Learn how to draw a seahorse with all its wonderful bumps and textures. A simple step by step tutorial makes it easy for those that want to draw one that looks pretty realistic.
Seahorses are tiny fish that are named for the shape of their head, which looks the like the head of a horse. They can be found in tropical and temperate costal waters. Many can change their color in minutes, from black or gray to bright yellow or orange.
Seahorses are unique because the male seahorse hatches the eggs in a pouch on his belly. When the babies are ready to be born, the male expels them with contractions. He gives birth at night and is ready for the next batch of eggs by morning when his female mate returns. Pretty efficient!
Getting Started with Drawing Guides
The best way to get students off to a good start to any drawing lesson is to show them how to use guides as a reference point.
You may have noticed that all of the tutorials on this site have a dashed line running through the center of each step, both in the horizontal and vertical direction. If students make their own centered lines on their own paper, before drawing, they will have an easy reference to follow.
For instance, as seen in Step 1 below, the big circle for the head centers on the middle line of the paper, and sits just a bit down from the top of the paper. It’s important to get that shape in place before the curve of the the seahorse’s body is added below.
Drawing skills are all about getting the size and placement of lines on paper, so having some visual reference point to get started, will always help anyone learn how to be a little more accurate.
So does that mean students need to get out a ruler to draw a big fat line down the center of their paper before they start? Goodness no, please don’t! That will most likely be hard to erase and distract from any finished art. No, simply fold the sheet of paper in half both ways, make a crease, and unfold. The beauty is that by the time the drawing is done and colored in, the creases will disappear.
And now, on to the seahorse drawing project.
Use the Button below to download a PDF Tutorial
Seahorse Coloring Page
Materials for Seahorse Drawing
- Pencil. The Ticonderoga brand are the most reliable, make nice dark lines when you need them, and are the easiest to erase. Buying the pre-sharpened ones will save busy teachers a lot of time.
- Eraser. Large ones you can hold in your hand do a much better job than just the pencil tip erasers, especially when erasing leftover pencil lines after tracing.
- Black Sharpie Marker. These fine point permanent marker pens make nice black outlines, have a good tip for coloring, and never bleed when they get wet. Use them with good ventilation and add extra paper underneath to protect your tables.
- Prang Crayons. These are a bit softer than other crayons so they sometimes look like oil pastels. They also have a some nice brown shades that Crayola does not have unless you buy their larger boxes.
- Crayola Crayons. The reliable brand that always works well. The 24 pack has some of my favorite golden orange and yellow colors that seem a bit richer and warmer than the ones Prang has.
Directions for Seahorse Drawing Step by Step
Time needed: 1 hour.
Draw a Seahorse in 9 Easy Steps
- Draw circles for the seahorse’s head and large eye.
- Add the back curve of the body.
- Draw the front curve of the body.
- Add the middle belly line.
- Draw the coronet, and pectoral fin.
- Add the long wavy fin on the spine.
- Draw the belly ridges and an ear.
- Add seaweed flowing around.
- Trace with marker and color.
More Seahorse Inspiration
More Fun Ocean Creatures to Draw
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