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How to Draw a Snail – Easy Step-By-Step Video

Snails are so much fun to draw because they are really easy. They have just a few parts so that’s what makes this tutorial so quick. Follow along with this tutorial to learn how to draw a snail. 

To make the drawing of a snail, we’ll start by drawing the basic round spiral to make the shell, then add the body, the eyes, and then color in our cute little snail. 

WATCH HOW TO DRAW A SNAIL intro video

Scroll to the end for the full video and printable template

I get commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this post. There is no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

This short tutorial can be done by both digital and traditional methods. This means that you can use a digital drawing tablet or a pencil and paper.  

If you’re looking for cartoon animal drawings, then this is a good place to start. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to upload your finished drawing to your cutting machine and cut a template using your simple snail drawing.

You can print the instructions and the template below. Follow this tutorial and watch the video to learn how to draw a snail drawing.

How to Draw a Snail

Want to make a whole bunch of cute snails?  Copy and paste or just duplicate the first snail that you made and move them around the canvas any way that you like.

Make a Spring drawing by using different colors to color the snail shell and adding a few flowers. You can get instructions to draw a really simple tulip in this other post.

To personalize your drawing, you can add a name just under the snail. Here are three ways that you can add text to your drawing

For a step by step tutorial on how to do this in Inkscape, sign up for my free So Simple SVG Quotes course.

How to Draw an Easy Snail

Let’s start by gathering your materials to draw the snail. 

Drawing Supplies

Digital Drawing Supplies

iPad

Apple pencil

Procreate

Paper Drawing Supplies

Drawing pencil

Drawing Paper

Art markers or Colored Pencils

Light Table for Tracing (optional)

I like to use Procreate, Affinity Designer, or Inkscape to make my easy cartoon drawings. Inkscape is an open-source graphic software.  Which means it’s free to use. Sometimes, I use an online Inkscape drawing app if I’m not at my home computer.

For this drawing, I use Procreate.

Draw a Snail Step by Step

Draw a Snail Shell

The snail is so simple to draw. We’ll start by drawing a spiral in the center of the canvas or paper.

This is the shell.

Draw the Snail Body

Draw the body of the snail using a straight line that starts from the shell and goes out to the right, make a curve, and then draw a line back to the shell.

Draw the Snail Tail

Draw a line from the opposite end of the shell going out the left, make a curve, and then a line back to the shell.

How to Draw a Snail Face

Let’s make a face for the snail.

Start from the top of the head and draw a line going up, create a small curve, and then bring your line back down to the head. 

Repeat this step on the right side of the snail head.

Draw a small dot in each to finish the eyes.

Draw a little curve to make a smile in the middle of the head.

The snail drawing outline is complete and you can move on to coloring the outline.

Coloring the Snail Drawing

You’re ready to color your drawing.

The easiest way to do this is to use the color drop method. Make sure that your sections are closed with no gaps. 

Click the color menu bar to choose a color.  I’ll choose a bright green color as my fill color. Make it fun by choosing bright colors.

Next, drag the color to a section of the snail to fill it with color. 

Repeat this process to color in every section of the snail.

Your easy snail drawing is done. Ready to make more?!

If you liked this lesson, you’ll love my So Simple SVG Files course. I will walk you through the steps to make digital drawings using simple shapes in Inkscape.  You’ll also learn how to transfer your drawings to your craft projects and get better use of your cutting machine.

Want more easy drawings for starter projects like this? Check out my collection of easy drawings tutorials.

How to Draw Animals

Here are a few other animals that you can learn to draw. These simple steps are easy to follow.

Crafts to Make with a Snail

The nice thing about digital drawings is that you can upload them to a cutting machine and make print and cut designs for lots of craft projects. 

Cricut Explore Air™ 2 machine

Here are some crafts that you can make with your snail drawing:

See this birthday greeting card from Idlewild Co

Find this snail t-shirt from Lemon MuMu

Get this snail mug from Moon Wake Designs Co

Those are just a few ideas to get you started.  Check out some of these ideas for easy crafts that you can try. 

Imagine all of the crafts that you can make with the snail drawing. You can make lots of fun paper, fabric, leather, or vinyl crafts. 

If you have a Cricut or Silhouette machine and a heat press, you can make iron-on t-shirts. Of course, you can use scissors to cut out the snail but a cutting machine will make it even easier.

As you can see, you can take your drawing and put it on tons of physical crafts!

Have you ever wondered how you can turn your hobby into a money-making craft business? Check out my post on 5 great reasons to open a craft shop on Etsy.

Make sure to save this to your favorite drawing board on Pinterest. Click the link below to save it for later.

Feel free to add a photo of your drawing to the pin so that I can see your funky little snail.

Yield: 1

How to Draw a Snail - Video Tutorial

How to Draw a Snail
No Ratings

Snails are slow but this easy tutorial to draw a snail is super quick. You’ll be ready to color this drawing in just a few minutes. I’ve also added lots of ideas for crafts that you can make with this snail drawing.

Active Time 7 minutes
Total Time 7 minutes
Difficulty Easy

Materials

  • Digital Drawing Supplies
  • Paper Drawing Supplies

Tools

Instructions

  1. For the first step, we’re going to make a spiral shape in the middle of the paper. Snail 1.small
  2. Then draw a curved line to make the head on the right side. Snail 2.small
  3. Draw a line starting from the shell, going into a curved point, and then back to the shell.
  4. Draw two sets of lines with a round bulb at the top for the eyes. Make a dot in the middle of each bulb. Draw a curved line for the smile.full outline of a Snail 6.small
  5. Choose a color from the color wheel and drag and drop it to each section. You can also color it with crayons or markers or color pencils.how to draw a snail

Notes

Color Tips

If you are making a digital drawing, make sure to close any gaps. This will make it easier to color the drawing using the color drop tool.

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