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Turtle Drawing Ideas

One turtle to draw per press: a sea turtle, a pond turtle or tortoise, a shell or a pose.

Turtle Drawing Ideas

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  1. A turtle walking, drawn from three ovalsShell, head and one leg are ovals. Lift a front foot on one side and a back foot on the other.

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Sea turtles 15

  • A flatback turtle beside a green turtle, both side on The flatback's shell is a flatter, lower dome than other sea turtles'. It lives only around Australia.
  • A green sea turtle nibbling seagrass on the sea floor Adult green turtles feed mostly on seagrass. Tilt the body nose down and let the flippers hang.
  • A green sea turtle side on, its shell a teardrop Blunt end forward. The name comes from the green fat under the shell, not from the shell's color.
  • A hawksbill in profile, beak hooked like a bird's Named for its sharp, curving beak. The rear rim of the shell is jagged like a saw.
  • A Kemp's ridley drawn beside a leatherback Kemp's ridley is the smallest sea turtle. No living turtle is bigger than the leatherback.
  • A leatherback from above, seven ridges running head to tail It has no hard shell. Leathery skin covers the back, with seven ridges along its length.
  • A loggerhead face on, wide head and heavy jaws The loggerhead is named for its large head. Its jaws are large and powerful too.
  • A nesting sea turtle digging with her hind flippers at night She digs a round hole with her hind flippers, nearly always at night. Show the sand flying behind.
  • A sea turtle hatchling crossing the sand to the water The front flippers do the work. Draw the track behind it and the sea as one line at the top.
  • A sea turtle with head and all four flippers out Sea turtles cannot pull their head or limbs into the shell. Draw all five parts streamlined.
  • A sea turtle's beak close up, with no teeth Living turtles have no teeth. A horny beak lines the jaws, so draw a hard edge and no gum line.
  • A sea turtle's front flipper, long and flat like a paddle The front limbs are flippers and give most of the push. One long blade with a bend near the body.
  • An olive ridley from above, shell shaped like a heart Its olive-colored shell is heart-shaped and rounded. Point the tip of the heart at the tail.
  • Olive ridleys arriving on one beach by the dozen Ridley turtles nest in mass arrivals called arribadas. Draw the near ones large, the far ones as dots.
  • Seven sea turtle silhouettes in a row, one for each species Flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and olive ridley. Label them.

Pond turtles and tortoises 15

  • A box turtle shut tight A hinge across the bottom shell lets a box turtle close up completely. Draw a dome with no gaps.
  • A common snapping turtle walking, ridged shell and beak-like jaws Rugged and muscular, with a ridged upper shell. The head and neck are very mobile.
  • A diamondback terrapin, a diamond pattern on its shell Named for its shell top's diamond pattern. The pattern and color vary greatly.
  • A mata mata, head flat and triangular, shell like bark The head is large, flat and triangular with flaps of skin, and the snout is a long tube.
  • A painted turtle with striped neck and legs The shell is dark and smooth. The skin is olive to black, striped yellow, orange or red.
  • A pancake tortoise in profile, shell thin and flat Its shell is unusually thin, flat and flexible. Draw a tortoise, then press the dome down.
  • A pig-nosed turtle swimming on flippers Its feet are flippers, like a sea turtle's, and the nostrils sit at the end of a fleshy snout.
  • A red-eared slider's head, a red stripe behind the eye The slider is named for the small red stripe where an ear would be. Stripe the rest of the neck.
  • A spiny softshell turtle from above, a smooth leathery disc A softshell has a leathery, bendable shell with no scutes, so leave the back plain.
  • A spotted turtle, black with small yellow dots The round yellow spots run from the shell onto the head, neck and legs. Scatter them unevenly.
  • A tortoise beside a pond turtle, legs compared A tortoise has column legs and elephant-like feet. A freshwater turtle has longer, webbed toes.
  • An African spurred tortoise in side view, every scale furrowed The largest tortoise of mainland Africa. Its Latin name, sulcata, refers to the furrows on its scales.
  • An Aldabra giant tortoise stretching its neck to a branch The neck is very long, even for so large a tortoise. The legs are stocky and heavily scaled.
  • An alligator snapping turtle from above, three rows of spikes Spikes and raised plates run down the shell in three rows. The head is large and heavy.
  • Two Galápagos tortoises, one saddle-backed and one domed Dry islands: saddleback shells and long necks. Humid highlands: domed shells and short necks.

