How to draw an alligator clip art

Learn how to illustrate a beautiful alligator clip art filled with colorful effects and easy to create details. If you are looking for a more challenging animal to draw and want to create fun digital effects inside an image, then this lesson is definitely for you! :)

I will show you how to draw this ferocious creature using simple shapes, lines and colors. Before proceeding to the step-by-step tutorial, let's learn a little bit more about this animal ...

The nose consists of two small circular shapes.
Long lines are required to create the jaw and the mouth.
Eyes are made from circles. Notice the shape of the forehead.
Cheeks are round and large.
Spikes are visible on the back of the character.
The tail is long, pointed and covered with more spikes.
Bright patterns are located below the tail.
Feet are large and fingers are sharp.
More bright patterns can be seen on the stomach.
The hand is strong and gifted with long nails.
Teeth are visible below the mouth.

Cool! Now let's proceed to the tutorial so that we can sketch and draw this adorable cartoon character ...

step 1 - Adding a few elements to guide us

First, let's sketch a few shapes to help us create a template that will be used to draw accurate proportions. This step is crucial to get is right (although we can modify anything throughout the process).

The head is made from a large oval shape. Two rectangles are used to illustrate the jaw and the neck. The cheeks are done using a large oval shape. Then, you can represent the body with a very large oval shape, add rectangles for the feet and create the tail using a simple curved line.

step 2 - drawing the character using pointed lines

It's now time to draw our beautiful alligator clip art using shapes created in the previous step. Don't forget to add two small circles on top of the head and add more curved lines on the mouth. The hand is also made from small curved lines while the tail is illustrated with two long lines. When you are done, you can erase all orange shapes.

step 3 - adding more features inside the creature

Both eyes and pupils are done using circles. The nose is made from two smaller circular shapes. Nails are done using tiny triangles and long pointed lines are sketch to separate the patch found on the chest from the rest of the body. You can also draw more lines inside the tails and the feet to complete this step.

step 4 - triangles and more lines are needed!

Create the teeth and all spikes found on the back of the alligator using small triangles. Short curved lines are also drawn on the chest, below the tail and inside the feet of the alligator clip art. We are now done for the drawing aspect of the lesson. Let's add some colors!

step 5 - Green is the color to use!

Of course, alligators are usually filled with a saturated green color. The patches found below the mouth and tail as well as the one found on the chest can be brighter. The nose is black while pupils are brown. I also modify the color of all strokes: they are now filled with a dark green color instead of black. Don't forget to also use a darker green color for all spikes located on the back of the animal.

step 6 - Light gradient fill to give depth

Are you using a vector application? Great! You can use the gradient fill tool to create more volume inside the body, the nose, the pupils and the spikes. You can also add a gradient color on all light patches as shown in the illustration below.

step 7 - adding shadows to increase the contrast

See all shapes below surrounded by a blue outline? These are (new) dark green shapes filled with transparency to create a subtle result. These new shapes are located around the mouth and the jaw, below the arm and on both feet. Our cute alligator clip art is visually more interesting than ever!

step 8 - highlights to add even more volume

Dark shapes are nice to create shadows and add more depth to a drawing, but what about adding highlights (or brighter elements)? In the alligator clip art found below, new shapes (surrounded by a pink outline) colored in white were added on the forehead, below the mouth, on the chest, the arm, the tail, the knee and below the tail. Once again, all these shapes are filled with transparency to create a subtle effect.

A beautiful alligator clip art to work with

This is the final character once all steps are completed. All techniques described above can be used to create any animal or character you like. Indeed, using simple shapes and some great effects (like transparency) we are able to convert a simple alligator clip art into a beautiful cartoon illustration.

Time to unleash your creativity!

Now that you know how to sketch and draw the character found here, don't hesitate to draw another version using your own style. You can also try more animals from the same series here and learn more tips and techniques to help you draw beautiful and adorable cartoon animals. :)