How To Paint a Giraffe: An Easy Tutorial For Beginners

Want to have a little fun activity with you and the kids that you can do over the weekend? Well, we have something for you! Here’s an easy and fun tutorial on how to paint a cute giraffe! If you want to customise the colours of your giraffe you may do so! This is your painting, so let out that creative side in you!

Step 1: Gather your materials!

Before you begin with your painting, make sure you have all the materials you need before starting on your painting. It’ll be up to you if you’d like your giraffe to be a different colour so you may adjust your materials to your liking!

  • A canvas size to your liking
  • Water cup and plate or palette
  • Paper towels
  • Brushes in a range of sizes
  • A tablecloth that is disposable (or an old one)
  • Easel if desired
  • Acrylic paints in black, white, flesh, red, orange, brown, and others colours to your liking
  • Pencil and eraser

Step 2: Start on your giraffe!

Begin by drawing your outline, only draw the head and neck of the giraffe for this painting. Don’t be afraid of using a reference picture for this one, remember, Mr. Google Images is our friend :)! Create two connecting circles first for the top of the head and the snout of the giraffe! You can always erase your sketch if you made little mistakes. Draw the horns, ears, eyes, and nostrils, then draw the neck. You can always customise your giraffe any way you like by adding eyelashes, a long main, pouty or smiling lips, etc. Then draw squiggly circles for the neck, across the nose and forehead, and where you’ll add on the spots of the giraffe.

Step 3: Paint time!

Once you’re satisfied with your outline, it’s now time to paint the background! Always remember if you’re painting a colourful subject use contrasting dark backgrounds to make your main subject really pop out, and your background to be less distracting! Paint this by drawing outside the outlines of your giraffe. 

After finishing with your background, paint on the base colour of your giraffe. We suggest using a light base colour like a light tan or beige colour for this so other colours you will use for the giraffe will really pop, but of course a pink giraffe would look lovely too! Use white paint to create highlights on your giraffe before moving on to the other colours. Brush along the mane using your brush to make fur-like strokes, also do this around the ears. 

Time to paint the patterns on the giraffe! Again, you can use any colours you like! You can even do a rainbow or just the natural colour of a giraffe if you’d like! There really aren’t any rules to this! Add another coat of that paint if you want the colours to really stand out and to make sure the colours are really opaque! We suggest using a smaller brush for this so you can really make the pattern sharp. Add more hair-like strokes near the mane and ears. 

Step 4: Add your final details!

Add your final touches by using white or black, or more colours! Colour in the eyes, the nostrils, and the mouth. Add more details to your liking like highlights in the spots or eyes, etc. 

And you’re done! We hope you liked this easy to follow fun tutorial on how to paint a giraffe! If you’re looking for more fun and easy step-by-step guide activities, then you should totally check out our news pages for more!