Shells and patterns 15

  • A box turtle with its hinge half closed The bottom shell is hinged and can close the shell completely. Draw it half shut, the head still showing.
  • A carapace from above: five plates down the middle, four each side These are the large scutes. Draw the middle row first and fit the side plates against it.
  • A domed shell shaded with light from the top left Each scute is a small tilted plane. Those facing the light stay pale, those facing away go dark.
  • A hawksbill shell, scutes overlapping like shingles The hawksbill's scutes overlap like roof shingles. Let each plate cover the edge of its neighbor.
  • A shell as a simple dome, a half circle on a flat base Start any tortoise here. A second line just inside the rim marks the edge plates.
  • A shell in side view with its three parts labeled Carapace on top, plastron underneath, and the bridge that joins them at each side.
  • A shell with rings inside every scute, like a contour map Draw three or four rings inside each plate, the way a map shows hills.
  • A tortoise shell and a sea turtle shell side by side A tortoise's shell is a high dome. A sea turtle's is low and streamlined for swimming.
  • A turtle skeleton side on, ribs and spine built into the shell The shell grows from the turtle's ribs and other bones. Run the spine along the inside of the roof.
  • An Indian star tortoise shell, yellow rays on black The shell is black with yellow centers, and narrow yellow streaks radiate from each one.
  • One scute close up, drawn as a plate of keratin Scutes are made of keratin, like horn or fingernail. Give it a dull shine and a worn edge.
  • One scute pattern repeated across a whole shell Invent a design for one plate, then repeat it in all thirteen large ones. Turn it to fit each.
  • One turtle shell in three views: top, side and underneath Line the three up so that the lengths match, the way a designer draws a turnaround.
  • The rim of a shell, a row of small plates all the way around Twelve pairs of small scutes edge the rim. Draw them as a band of tiles around the dome.
  • The underside of a shell, its plates in pairs The bottom shell is the plastron. Its scutes sit in pairs either side of a center line.

Poses and scenes 15

  • A basking turtle stretching one back leg out behind it Stretch one hind leg straight back with the toes spread. The other three legs stay tucked.
  • A painted turtle wintering in a pond's bottom mud It spends the winter in the mud under the water. Draw the pond in cutaway, ice on top.
  • A tortoise climbing over a rock, shell tilted Tip the dome and show the edge of the plastron. The front claws hook over the top of the rock.
  • A tortoise head on: a dome, a face and two column legs From the front the shell is an arch. The legs are short posts and the feet point inward.
  • A tortoise taking a bite out of a leaf With a beak and no teeth, the bite is a clean curve out of the leaf's edge.
  • A tortoise walking straight at you, foreshortened The shell becomes a short arch behind a large head. The near front foot is the biggest thing.
  • A turtle on a rock above its own reflection Draw the reflection upside down and a little paler. Break it with two ripples.
  • A turtle peeking out of its shell, eyes only Draw the opening as a dark crescent. Two eyes and the tip of a nose sit in the shadow.
  • A turtle seen from behind, tail and back feet The shell is an arch with a short tail under it. Show the soles of the two back feet.
  • A turtle walking, drawn from three ovals Shell, head and one leg are ovals. Lift a front foot on one side and a back foot on the other.
  • A turtle yawning, neck stretched Mouth wide, eyes shut. The inside of the beak is smooth, with no teeth to draw.
  • One flipper stroke in four frames of the same sea turtle Flippers up, forward, down, back. Keep the shell exactly the same in all four.
  • Sea turtle hatchlings digging out of one nest together The eggs of a nest hatch together and the hatchlings dig themselves out. Overlap a dozen.
  • Three sliders sunbathing in a stack Red-eared sliders bask in groups, sometimes on top of each other. Smallest on top.
  • Two tortoises nose to nose Draw one, then its mirror image. Both necks stretch out and the noses nearly touch.

How it works

A turtle is a dome with a head and four legs, and the shell is where the drawing happens. These turtle drawing ideas hold all seven sea turtles, pond turtles and tortoises, the shell plate by plate, and turtles basking, swimming and hatching.

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How to draw a turtle shell

The top is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and a bridge joins them at each side. The plates on the outside are scutes. On most turtles five run down the middle of the carapace, four sit on each side of them, and twelve pairs of small ones edge the rim. Draw the middle row first and fit the rest around it.

  • Draw the shell before the animal. Head, legs and tail are added to it afterward, like handles on a pot.

Questions and answers

What is an easy turtle to draw?

A shell as a simple dome: a half circle on a flat base, then a head and four short legs. A turtle walking, drawn from three ovals, is nearly as simple. Easy, under More filters, holds 17.

What is the difference between a turtle and a tortoise?

A tortoise lives on land and has column legs with elephant-like feet. Freshwater turtles have longer toes with webbing, and sea turtles have flippers. All of them are turtles.

Can a turtle come out of its shell?

No. The shell grows from the turtle's own ribs and other bones, with keratin plates called scutes over the top. A box turtle can shut itself in; a sea turtle cannot pull its head or flippers inside.

How many kinds of sea turtle are there?

Seven: the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and olive ridley. The leatherback is the biggest turtle alive and the only sea turtle without a hard shell.

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