Drawing dinosaurs is very easy if you know where to start. First, draw a few circles or ovals with a pencil for each part of the dinosaur’s body. Then connect them with an outer contour.
Erase the circles and ovals to leave a dinosaur drawing that you can then color in. Try changing their shape to give them different poses once you’ve learned how to draw the four dinosaurs below. And finally, try drawing other kinds of dinosaurs with circles and ovals!
First, draw horizontal ovals for the head and body. Draw a small oval or circle – this will be the head of the stegosaurus. Move a little to the right and draw a much larger oval for the torso. At the same time, leave enough space for the neck: the distance between the head and the body should correspond to the size of the first circle.
If you want the Stegosaurus to have an arched back, you can break the big oval into 2 parts. Draw a smaller circle for the front half of the torso and a larger circle for the back.
Since you will erase all the ovals later, draw them with a pencil. If you are making a digital drawing, create the ovals on a separate layer.
Add one slanted oval inside the body for the hind leg. Before you start adding the paws, draw a slanted oval inside the large oval. Position it so that the top end is on the right and the bottom end is on the left. This oval will later become the hind limb of the Stegosaurus, so place it near the right edge of the torso.
Draw 4 small ovals under the torso – these will be the front and hind legs. Draw 2 ovals near the left (front) and 2 ovals near the right (back) edge of the torso. Draw these ovals so that their long axis is vertical.
To make it seem like the stegosaurus is walking, tilt the two middle ovals (these will be the left paws) towards each other. Tilt the leftmost and rightmost ovals away from each other – these will be the right paws.
The leftmost oval should be located at a small distance from the body. The remaining three ovals can intersect with the body.
If you want to draw a standing dinosaur, just place all four ovals vertically.
To represent the feet, draw 4 small ovals under the paws. Draw one vertical oval under the front paw. It should intersect a little with the paw – there will be a “knee” at the intersection. Then draw 2 horizontal ovals under the 2 middle paws so they look like feet that are on the ground. Finally, add another slanted oval for the rear foot.
You may need to add a small oval or rectangle to connect the top of the second leg to the foot. Tilt it forward slightly so that it resembles a joint.
Tilt the back oval so that it looks like the front of the foot is touching the ground.
These 4 ovals may be smaller than those for the paws.
Draw lines from the torso to indicate the neck and tail. Connect the head to the body with two curved lines. For the top of the neck, draw a curved line with raised edges and a lowered middle.
Mark the lower edge of the neck with a slightly curved line that connects the middle of the head to the base of the body. Then draw a long, thin triangle coming out of the back of the body. This will be the tail.
Make sure that the head and tail are approximately on the same line. One part should not be much higher or lower than the other.
Draw a series of plates along the back of the stegosaurus. First, draw a few straight lines that are directed upwards from the back.
Make the lines on the neck and tail a little shorter and thicker than those in the middle of the back. Then draw a plate around each line. The plates should be pentagonal with a triangle at the top and two converging lines that connect the triangle to the body.
Tilt the lines so that the plates move slightly apart. If desired, you can add a second row of plates behind the first. Draw them as smaller triangles that peek out from behind the top edges of the front row of plates. If you are making a digital drawing, create a separate layer for the plates.
Connect the ovals to complete the outline of the stegosaurus. After you draw all the ovals and plates, you can finally draw the outlines of the dinosaur’s body and paws. Outline the head, neck, torso and tail with one solid line.
Draw this line up over the back of the stegosaurus, around its tail, under its belly, around its head and neck. After that, draw another line around the left and right sides of each paw, and outline the toes on each foot with small, curved lines.
If you are working digitally draw this line on the same layer as you did the plates on the back.
Erase all the ovals to leave the outer outline. Gently erase the original ovals. At the same time, leave the outlines of the torso, legs and back plates.
You will be able to add the details of the dinosaur’s face after you see what its outline looks like. You can mark the folds where the paws connect to the body, and the neck curves upwards.
Color the stegosaurus. Use colored pencils, felt-tip pens or crayons for this. Color the dinosaur the way you like. For contrast, you can use different colors for the lower abdomen and back plates.
Check out dinosaur picture books for the best way to color a Stegosaurus.
