In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Manatee in 6 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.
Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.
At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Manatee.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Manatee - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Starting drawing a manatee with three quarters of an oval with some bumps for the head.
Step 2: Use a wavy line for the mouth and a circle inside a semi-circle for the eye. Add a very short curve going in from the head to better define the head.
Step 3: For the body, use a large oval shape that goes all the way around to near the bottom of the head, leaving a gap for the fin.
Step 4: Draw the fin coming out of the side of the body. Use an oval as the base and then for the rest of the fin two lines which converge on the left side.
Step 5: To draw the tail, on the bottom and left of the body add an upside-down top half of a heart, with only a slight indent compared to regular heart.
Step 6: Draw the other fin by making a semi-circle on the bottom of the body, just behind the head. Your Manatee is now done! Manatees are often grey if you want to color your manatee, but sometimes they can be brown! If you want to try something different, consider adding some green for algae that has grown on them.
Interesting Facts about Manatees
Although manatees live in the ocean, they are not fish. They are mammals. Marine mammals are different from fish because they need oxygen to survive and they nurse their young. Since they need oxygen, manatees live in coastal waters and rivers.
Did You Know?
- Manatees are also known as sea cows.
- The closest living relative to the manatee is the elephant.
- On average, manatees are about 10 feet long. They weigh about 800 to 1200 pounds.
- Manatees can live to be 60 years old.
- Manatees typically travel at a pace of 5 miles per hour, but they can move as fast as 15 miles per hour.
- Manatees usually live alone or in pairs, but they sometimes also live in groups. These groups usually consist of up to 12 manatees.
- Manatees are endangered of becoming extinct. One species, the Stellar’s sea cow, became extinct in the 1700s. There are laws that now protect manatees from being hunted for food and other goods.
There are three species of manatee: the Florida manatee, the Amazonian manatee, and the West African manatee. There is debate over whether or not the dwarf manatee is in fact a manatee. Some biologists argue that the dwarf manatee is its own species, while others believe that it is a smaller version of the other three species.
How To Draw A Manatee – Step-by-Step Tutorial