How To Draw Dumbo
Learn to draw Dumbo the elephant in less than 10 minutes using these three steps from Quickdraw: sketching with a pencil; inking with pen; and colouring in. Grab your art kit and start drawing Disney's most famous and loveable cartoon elephant. It's easy to do and will be lots of fun! This drawing guide is suitable for boys and girls aged 5+.
Step 1: Drawing Dumbo with pencil
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Roll up, roll up Quickdraw crew, in today’s online art tutorial we’re going to be sketching Walt Disney’s Dumbo the Elephant!
Art materials ready, you’ll need a pencil, eraser, black marker and some coloured pens or pencils.
Golly, where do we start when drawing Dumbo the Elephant? The head is as good a place as any.
Mark out a circle - draw around a bottle lid or cup if that helps.
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Extend out to the left with Dumbo’s trunk by sketching a curved line with a small spiral at the end. Now join this up with a line from the bottom of the head.
The spiral means that the end of the trunk is curled up. But right now, that is looking more like a duck beak.
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Then comes Dumbo’s enormous floppy ear, which he uses to fly around the circus. The ear can be as big as you like, and its two ends are attached to the right side of the head.
We will give it a lift at the tip so we can pretend Dumbo is mid-flight.
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In the movie, Dumbo is sometimes seen wearing a cute yellow hat. If you want to add this detail into your artwork, then mark out a short box like this.
This wiggly shape that we are drawing now is the neck frill. And it’s wiggly because the wind will be blowing right through it whilst Dumbo is flying.
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Now we can draw the rest of our elephant’s body, imagine a semi circle starting from Dumbo’s ear and curving all the way over past the bottom of the middle of his ear.
That gives us some space to draw a front leg under the frill pointing down, then the other front leg kicking forward.
These will only be short legs, and more in proportion with Dumbo’s round body than his over-sized ears.
Because of the angle at which Dumbo is flying we only need to show one back legs, and this can be tucked in at the back.
Don’t forget his cute little tail.
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Ok, some minor guidelines now on the face to help us mark out where the mouth and eyes should appear.
One eye will sit just above the mouth, resting on a dimple. The other eye is narrower, and sits on the edge of Dumbo’s face.
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If you remember correctly, Dumbo needs something magical to help him fly - a feather!
Add this small shape to poke out of his trunk.
Aha, we almost forgot Dumo’s other ear. This will look like a small aeroplane wing sticking out.
Then the final piece of this magnificent Disney art is the top of Dumbo’s hat. A floppy shape like so.
Step 2: Inking Dumbo with pen
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Now we are ready to grab our black marker and ink over those outside pencil lines.
We also need to trace around Dumbo’s facial features, like eyes, mouth and eyebrows too.
There is tons of detail here so take your time and have fun with it!
Oh wow, check that out - what a great drawing. Awesome work guys.
Step 3: Colouring in Dumbo
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Now, the last part and possibly the best of all - colouring in!
When colouring in Disney’s Dumbo the Elephant you will need a shade of grey for his head, trunk, body and legs.
Most elephants in the wild are grey but you may find some on safari or in a zoo that have a hint of brown, black or pink.
Remember, elephants are highly intelligent animals and should always be admired for their grace and beauty.
Time for some pink now, this is for the inside of Dumbo’s ear.
For the frill, we will be using an orange and yellow combination just like in the cartoon movie. But if you don’t have those colours, that’s fine - any shade will do.
More of the yellow for Dumbo’s hat. And that’s a wrap!
Helpful Dumbo drawing tips
Which age is this Dumbo drawing tutorial for?
Boys and girls of any age can try their hand at this cartoon drawing tutorial. For younger children, the shape is the main focus - make sure your elephant has a round body, a trunk and two floppy ears. Children who have more experience in drawing may enjoy adding the small details like Dumbo's face, hat, and feather poking out of his trunk.
If I mess up can I start again?
You can have as many attempts as you like, and remember there is no such thing as a perfect drawing! Disney animals' bodies and faces are sometimes tricky to pull off, which is why sketching with pencil first gives you the chance to erase any lines that don't quite look right. Keep trying and you'll get there!
What other Disney characters can I draw?
If your kids loved drawing Dumbo the elephant then don't stop now. At Quickdraw there are more drawing ideas to dive into, similar to this one. How about sketching Winnie the Pooh, or a Disney style puppy?
