Can drawing a sea turtle be difficult? The short answer: of course, not. Just look at these amazing tutorials below!
Sea turtles are one of the more wholesome and oldest creatures of the sea. They’re so old, in fact, their ancestors coexisted with the dinosaurs!
There are several types of sea turtles. Some are herbivores that love to graze on seagrass and algae, while others like to vary their diet with crabs and jellyfish.
While there are different types, all have an important role to play: maintaining a balanced ecosystem so everyone can share the ocean!
Let’s dive into these sea turtle drawings!
Essential Materials
- Drawing materials
- Sketch pad (100 sheets)
4 Basic Sea Turtles
I’ve prepared some plain sea turtles for beginners. No prior drawing experience is required to make these four basic sea turtles.
1. Flatback Sea Turtle
First on the list is a flatback turtle. Now I’m not entirely sure if this is a true flatback, but because of the 2D perspective it might as well earn that “flat” title!
Harriet Muller gets straight to the point with the drawing, aided by a round instrument to achieve that perfect circle. Don’t worry, I won’t consider it cheating.
2. Turtle Drawn with Shapes
The best way to prep those little fingers for kindergarten or elementary school is by following guides like this one by DrawinGeek.
Your little ones may mess up that oblong shell, and they may add a line too many on the carapace, but it’s nevertheless a great way to jumpstart their fine motor skills.
If the jagged lines prove to be bothersome, now is the time to introduce your little ones to the instrument known as the ruler.
3. No-Fuss Sea Turtle Drawing
Novices must advance to the next level at some point. I believe this nine-step sea turtle drawing by How To Draw For Kids is not a bad next step.
It’s a swimming brown turtle, as viewed and drawn from the side.
4. Easy Yet Detailed Sea Turtle
Let’s try to improve our attention to detail with Mister Brush’s fine tutorial.
The particulars added to this sea turtle drawing aren’t too taxing—just some wrinkles to denote this elderly turtle’s age, and a handful of hexagonal patterns your kids have scribbled countless times in other drawings.
4 Sea Turtles for Intermediate Artists
Moving on to more challenging sketches, here are four sea turtles that intermediate artists will appreciate.
5. Plain Sea Turtle
Sea turtles have adapted to life in water. As such, their limbs are shaped in a way that’s more efficient for swimming.
These flippers, illustrated perfectly by Drawing123, also allow them to propel their bodies more effectively in the water.
6. Sea Turtle in Shallow Waters
Despite spending most of their time underwater, sea turtles are still reptiles—they must surface once in a while for air.
That’s why there are only a few sea turtles that venture into the deep seas. This green sea turtle by Art Projects For Kids stays in shallow waters.
7. Blushing Sea Turtle
Depending on the species, a momma sea turtle can lay more than 150 eggs at a time.
This female sea turtle drawing shared by Drawing Howtos is probably returning to the ocean after a successful nesting—the process of coming to shore, digging a nest in the sand, and depositing the eggs.
8. Six-Step Sea Turtle Drawing
Hello Artsy combines efficiency and detail in their Hawksbill sea turtle drawing.
Within six uncomplicated steps, the artist presents us with an excellent illustration of this spongivore—an animal that feeds on sponges, that is. (Watch your back, SpongeBob).
3 Cartoon Sea Turtles
Children won’t have any difficulty in drawing these turtles, especially when they’re sketched in a familiar style: cartoon.
9. How To Draw a Cartoon Sea Turtle
We can learn a thing or two about independence from sea turtles. As soon as they hatch, sea turtles must race their way to the ocean without any protection or guidance from an adult.
This turtle by How2DrawAnimals is one of the lucky ones that have reached the water safely; one of the few who might live up to 50 years if we continue our efforts to clean our oceans.
10. Playful Turtle
Just look how happy this sea turtle Preeti Arts has made.
This would be an accurate depiction of a real-life sea turtle… if it weren’t for all the pollutants and fishing gear that devastate the habitats of these amazing animals.
11. Descending Into the Depths
Here’s another sea turtle of the Hawksbill variety. These sponge-loving reptiles earned their name due to its mouth resembling the beak of a hawk.
An easy way to distinguish the species is to look for the brown to yellow coloration, along with black spots on its face and flippers, as shown in Let’s Draw That‘s video tutorial.
3 Adorable Sea Turtle (Kawaii)
Sea turtles are very cute, especially the baby ones. If you aren’t convinced of that fact, refer to the next drawings.
12. Happy Turtle
An animal drawing with an abnormally sized head and petite body? There’s no mistaking it: it’s drawn in a kawaii style!
Besides featuring kawaii characteristics, Winnicorn also adds a healthy amount of heart shapes all over the turtle’s carapace.
There can never be enough love for sea turtles, after all.
Explore the world of kawaii with these kawaii Perler beads patterns.
13. Squirt from Finding Dory
Finding Nemo became an instant classic the moment it premiered, and it has cemented its legacy as one of Disney’s best ocean adventures.
A baby sea turtle named Squirt made a minor appearance in the film, where we see him reunite with his dad in the vast expanse of the deep ocean.
In another universe, it would’ve been Squirt searching for his dad instead of Marlin Nemo. Draw So Cute always manages to melt our hearts with their designs.
14. Baby Kawaii Sea Turtle
A group of sea turtle eggs is called a “cluster”. This one by We Draw Animals is probably from a cluster that managed to break out of its shell.
3 Realistic Sea Turtles
15. How To Draw a Green Sea Turtle
Sea turtles can’t retreat inside their shells. In exchange, these agile swimmers have evolved their streamlined carapace and paddle-shaped flippers, which allows the leatherback turtle, one of the fastest species, to reach up to 25 miles per hour.
That’s as fast as a professional cyclist.
16. An Elaborate Sea Turtle
A drawing doesn’t have to be full to stimulate a challenge. Take this drawing by How2DrawAnimals for example.
This realistic sea turtle depiction gives us a perspective on its side; the wrinkles on its neck, the edges of the shell, and the subtle shading are all details that invite challenge.
17. Detailed Sea Turtle
If the previous sea turtles pose very little difficulty, then the advanced artist will relish this tutorial made by Art. Simple..
The details that will consume the most time will be the spots on this elder mariner. Be comforted in the fact that the tutorial won’t leave the viewer hanging; every detail is explained well.
Turtle-y in Love With These Drawings!
Sea turtles are millions of years old, and it would be a great loss to see these amazing creatures vanish because of our indifference.
Let’s help preserve the habitats of these prehistoric seafarers, and drawing these sea turtles is one way to raise awareness!
For more animal drawings, see our other compilations below: