This episode of the 100 Days Sketching Challenge takes a closer look at drawing an elephant — the largest land animal on Earth. With its huge ears, long trunk, and mighty tusks, the elephant is a rewarding animal to draw in detail. Parikshet guides you through a full elephant sketch step by step.

🖍️ What You Need

  • Pencil and eraser
  • Grey markers (light and dark)
  • Pink for the inner ears
  • Black pen for outlines

How to Draw an Elephant Step by Step

  1. Draw the head — a large rounded shape. The elephant's head is big and domed at the top.
  2. Add the huge ears — two large fan-shaped ears on each side of the head. African elephants have especially big ears (shaped a bit like the continent of Africa!).
  3. Draw the trunk — a long, thick tube curving down from between the eyes, tapering slightly toward the tip. Add horizontal wrinkle lines along it.
  4. Add the tusks — two curved ivory tusks pointing forward and down from beside the trunk.
  5. Draw the small eyes — elephants have surprisingly small, gentle eyes for such a big animal.
  6. Sketch the large body — a big rounded body behind the head, with a slightly arched back.
  7. Add the thick legs — four sturdy, column-like legs with rounded toenails. Elephant legs are like tree trunks.
  8. Finish with details — a thin tail with a tuft at the end, and wrinkle texture across the skin. Colour grey with pink inner ears.
💡 Parikshet's Tip: The trunk and the big ears are what make an elephant unmistakable. Draw the trunk as a long, thick curving tube with wrinkle lines, and make the ears large and fan-shaped. Get those two features right and your drawing reads as an elephant even before you add the body.

🌟 Did You Know?

An elephant's trunk contains around 40,000 muscles — compared to about 600 in the entire human body! The trunk is used for breathing, smelling, drinking, grabbing food, trumpeting, and even hugging. Elephants are also one of the few animals that can recognise themselves in a mirror, and they show grief, joy, and deep family bonds — they never forget a friend.

Elephant Drawing Key Features

  • Long wrinkled trunk — the most distinctive feature
  • Large fan-shaped ears — bigger on African elephants
  • Curved ivory tusks — pointing forward and down
  • Thick column legs — sturdy like tree trunks

🎯 Try This: African vs Asian Elephant

  1. Draw an African elephant: very large ears, a dipped back, two 'fingers' at the trunk tip.
  2. Draw an Asian elephant: smaller ears, a domed/arched back, one 'finger' at the trunk tip.
  3. Label the differences between them.
  4. You've learned to tell the world's two elephant species apart!