60 ideas
Checked October 2026

Cute Giraffes to Draw

Press for a cute giraffe to draw, with a drawing hint or a giraffe fact to get it right.

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Drawn: A giraffe beside a zebra, to show the heightA giraffe beside a zebra, to show the heightThe giraffe is the tallest living land animal. Draw the zebra first, small, and stack the giraffe far above it.

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All 60 ideas

Head and neck only 12

A giraffe chewing its cud, jaw pushed to one side A giraffe swallows its food, then brings the cud back up the neck to chew again. Slide the lower jaw sideways.
A giraffe looking straight at you, eyes on the sides of its head The eyes sit on the sides of the head, so from the front they show past the outline. Narrow muzzle below.
A giraffe's head in side view, built from a long wedge A long wedge for the muzzle, a bump for the brow and a leaf-shaped ear. Two short ossicones on top.
A giraffe's long tongue wrapped around an acacia twig The tongue is about 45 cm long and black, and it can grasp foliage. Shade it darker than the lips.
A giraffe's neck rising from the bottom edge at a slant The neck rests at 50 to 60 degrees, not upright. One slanted tube, wider at the base, head on top.
A head in three-quarter view: slit nostrils and a hairy lip The nostrils are slit-shaped and the upper lip hairy and flexible. Shade the lip with short strokes.

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Head and neck only, continued

A head tipped straight back to reach a branch overhead A giraffe can tip its head over 90 degrees to take leaves directly above. Chin to the sky, throat one line.
A neck in side view with its mane drawn as short ticks Along the neck runs a mane of short, erect hairs. Even pencil ticks, all one length, the whole way down.
A young giraffe's head, a tuft of hair on each thin ossicone A female or a young giraffe has thin ossicones with tufts of hair on top. Two stalks, two small brushes.
An Angolan giraffe's head: patched neck, plain upper face On the Angolan giraffe the pattern stops short of the upper face, and the ear carries a white mark.
An old male's head: bald, knobbed ossicones and a lump between An adult male's ossicones are usually bald knobs on top, with a lump in the middle of the skull.
Two heads at different heights, ears turned different ways The ears are movable. Turn one pair forward and one pair back so the two heads do not match.

Whole giraffe, standing 12

A giraffe beside a zebra, to show the height The giraffe is the tallest living land animal. Draw the zebra first, small, and stack the giraffe far above it.
A giraffe from the front, legs like four posts Front view: the neck foreshortens to a short column, and the front legs hide most of the hind pair.
A giraffe seen from behind, tail tuft hanging A long tuft of dark hair ends the tail. A narrow rump, two legs, and the neck rising beyond.
A giraffe standing among trees, half hidden Among trees and bushes a giraffe is hard to see even from close by. Let two trunks cross the legs.
A male giraffe standing tall, chin up, side on A dominant male displays with an erect posture: chin and head held up, walking stiffly, side toward his rival.
A Masai giraffe standing, every patch a different shape Masai coat: spots from rounded and smooth-edged to oval with cut or lobed edges. Repeat no patch.
A Nubian giraffe standing, underside left plain Nubian coat: sharp-edged chestnut spots with mostly white lines between, and no spots on the underside.
A reticulated giraffe standing in side view Reticulated coat: sharp-edged, reddish-brown polygons with thin white lines between. Keep the lines narrow.
A South African giraffe, patches shrinking down the legs Dark, somewhat rounded patches on a tawny coat. The spots run down the legs and grow smaller as they go.
A standing giraffe built from a box, a tube and a wedge A short box for the body, a slanted tube for the neck, a wedge for the head, then four stick legs.
A standing giraffe, back sloping from hump to tail The front legs are usually the longer pair, and the shoulders carry a hump. The back runs downhill.
Three female giraffes standing in a group, overlapping Giraffe groups tend to be all female or all male. Overlap the bodies and give each neck its own slant.

Bending, drinking and running 12

A galloping giraffe, hind legs swinging past the front legs In a gallop the hind legs swing round the front legs before those step on, and the tail curls up.
A giraffe at full stretch, nose to the highest leaves Giraffes can feed 4.5 m above the ground. Neck, head and tongue make one straight line to the leaf.
A giraffe drinking on bent knees, legs close together The other way down to the water: the front knees bend instead of spreading. Neck and back make one slope.
A giraffe drinking, front legs spread into a wide A To reach water a giraffe splays its front legs or bends the knees. Legs as a wide A, neck as a ramp down.
A giraffe getting up, in three small drawings Onto its front knees, then the hindquarters pulled up, then the front legs straight. The head swings each time.
A giraffe kneeling on its front legs, halfway to lying down To lie down it kneels on its front legs first, then lowers the rest of its body. Rump high, chest low.
A giraffe lifting its head from a drink, neck drawn twice Draw the low neck faint and the raised neck firm, with an arc between them. The spread legs stay put.
A giraffe looking back over its shoulder Bend the neck in one long curve, never a sharp fold. The head ends up above the hump, facing the tail.
A resting giraffe, legs folded under its body A giraffe rests lying with its body on its folded legs. A loaf shape with the neck rising at one end.
A running giraffe, neck swung forward for balance Head and neck movements give balance in a gallop. Tilt the neck further forward than at rest.
A sleeping giraffe, neck bent back, head on its hip In deep sleep a giraffe bends its neck backward and rests its head on its hip or thigh. One closed loop.
A walking giraffe, both legs of one side stepping together A giraffe walks by swinging both legs of one side, then both of the other. Pair them up.

