How to Draw A Hippo

A small tutorial to help you learn how to draw a hippo, one of earth's largest animal. Indeed, there are many other animals that are larger and bigger than the hippo, but this fun animal is still intimidating and really heavy.

Using only six easy steps, I'll show you how to create a fun version of this cartoon animal without drawing complex elements. The illustration below should give you a good idea of the final result once all colors are added.

Step 1

Great! Let's begin with the creation of the head using a large oval shape. When you are done, you can draw the jaw/mouth area using a similar shape used to illustrate the head.

Step 2

Next, you can sketch the body and the legs. For the body, simply use a large circle (slightly larger than the one used to create the head). The legs are short and made of small rectangles. Back legs can be placed slightly higher. 

Step 3

Cool. The tail is made of a simple triangular shape. The eyes are represented by two large circles. You can also add large pupils using circular shapes. Make sure these pupils are placed closer to the middle of the face like shown below. 

Step 4

When you are ready, draw the ears using a long curved line. The mouth is simply made of a line with pointed ends. The nose is sketched with two large dots placed on the shape drawn to illustrate the jaw. 

Step 5

Finally, you can add another curved line inside each ear. The pupils are also filled with a single oval shape. On the legs, you can draw small circular shapes.

Step 6

Good job! This is the final result without any colors. Outlines are simple and the cartoon character is mostly made of simple basic shapes. 

You can try a side version if you don't feel like illustrating the front hippo found on this page (or if you simply want to try something new and different!). Enjoy! 

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