How to Draw a Snake Step by Step with a Pen and a Pencil: Easy Workshops for Children and Beginners

The animal world on our planet is full of all kinds of species and individuals, which is why it is so important to teach children from a young age to draw animals. In the creative process, children not only improve their artistic skills, but also learn about the world around them.

Among the lessons on drawing various animals, one lesson should be allocated for drawing a snake. These reptiles pose a serious danger to humans if one does not know how to behave properly in the presence of a reptile.

The process of creating a drawing of a snake for children is extremely interesting, because children have repeatedly heard about this clever and strong representative of the animal world in cartoons, and some who are often with their parents in nature, even met with the animal in real life.

Examples include the boa constrictor from "38 Parrots" or the cobra from "Mowgli."

You can draw any snake using the following materials:

A sheet of paper;
Simple pencils of different hardness (the softest for sketching and the hardest for highlighting details);
An eraser;
Materials for coloring: watercolors, gouache, pastel crayons or colored pencils.

After the child has decided on the materials, it is necessary to think about the snake itself. Will it be a cartoon character or a realistic animal? What kind of snake will it be: cobra, python, snake, or viper?

Will it be in some place that will need a background drawing, or is it purely a drawing of a snake in pencil on a white background? One last point: in what position is it in space?

Content:

A simple snake for beginners

Even the simplest snake should be drawn, following certain algorithms, so that the child can form a correct idea of the animal and its proportions.

This algorithm includes the following steps:

It is necessary to arm oneself with a round stencil or a compass to depict in the center of the sheet the simplest geometric figure - a circle. It is desirable that it be flat. This will be the basis of the future snake, which will help most accurately convey its proportions. Circle required to circle the outer contour.
Above the drawn flat circle it is necessary to depict an oval in a horizontal position and that it is in contact with the circle itself.
The oval is divided by a thin horizontal line into two equal parts. At the bottom of the line drawn before from one end to the other half of the circle is drawn, which will be the mouth. In the upper half of the line symmetrically drawn two circles are the eyes.
In the semi-circle, through which we passed the snake mouth, draw a line like a flag in the form of tongue. Tongue at the snake is bifurcated.
In the circle itself we draw the body of the snake, which is twisted. Need to portray the body, folded in a spiral. The body is coiled in a uniform ball, or like a cat. You can finish drawing the tip of the tail, which is visible at the end of the ball.
Next, we give a natural shade to the snake. Let it be greenish, but the abdominal area light green or yellow. Let the eyes be yellow, with black pupils. For realism in the eyes you need to depict glare. Over the mouth, from which the tongue is visible, you need to draw two dots - this will be the nose. With the help of shadows, highlight the folds and recesses on the body.

Once the snake is drawn, we refine the image with different strokes and shading, focusing on the picture of the snake for sketching.

How to draw a cobra in pencil?

This snake is one of the most dangerous representatives of reptiles in the world. But, it is good that the cobra does not live in our latitudes. It is also very beautiful in its structure.

Its features are a kind of "hood", which opens during hunting or when the reptile is in danger, and a long forked tongue. The body of the cobra is very powerful, so she quickly and ruthlessly pounce on the victim.

This snake can be drawn step by step using a classic set of materials: paper, a simple pencil, an eraser and the cobra drawing tutorial itself:

Initially, draw a downward curved oval. This will be the muzzle of the cobra, which will also include the hood, so the oval is drawn large.
From the bottom of the curved part of the oval, draw two symmetrical lines downwards, which at the bottom join into one and curve.
From the connected lines finish drawing a horizontal body. Draw it smooth and wavy.
We finish drawing the drawn body, curling into the background and ending the body with the tail. Let the tail be at the level of the head, but well beyond the part of the body that is in the foreground.
Next comes the detailing of the body. We start with the hood area. Draw a horizontal oval that crosses the top arc of the hood. Draw the neck from the oval down, connecting it to the overall body.
Part of the body, drawn in the second paragraph, we cover the peculiar folds on the inside of the cobra body. On the oval, crossing the top of the hood, depict the eyes, two dots as the nose, a strip of mouth and split tongue.
Like a picture for sketching, in more detail detail the hood itself. Draw cobra's characteristic curves and black spots on the inside.
It is known that the cobra's body is covered with coarse scales. Scales should start from the left side of the hood, gradually covering the whole body, without affecting the light-colored abdomen with folds.
Now it's time to correct some points, shading and drawing shadows. In the recesses and curves of the scales will be darker. It is also worth paying attention to the shadows that the cobra casts on the space in which it is located. To make the image three-dimensional, according to the example to convey all the shadows created by lighting.

This drawing is within everyone's power. But, admittedly, the scales are quite difficult to draw, because there are so many of them. It is also difficult to place them evenly on the body cavity.

Drawing a snake with a pen

Drawing with a pen is already more difficult. For kids who are trying to draw with a pen for the first time, you should first practice drawing with a simple pencil. Both defects and accidental jerking of the hand are possible, which provokes defects and superfluous lines:

Start by sketching the silhouette of the snake. It is better to sketch with jerky lines without strong pressure, depicting the most prominent parts of the body and features of the snake. The outlines of the body, head, face, also mouth inside which there are teeth and a long forked tongue are drawn.
As usual, after outlining the overall image comes the turn of detail. All the details are traced, shading the shadows and other features with a subtle touch. The body, just like a drawing of a cobra, you need to cover the scales. This time you can make scales in the shape of a diamond and shade them qualitatively. Lines in hatching go in one direction and reach different lengths. The inner part of the body, that is, abdomen, make out the folds and finely hatched, but not in all places because the abdomen, as a rule, much lighter than the rest of the body.

Drawing the black mamba

The black mamba is an extremely dangerous tropical reptile. Its main feature is the coal-black coloring of the body, which looks quite frightening, as if the black mamba bewitched by an evil witch or witch:

The pattern begins with a rounded head shape at the top of the leaf. From the head down goes the torso, and a little closer to the bottom of the leaf it curves and goes into the background. The head has eyes, an open mouth with two sharp poisonous teeth, and a long forked tongue.
On the body there is an area of covering scales and a lighter area of the abdomen.
When the folds on the light abdomen and scales are drawn, you can add some details and on the scaly body itself, draw shadows, which creates the body of the snake, and its curves, and draw the tip of the tail.
The snake is painted in black, the nose taking into account the glare in order to get a three-dimensional image in the output.

General recommendations

If we talk about general recommendations when drawing snakes, it is also worth taking into account their inherent patterns. Viper, for example, has a zigzag line on his body cavity, and the snake has a yellow spot on his head and gray body with peculiar scales, which should skillfully stroke.