How to draw an octopus — easy step by step drawing ideas

Of all the octopus drawing ideas I've tried with young artists, this one wins every time, because learning how to draw an octopus turns out to be gloriously forgiving. There's one dome for the head, two big friendly eyes, and eight wiggly lines that genuinely cannot be drawn wrong. A wobbly tentacle isn't a mistake — it's a tentacle doing what tentacles do.

Here's what you'll have in about fifteen minutes: a round-headed, rosy-cheeked little octopus waving from the middle of your page, drawn from shapes you already know how to make. Every single step has its own picture below it, so nobody has to squint at a paragraph wondering what "add the suckers" is supposed to look like. Look, copy, carry on.

I love teaching this one to children who insist they can't draw. Sea creatures are the great equalizer — nobody in the room has ever met an octopus in person, so nobody can tell you yours looks wrong. Grab a pencil, any scrap of paper, and let's fill the page with the friendliest eight-armed creature in the ocean.

Octopus drawing ideas: the 6 easy steps

Step 1 — Draw the rounded head

Start with a large dome shape in the upper middle of your paper: a generous curve over the top, and a soft, almost-straight line closing it along the bottom. Think of a hot air balloon, or half an egg resting on a table. Press lightly, because this outline is scaffolding and a little of it gets tidied away at the end.

Make the dome bigger than feels sensible. This head is where the whole personality lives — two enormous eyes, a little smile, a pair of blushing cheeks — and a cramped dome forces you into pea-sized features. Fill roughly the top third of your page and leave the bottom two thirds empty, because eight tentacles need somewhere to wiggle.

Step 2 — Add the big eyes and smile

In the lower half of the dome, draw two large circles side by side with a small gap between them. Be brave with the size — each eye can be nearly a third as wide as the head. Then add a small curved smile underneath, no wider than the gap between the eyes. That's the entire face.

Set the eyes low, leaving a big rounded forehead above them. Features placed low on a large head is the universal baby-animal cuteness signal, and it works exactly as well on a sea creature as it does on a puppy. Inside each eye, leave a tiny white dot uncolored when you get to step 6 — that sparkle is the difference between "a drawing of an octopus" and "an octopus that likes you."

Step 3 — Draw the first four tentacles

From the flat bottom edge of the head, draw four tentacles hanging down — two on the left, two on the right. Draw each one as a long, lazy S curve rather than a straight line, thick where it meets the head and tapering to a thin point at the tip. Then curl just the last little bit of each tip, like the end of a ribbon.

Vary them on purpose. One tentacle can wave up high, one can flop down low, one can curl inward across the body. Identical tentacles look like a lampshade with fringe; different ones look like a creature that's in the middle of doing something. This is the step where your octopus gets a mood.

Step 4 — Add the other four tentacles

Now add four more tentacles, tucking them behind and between the ones you already drew. Because they sit further back, they can be shorter and simpler — some of them will disappear behind a front tentacle halfway down, and that overlap is exactly what makes the drawing look three-dimensional instead of flat.

Count as you go, out loud if you're drawing with a child: octo means eight. You don't need to see all eight clearly from the front — six obvious ones plus two peeking out at the sides reads perfectly as an octopus. Fan them outward so the whole group makes a soft triangle, wide at the bottom, and your octopus will feel beautifully balanced on the page.

Step 5 — Add the suckers and cheeks

Along the underside of the front tentacles, add rows of small circles for the suckers — bigger near the head, getting tinier toward each curled tip. Only decorate the tentacles that face you. Suckers on every arm turns the drawing busy, and the ones at the back are supposed to be hidden anyway.

Then two round cheeks, one just under each eye, and your octopus goes from friendly to irresistible. If you'd like a bit more scene, this is the moment for three or four little bubbles floating up from one tentacle tip, or a few wavy lines behind the head to suggest water. Small additions, big difference.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Trace over your favourite lines with firmer pencil pressure or a fine black marker, then gently erase the leftover scaffolding — especially the bit of head outline hiding behind the front tentacles. This is the most satisfying ten seconds of the whole tutorial: the construction lines vanish and an octopus is suddenly looking straight at you.

Then color. Coral pink with paler pink suckers is the classic and it always looks cheerful, but purple, turquoise and sunset orange are all excellent octopuses too — real ones change color constantly, so absolutely nothing is off limits. Leave that tiny white sparkle in each eye, add a blush to the cheeks, and if you want the full underwater scene, wash a pale blue behind everything and let a few bubbles rise to the top of the page.

Common mistakes to avoid

Drawing the head too small

A small dome is the most common octopus problem, because beginners instinctively save room for eight tentacles and end up with a head like a marble. The trouble is that all the charm lives in that head, and a marble has no room for big eyes.

Aim for a head that's roughly as wide as the whole tentacle spread, filling about a third of your page. Cartoon octopuses are deliberately top-heavy, and that oversized head is precisely what makes them read as cute rather than creepy.

Making every tentacle identical

Eight matching curves evenly spaced around the bottom edge produces something that looks more like a jellyfish costume than a living creature. Symmetry feels safe while you're drawing, but on the page it reads as stiff.

Give each tentacle its own job: one waving, one curling inward, one flopping down, one nearly straight. The variety costs no extra effort at all and it's the single biggest upgrade available in this tutorial.

Covering the whole octopus in suckers

Suckers are delightful in moderation and overwhelming in bulk. Once every tentacle is packed with circles from top to bottom, the eye has nowhere to rest and the drawing starts to look like bubble wrap.

Keep them on the two or three tentacles closest to the front, fading them out toward the tips. The contrast between decorated front arms and clean back arms is what makes the octopus look designed instead of scribbled.

Troubleshooting

"My octopus looks like a mushroom"

The tentacles are almost certainly too short and too straight. Lengthen them until they're at least as long as the head is tall, and put a proper bend in each one. A mushroom has a stem; an octopus has eight ribbons.

"The tentacles all crashed into each other"

Draw them in order of distance instead of left to right: the two front tentacles first, then the pair beside them, then the back ones tucked in last. Each new tentacle simply stops when it reaches one you've already drawn, and the overlaps sort themselves out automatically.

"The face looks strange"

Check the eye height. Eyes in the middle of the dome read as adult, and eyes too near the bottom read as squashed — you want them in the lower half but with a clear rounded forehead above. Also shrink the mouth: a small curved smile looks sweet, while a wide one reads as a grimace.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this octopus drawing tutorial for? It suits kids 5 and up with a little help, and most children 7 and older can follow all six steps on their own. An octopus is built from one dome and eight wiggly lines, so there are no tricky proportions to get wrong.

How many tentacles should an octopus have? Eight — that's what the "octo" in octopus means. In a front-facing cartoon you usually see about six clearly with two peeking out from behind, and that reads perfectly as eight to anyone looking at the page.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser and paper are all you truly need. Coral pink, purple and turquoise crayons make the final step especially fun, and a pale blue wash behind everything instantly turns your octopus into an underwater scene.

How do I make the tentacles look curly instead of stiff? Draw each one as a long S curve rather than a straight line, thick where it joins the head and thin at the tip. Curling just the last little bit of each tip upward is the single change that makes the whole octopus look bouncy and alive.

You did it! One dome, two big eyes and eight curly ribbons later, there's an octopus waving up at you from the page. Stick it on the fridge, give it a coral reef to live in tomorrow, and remember: every artist you've ever admired started exactly like this — one round, rosy-cheeked, thoroughly happy octopus at a time.

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