There’s something about sharks that make them extra creepy as predators. Perhaps it’s because I was eight years old when I read the book, Jaws (yes, I was an early and advanced reader… and this was the sort of stuff I was drawn to!), and was convinced (CONVINCED!) that a shark was going to come at me through the toilet or in the swimming pool. (Thank you, Peter Benchley!)
At any rate, Anne McColl asked for it and so here it is:
How to draw a Good Enough shark
Three Tips:
(Shudder) Okay. At any rate, this means that the head of a shark is going to be bigger, and it’s tail end is going to be slimmer. One way to achieve this is by making the shark’s “brow” more prominent. That prominent brow and big neck take it away from looking like a fish to looking more like a mindless killing machine.
1. Be sure to drop the mouth and jaws down below the frontmost point of the nose (like in step 3). A higher mouth ends up looking more fish-like.
2. An open mouth with lots of teeth screams SHARK more than a closed one with teeth. Maybe it’s me, but that open mouth reinforces the “mindless eating machine” aspect of being a shark… but play with it and see what YOU think.
The Hammerhead
The first time I went fishing in Mexico, my boyfriend and I were out on the Sea of Cortez in this tiny panga with Ismael, its proud captain. He didn’t speak much English, and we didn’t speak much Spanish, but we were having a great time. The first fish I caught was a giant, gorgeous pargo… with its colors flashing in the sun just under the water as I worked the fish up to the surface and then into the boat. It was an amazing experience, and I was blown away by how beautiful the fish was.
At that point, Ismael looked at the fish, gave a grunt of knowing, and said, “Hammerhead.”
I looked at the fish, confused, and said “I thought this was a pargo… ” when Ismael quickly pulled out a club and bashed my beautiful fish on its head. Horrified, I looked to Ismael, who smiled, started to laugh, nodded at his club and said “hammerhead!”
Needless to say, I’ve left much of the fishing to my boyfriend since then! And here’s how you can draw an actual hammerhead shark of your very own:
Fin
Of course, the easiest way to draw a shark is not to draw it. Steven Spielberg knew the power of this one… in his movie, Jaws, he waited to show the shark until far into the movie. Instead, he let our imaginations swim wild and freak out at anything that remotely looked like a fin in the water. It seems fitting to have our last shark tutorial be… well, fin!
Interestingly enough, Jaws is one of my all-time favorite movies… and I ended up doing environmental conservation work for several years as an adult, spending lots of time on the open water in a tiny little panga and falling in love with all sorts of marine life! So perhaps my fear of sharks is more of a Fin as well…
… and that’s it! What does YOUR shark look like? Draw yours up, Tweet it out to @jeannelking #goodenough, and give us something to sink our teeth into! ;^)
Want to have fun drawing AND inspire others to pick up the pen at the same time? Got something you wish you could draw, but you’re not sure how to approach it? Tweet your drawing or idea to @jeannelking and tag it with #goodenough: it could be featured in an upcoming “how to draw good enough” blog post!
Looking forward to seeing what you draw forth!