Calves and pairs 12

A calf and its mother touching noses Her neck comes down in a long curve and the calf's goes almost straight up. The noses meet in the middle.
A calf hiding in tall grass, only its head showing For its first one to three weeks a calf spends most of its time hiding, and its coat pattern is its camouflage.
A calf nursing, head tucked under its mother's flank Calves are weaned at six to eight months. Tuck the calf's head under her flank, its neck behind her leg.
A calf running on legs too long for its body A calf can run about a few hours after birth. Long legs, big knee joints and a small body.
A giraffe calf standing, neck almost upright A young giraffe carries its neck at about 70 degrees, steeper than an adult's 50 to 60.
A mother and calf with matching patches A calf gets some coat-pattern traits from its mother. Repeat a few of her patch shapes on the calf.
A mother giraffe standing over her calf A mother stands over her calf when danger comes near. Her four legs make a frame and the calf fills it.
A newborn calf with its ossicones still lying flat The ossicones lie flat in the womb and rise in a few days. Draw two small flaps on the head, not stalks.
A nursery herd on the move, calves between the adults Mothers with calves gather in nursery herds that move and browse together. Vary the heights like a skyline.
One female minding four calves while the mothers feed A mother may leave her calf with one female and forage elsewhere. One tall neck among four short ones.
Twin calves, one half hidden behind the other A single calf is the rule and twins are rare. Draw one calf whole, then a second set of legs and a second head.
Two young males play-fighting, necks leaning together Young males form groups and play-fight. In gentle necking the two lean and rub on each other.

Cartoon and pattern 12

A baby cartoon giraffe with oversized eyes and tufted ossicones Big eyes set low on the face read as cute. The tufts on the ossicones are true to a young giraffe.
A cartoon giraffe face from two ovals, two stalks and two ears A tall oval, a wider oval for the muzzle, two stalks with a dot on each, and an ear out to each side.
A cartoon giraffe turnaround: front, side and back Three views of one character. The patches must sit in the same places in every view.
A cartoon giraffe whose patches are small hearts Swap each patch for a heart and leave pale gaps between them. The outline stays a real giraffe's.
A chibi giraffe with a head as big as its body Shrink the neck to a stub and the legs to four pegs. Keep the two ossicones and the leaf-shaped ears.
A giraffe outline filled with stripes, dots or checks Each real giraffe has a coat pattern of its own, so invent one. Keep the tuft of the tail dark.
A patch chart of five coats in five equal boxes Reticulated, Masai, Nubian, Angolan and South African, one box each, so that only the patches differ.
A sitting cartoon giraffe, legs tucked, neck in an S Round every corner. Curve the neck like a swan's and put three or four big patches on it.
A spotless giraffe in one plain color Spotless or solid-color giraffes have been seen but are very rare. With no pattern, shade the form instead.
A square of Masai coat: blotches with cut and lobed edges Masai spots run from rounded and smooth-edged to oval with cut or lobed edges. No two alike.
A square of reticulated coat: polygons and thin white lines Sharp-edged, reddish-brown polygons surrounded by thin white lines. Rule the lines, then fill the shapes.
A West African giraffe: pale coat, red lobe-shaped blotches The West African giraffe has lighter fur, with red lobe-shaped blotches that reach below the hocks.

How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-08: 60 giraffes to draw in five groups, each marked easy, medium or hard, 25 of them also marked Cute. The views and the drawing hints are our own. Every statement about how a giraffe looks or lives (its build, neck, head and ossicones, the coats of the six named giraffes, its gaits, resting, drinking and sleep, calves and herds) was read on 2026-10-08 in the English Wikipedia article Giraffe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffe, revision of 2026-10-05; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0). A detail the article does not give was left out. Licence: own work

How it works

Sixty giraffes to draw, the 25 cutest first, then sorted by how much of the animal is on the page: head and neck only, the whole giraffe standing, bending, drinking and running, calves and pairs, cartoons and coat patterns.

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What makes it a giraffe

A short body on very long legs, the front pair usually longer, so the back slopes down from a hump at the shoulders. The neck rests at a slant of 50 to 60 degrees and carries a mane of short upright hairs. Two ossicones on the head and a dark tuft on the tail finish it.

Cute little giraffes to draw first

A calf carries its neck steeper than an adult, at about 70 degrees, and its thin ossicones wear tufts of hair. Eleven of the 25 cute ones are calves, and the chibi cartoon shrinks the neck to a stub. Twenty-three of the sixty are marked easy.

Patches are dark on pale: orange, chestnut, brown or nearly black on white or cream. Leave the pale lines as bare paper.

Questions and answers

What is the easiest giraffe to draw?

A standing giraffe built from a box, a tube and a wedge: a short body, a slanted neck and a pointed head on four stick legs. A resting giraffe, legs folded under its body, is as plain: a loaf with a neck.

How many bones are in a giraffe's neck?

Seven, the usual number for a mammal. The neck is long because each neck bone is long, more than 28 cm, and not because there are more of them. Most of that lengthening comes after birth.

Do all giraffes have the same spots?

No. Each giraffe has a coat pattern of its own, and the kinds differ. A reticulated giraffe has sharp-edged polygons with thin white lines between; a Masai giraffe has spots from smooth-edged to cut or lobed. The list names six such coats.

How do giraffes sleep?

Usually lying down, body on top of the folded legs. Giraffes watched in captivity slept around 4.6 hours a day in short spells, mostly at night. In deep sleep the neck bends backward and the head rests on the hip or thigh.