Caroline
Hippos are some of the most impressive animals that you can see in the African wilderness!
These massive creatures like to laze about in the water and lie in the sun, but they can also be dangerous when provoked.
That being said, they are also incredibly cute when babies, and we will be depicting a baby version in this guide on how to draw a cartoon hippo!
Throughout the 6 steps of this guide, you will be taken through various steps that will show you how easy recreating this adorable hippo can be! You will also discover just how fun it can be as well.
So let’s dive into this step-by-step guide on how to draw a cartoon hippo in just 6 fun and easy steps!
How to Draw A Cartoon Hippo – Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
This guide will begin with the head outline of this cute hippo!
Hippos have rather distinctive head and face shapes, and even though this is a cartoon portrayal we will still try to keep it realistically proportioned.
The top of the head is rounded, and two small curved ears poke off of the sides. The jaw and bottom of the head will also be drawn using some curved lines, as shown in the reference image.
For the top of the mouth, we will create a nice smile by adding some wavy, curved lines above the jaw. That’s all there is to it for now, so let’s proceed!
Step 2 – Now, draw some facial details for this cartoon hippo
In this next step of our guide on how to draw a cartoon hippo, we will be adding some facial features for this adorable hippo.
First, draw some oval shapes with curved line details on the inner edges for the large nostrils on the nose.
Then, add some small rounded square shapes onto the roof of the mouth for some teeth.
We will then focus on the eyes, and these are quite detailed in order to give this hippo a lovely facial expression.
The eyes themselves are rounded with a black circle within a slightly larger circle inside.
Then, we added curved lines between and above the eyes to finish off the facial expression. Try your best to follow the reference image as closely as you can for this step!
Step 3 – Next, add the front legs
Moving away from the face for now, we will be adding some front legs to your cartoon hippo drawing in this third step.
Hippos in real life have relatively short, squat legs, and we will be staying true to that in this depiction.
Use some slightly curvy lines for the outlines of the legs. The knees will be rather curved with some line details around them to show how they bend.
Lastly for this step, we will then add the toenails to the feet. A hippo’s toenails are rather thick and rounded, and this is how we will be drawing them in this step.
Once the legs and feet are complete, we can move to the fourth part of the guide!
Step 4 – Now, draw the body for this cartoon hippo
Now it’s time to start adding the body for this hippo! This will be quite a simple aspect to draw, but it will really help to bring this drawing together nicely.
First, we will draw the belly for this hippo. This will be made up of a curved line with a smaller curved one near the end.
We will also see one of the back legs on the other side of the body underneath the belly.
The back of the hippo can be drawn using a single, large curved line that extends from the ear. Then, we will be ready to start adding the final details and elements in the next step of the guide!
Step 5 – Add the final details to your cartoon hippo drawing
Before we get to the final step of this guide on how to draw a cartoon hippo, we will first be adding the rest of the outline.
This means that we will be drawing the back leg. This leg will look rather similar to the front legs, but it will be a bit more bent.
Otherwise, it will also be short and squat with small, thick toenails at the end.
With this final leg drawn, you can then add some details of your own! These could include some background details.
If you wish to keep the background realistic, you could look up some pictures of the African wilderness as inspiration.
You could also go for a more stylized background if you prefer, so let your creativity flow and see what happens!
Step 6 – Finish off your drawing with color
Our final step of this cartoon hippo drawing will be all about finishing it off with some color! In our reference image, we showed you how we would color this drawing.
We used various shades of light greys to color the majority of the hippo. By using these different shades, you can create some shading and texture for the drawing to make it look even better.
How you color this drawing is up to you, though! You could use many different colors for this drawing, and it all depends on your personal preference.
You can also change up the art tools and mediums that you use, so have some fun experimenting to see what you end up with!
Do this to take your cartoon hippo drawing to the next level
Make this adorable cartoon hippo sketch even better with the help of these fun tips!
This adorable drawing of a cartoon hippo looks like it is portraying a baby hippo. One way you could make it even more adorable would be by adding some more baby hippos to the scene!
You could do this by following through the guide again and adding a few more of these cute creatures.
You could even change their facial expressions and poses to make it look like they are playing together.
What sorts of activities would these hippos be enjoying in this scene?
Baby hippos are taken care of by their mothers, so it could also be fun to add an adult hippo to your artwork. This adult would look similar to the baby except for the fact that it would be much larger.
If you need some help with drawing this adult hippo, you could look up some photos of real adult hippos. You might even find some cartoon hippos you could use to help you as you draw!
Another fun way of populating this cartoon hippo drawing would be by adding some other cartoon animals. Even if you stick to African animals, you would have so many to choose from.
For example, maybe there could be some baby giraffes, elephants or lions. Anything you choose will look so cute!
Once again, you could use photos of the real animals you choose to help you as you draw. Which animals would you like to add to finish off this image?
Lastly, it would finish off your cartoon hippo sketch wonderfully if you added a background. One way of doing this would be to show this cartoon hippo doing what hippos love, relaxing in the water!
You could use some mediums such as watercolor paints to create some soft water effects around the cartoon hippo. Then, you could obscure certain parts of the drawing to make it look like the hippo is submerged.
What other settings could you use for this hippo?
Your Cartoon Hippo Drawing is Complete!
The picture that we worked on in this guide on how to draw a cartoon hippo may have seemed intimidating to take on.
Even so. we hope that the steps showed you how easy it can be! Taking on a new drawing challenge is always made easier by helpful steps, and that allows you to focus on the fun of creating.
Then, you can add your own creative touches by adding details or using your own color and background choices. We can’t wait to see how you finish off this drawing!
If you had a great time on this guide, you can find your next one to take on when you visit our website. There are plenty there with more on the way, so keep checking in!
You can show off your wonderful cartoon hippo drawing by sharing your artwork on our Facebook and Pinterest pages for us to see!
