers are small, but they are what turns the shape into an animal.

Add two stubby flippers low on the sides and a small tail flipper at the back. Even tiny ones make the difference.

Troubleshooting

“My walrus looks like a seal”

Add or lengthen the tusks, enlarge the muzzle into two puffy halves with whisker dots, and draw the two neck wrinkles. Those three things separate a walrus from a seal.

“My walrus looks sad”

The eyes are probably too small or the tusks are dragging the face down. Enlarge the eyes, add the shine dots and the blush cheeks, and make sure the muzzle has a gentle upward curve along its bottom edge, like a hidden smile.

“The body looks lumpy”

Smooth the outline into one soft continuous curve, widest at the bottom. The only bumps should be the two flippers and the tail; everything else is one plump shape.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this walrus drawing tutorial for? This is one of the easiest tutorials on the site: one big blob with a face and flippers. It works from about age 4 with a grown-up nearby, and most kids around 6 and up can follow the sheet on their own.

How long should the tusks be? About as long as the muzzle is wide, hanging straight down from the bottom of the muzzle and curving very slightly inward at the tips. Short stubs look like teeth; very long tusks look like an elephant. In between is just right.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser, paper, and crayons or markers in brown for the body and cream or off-white for the tusks. Pink for the blush cheeks is a nice extra.

How is a walrus different from a seal? Tusks and whiskers. A seal has a smooth sleek face; a walrus has a big puffy muzzle covered in whisker dots and two long tusks hanging down. Add those and a few neck wrinkles and nobody will mistake it for a seal.

That is your walrus! Whether it came out sleek and round or gloriously lumpy, you built a whole Arctic animal out of one blob and a moustache — and that belongs on the fridge. Keep the sheet handy, draw a whole colony of walruses sunbathing on the ice, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

More tutorials: All tutorials · How to draw a seal · How to draw a penguin · How to draw a narwhal