Hobbies And Interests
Instructions
Draw an oval with a long horizontal axis. It should be about 2 inches wide and 1 inch high. If your oval looks like a football resting on its side without the pointy ends, you're on the right track.
Draw a 1.5-inch line at a slight downwards diagonal angle, starting from the back-top portion of your oval extending away from it. Abruptly finish the end of the line with a diagonal upstroke, about 1/4 of an inch long. This short segment is the beginning of the top of your shark's tail.
Sketch in a 1.5 inch diagonal line from the back bottom part of the oval, approaching your first diagonal line as if the two were going to meet to form a triangle. At about the same point as the top diagonal line, finish your bottom diagonal line with a short diagonal downstroke, about 1/4 of an inch long once again. Instead of making the downstroke line perfectly straight, complete it with a small hook that points outward, towards the bottom edge of your paper.
Pencil in a downward-sloping diagonal line from the top-front portion and outside of the oval, about 1 inch long. Draw a 3/4-inch upward-sloping line from the bottom front of the oval that approaches the first without touching it. Connect the two with a wavy diagonal line that forms the shape of the shark's mouth.
Add the shark's tail details. Extend each of the tail lines by about 3/4 of an inch and connect them at the ends with a wavy vertical line. Starting from the upper tip of the shark's newly formed tail, draw a gentle backwards "s" curve that ends where the shark's tail meets the bottom of his body. This line adds a realistic, three-dimensional feel to your sketch.
Draw the shark's fins. Pencil in a triangular dorsal fin in the middle of the shark's back. Draw the triangle roughly, as if it's leaning backwards to make it look more like a fin. Sketch a smaller triangle on the shark's back, halfway between the large dorsal fin and the shark's tail. This triangle should be about half the height and width of the first one you drew.
Add a set of two small, rectangular fins on the bottom of the shark's body, directly below the small triangular fin you drew on its back. Draw a second set about 1 inch ahead of the first. Draw the rectangles on a slight diagonal, as if they're being pulled backwards as the shark swims forward in the water.
Sketch a third triangular fin just ahead of the shark's main dorsal fin, but closer to the bottom of his body. The point of the triangle should face the bottom edge of your paper. The fin should be a bit smaller than the first dorsal fin you drew, but not quite as small as the second dorsal fin closer to the tail. Start drawing the triangle about 1/8 of an inch above the bottom line of the oval. Imagine that you're drawing an upside-down elf hat with its tip leaning backwards.
Erase the outline of the oval. Draw a small circle for the shark's eye. Add an open, frowning mouth. Draw in about five 1/8-inch lines with slight curves directly next to each other, starting about 1 inch back from the point of the shark's nose and positioned between the mouth and the eye. These small lines are the shark's gills.
Shade your shark using either your pencil or colored pencil crayons. Because sharks are usually lit from above, make the back of the shark look a bit lighter than its sides. The edges of the shark's fins should be darkest, gradually getting lighter as you shade towards their centers. Make the gill slits themselves very dark, but shading should quickly become lighter as you move from the gill slit to the piece of skin just before the next gill slit.