How to Draw an Octopus

With our easy to follow step by step instructions, you will learn how to draw an octopus. This sweet and cuddly little creature is an excellent starting point if you want to draw animals. Did you know that a group of octopuses is called a consortium? With big eyes, a round head and curled tentacles, an octopus is a creative idea for line art or a cute cartoon.

Gather your supplies for this drawing lesson and choose the medium or software that works best for you. Our drawing guides are flexible and perfect for all levels of drawing skills, whether you enjoy using color pencils, making pen sketches, or designing with Procreate.

We'll be using Procreate and some ink brushes for this tutorial. With the brushes, we will be sketching, outlining and adding texture to our little character.

If you are looking for other options, be sure to check out the Procreate brush category on Design Bundles.

Step 1 - Make a Rough Sketch of Your Octopus

Let's begin by roughly sketching the support shapes. Use a pencil or a light colored medium that can easily be removed or hidden. When we outline our sketch later on, we want to make certain the sketch marks are not visible.

Sketch a Circle for the Head

The first support shape will be the head of the octopus. Sketch a circle in the center of your page. Leave enough space underneath for the arms.

Sketch Lines for the Arms

Next, we are going to sketch guidelines for the front arms of the octopus. Starting at the bottom of the circle shape, draw four wavy lines going in different directions. You can follow our example sketch below to help you along.

Define the Octopus Head and Front Arms

Before drawing the four back arms, sketch a thicker line around the four guidelines and curve the line when connecting to the octopus head. This will define the head and front arms as one shape. Keep in mind that the octopus arms should extend further than the head and narrow at the ends with a curved point.

We sketched the thicker line in red in the image below as a visual guide.

Sketch the Back Arms of the Octopus

Sketch four wavy lines for the back arms of the octopus, using the same technique as with the front arms. Our example sketch below shows where we placed our back arm lines.

As we did before, sketch a thicker line around these guidelines. However, this time, connect the line to the front arms of the octopus.

Step 2 - Outline the Rough Octopus Sketch

Now that the octopus sketch is complete, we can outline the shape. Select a permanent medium such as a marker or pen. Outline the outermost sketch lines of the octopus body shape, front and back arms. Remember to only outline the sketch lines you want to keep.

After outlining, you can remove your sketches and start adding details. For our octopus, we drew two big circles on the head for the eyes and a small mouth. For depth, we added a line on some of the octopus arms. The lines will act as a divider for the light and dark areas of the arms when we add color.

Step 3 - Add Color to Your Octopus

We have almost reached the end of this step by step drawing tutorial. All that's left now is to add the color and final details to bring our design to life.

Choose your medium and color palette. We used black for the pupils of the eyes with white around the edge and white accents. A medium to light shade of blue was used to color the octopus body while a darker shade was applied to the underside of the arms.

To give our octopus more character, a group of different sized white dots was added top right of the head and just below the head. We also used white to add line accents on the tentacles and head.

The Procreate brush set that we selected contains stipple brushes. You can use these to add texture or shading on various areas of your octopus drawing. Use a lighter shade of blue or white with a decreased opacity.

From here on you can add small details like fish, or draw a turtle as a companion for your octopus. We also have a fantastic tutorial on how to draw a coral reef if you want to create a background.

Great job on learning how to draw an octopus! You can create a consortium of adorable and colorful octopuses by changing the position of the tentacles and colors. We hope that you enjoyed our tutorial and feel inspired to try other drawing ideas.