Sladjana
There are many incredible animals to see in Africa, and they’re all unique in their own ways. Of all the animals to see in Africa, the giraffe has to be one of the most unique.
They look like fairly regular animals in all but one way, their long necks! It helps them to reach higher leaves to munch on, but it also makes them an impressive sight.
Many people love giraffes because of their unique look and gentle nature, and they also stand out because of their golden spotted fur.
It’s no wonder that many people like to feature them in wildlife art and photography as well.
In this guide, we will be making this famous animal more adorable, as we learn how to draw a cute giraffe. We will cover this in 6 steps, and this will include how you can color it in.
There will also be a section on how you can make this drawing even more unique with your own ideas and additions. There’s a lot to cover and a lot of fun to be had!
So be sure to get your favorite drawing tools out and prepare for an artistic safari as we begin this drawing journey featuring this famous example of African wildlife.
How to Draw A Cute Giraffe – Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
In this guide, we will be creating a stylized version of a giraffe to make it look even cuter. For this reason, the neck will be shorter than a real giraffe’s.
In order to keep things consistent with the design, you can draw a very rough version of this cute giraffe.
Doing this with a pencil and pressing very lightly on the page would be the best way to go about it.
You could even limit it to very basic shapes for the head, neck, body and limbs of the giraffe. This would show you the proportions of the giraffe and then allow you to add finer details with your pen later.
For now, we will draw the head of the giraffe, and if you were to draw a rough shape then you’d be best off going for an oval shape.
When you’re ready to draw the actual outline, it will be drawn with some simple lines.
The upper portion of the head is thinner than the lower half, as you will see in the reference image. The chin will be its own little section that’s drawn as a rounded U shape.
There is a tuft of hair at the top of the giraffe’s head, and this can be drawn using some curved lines that culminate in some pointy tips.
This should be a solid shape, and we will add additional elements to it in future steps, so try to make sure that you allow for enough space to draw the giraffe’s face later on.
Then, we can move on to step 2 of the guide!
Step 2: Draw the ears and horns for this cute giraffe
We have the head outline for this drawing of a cute giraffe, and now we can add some additional elements to it.
These will be small details, but they’re important if we want this giraffe to look more complete.
Much like with a real giraffe, this version will have some large ears on its head. The ears will be thin at the base and then get thicker the further out they go, ending in some pointy tips.
Once you have drawn the outlines of the ears, we can draw the inner ear portions.
These are drawn using some simple curved lines to form the inner ears, and these will stick out even more when we color them in later.
If you wanted to add even more personality to the image, you could do something like having one of the ears flop down. Whether you do that is up to you, but either way the ears will be done!
Then, there is one more element to add in this step. If you look at a real giraffe, you will see that they have two small horns on their head.
These are rather unusual looking, as they are small with a rounded portion on top. You can draw each one as its own shape with some slightly curved lines with a circular line atop each one.
That’s all there is to it for this step, so let’s take on step 3 when you’re happy with how it’s looking so far.
Step 3: Add the facial features and the start of the neck
You can’t have a giraffe without a long neck, it just doesn’t work without it! That’s why we will be adding it in this step of our guide on how to draw a cute giraffe.
First, we have a few facial features to draw, so let’s take care of those first. Luckily, they will be very easy to draw. We shall draw the eyes first, and these should be very simple.
All you need to do is draw two black dots on the face. Then, look at that small portion we drew at the base of the face earlier.
This will be the snout of the cute giraffe, and we will add some small dots for the nostrils and a few more little lines for some wrinkles on the snout.
Once you have finished these facial features, it’s time to draw that famous neck! The line on the right will be very easy.
All you need to do is draw a fairly straight line down from the base of the head. It will have a very slight curve to it, but it should appear to be a mostly straight line.
The line on the left will be a bit different. This one will start off pretty straight, but then it will curve sharply to the left.
This sharp curve will be the giraffe’s back, and so you will see where the neck ends. You could make the neck a bit longer if you wanted to, but we think it looks cuter with a shorter neck.
Now, it’s time for step 4!
Step 4: Now draw the legs and the rest of the outline
In this step, we will finish off the outline for this cute giraffe by adding the legs, belly and tail.
Then, we will be ready to add some final touches and details in step 5, but first let’s add the final elements of the outline.
The first thing we will draw in this step will be the front legs, and these will extend into the outline of the belly.
They’re simple, and can be drawn with some slightly curved lines that have a small line near the middle of the knee.
The hooves will be curved lines that flare out a bit, and then have a small portion at the base that is flat. Then, the giraffe’s belly will be drawn using a curved line.
The back legs will connect both to the line that you drew for the giraffe’s back in the previous step and the belly. You will also see that the back legs are a little different to the front legs.
They have an additional section near the top of the legs, and there will be a sharper curve near the top of the back of this leg. It may sound confusing, but you’ll see what we mean when you look at the reference image.
Finally for this step, draw the short mane of the giraffe on the back of its neck. Once you have added that, we can move on to step 5.
Step 5: Draw the final details for this cute giraffe
Now you’re ready to finish off this drawing of a cute giraffe with some final details.
This will also be the step where you can add some of your own details and ideas, but let’s focus on those final details first.
The main thing we will be adding in this step will be the spots covering this giraffe. They will go all over the body, and each one will be an irregular rounded shape.
You don’t have to place them exactly where we did, and you can draw them in different shapes if you want to as well.
At this point you can also erase any pencil lines that remain on the drawing, as they won’t be needed anymore.
Now that you have added these spots, you can add any additional details you like! For one idea, you could draw another giraffe for this one to hang out with.
Or, if you’re feeling creative then you could draw cartoon versions of other famous African animals such as lions, leopards or maybe an elephant.
Another great way to add to this image would be to draw a background setting. If you look up pictures of African savannahs and landscapes, you would find tons of inspiration for the background.
Or, you could go for some other background that you can think of. It’s up to you, and there are so many ways to go about it!
What other ideas do you have that you could use to finish off this drawing?
Step 6: Now, finish off with some color for this cute giraffe
You’ve reached the final step of this guide, and now it’s time to finish off this cute giraffe drawing with some colors. In our example, we went with a fairly dark, muted color scheme for the giraffe.
These colors are still pretty accurate to the colors of a real giraffe, but there are variations that you could go for.
For example, if you wanted a more striking image, then you could go for some more vibrant colors.
Maybe the fur could be a bright yellow colored with some colored pens or markers, for example.
Or, you could go for a more classic look with some watercolor paints that will keep the colors nice and muted.
It’s all up to you and how you prefer this picture to look. It can be as stylized or as realistic as you want it to be.
You don’t even need to stick to realistic colors at all if you wanted to use some creative, vibrant colors for the giraffe’s fur. There are no wrong answers when it comes to coloring in your drawing!
It can also be fun to mix different art tools and mediums together to make the colors look even more unique. Using some craft supplies can also be a way to bring some more fun to your picture.
It’s all up to you, and we can’t wait to see how you choose to color this cute giraffe.
Your Cute Giraffe Drawing is Complete!
We really hope that you enjoyed working through the six steps of this guide on how to draw a cute giraffe! Even though this design is cute and simple, it still had some surprisingly tricky aspects.
Following the steps of the guide and taking it slowly is the best way to overcome these tricky aspects, and we know you can do it! When you’ve mastered it, it’s then up to you to take it further.
You can do this with your own details, extra elements, color choices and other additions. There are so many ways that you can make your drawing even more unique, so let your imagination run wild!
Then, you can go ahead and share your finished drawing on our Facebook and Pinterest pages for us to see.
This would be the best way to show off your amazing artwork, and we would love to see it!
It will be great to see how you interpreted and added to this drawing of a cute giraffe.
Here Is A Cute Giraffe Drawing To Inspire You!
Giraffes certainly are some unique looking creatures, but that only makes them more interesting! It can also make them a bit trickier to draw, but our Freddy has helped to make it easier.
He has created this cute giraffe drawing for kids to help you as you work on your own drawing. Freddy did an amazing job on this page, as he really captured the dignity of a giraffe.
He went the extra mile by creating a savannah setting for the page. Even though it’s simple, it’s immediately recognizable as a giraffe’s natural habitat.
When you draw your own giraffe, you can work with the background to add even more detail if you want. There are so many amazing animals on the African savannah, so you could draw some more cartoon animals as well.
Which animals would you have hanging out with this giraffe?
