After you understand a few simple steps, SpongeBob is so easy to draw you may start to think his animators got lazy. He’s a box on legs, but there are a few extra touches to add to make him look right.
Here are the steps to draw SpongeBob
- Make a rectangle that is about 1/3 taller than it is wide.
- Draw his mouth. This is a big, wide “U” shape that will fill up about 80% of the square width wise. There are two “u”s that you will be drawing – one that makes the top part of his mouth, and one that makes the bottom part of the mouth. There are some measurements to know that will help you put his mouth in exactly the right place. The center of the top lip of SpongeBob’s mouth is exactly at the halfway mark height wise in the rectangle. In other words, if you folded the rectangle in half height-wise, the crease that would form in the paper would mark exactly where the top of SpongeBob’s mouth would be. The crease would be the lowest part of the dip in the “U” that makes the top part of his mouth. Just underneath it would be where his two front teeth would be. To make sure you’ve got his mouth in the right place, look at the top corners of his mouth in his smile. The edges of his smile should be 1/3 down from the top of the rectangle.
- Now draw his eyes. If you got the mouth right, his eyes will fit pretty easily in the space about his mouth. Each eye is about 1/3 the width of the rectangle, so you should have a space between each eye and the near side of the rectangle that is about 1/6 the width of the sponge. His irises (the colored part of the eye) and his pupils (the dark center of the eye) make up 1/2 of the width of the eye, so be sure to draw them big. And don’t forget his three eyelashes for each eye.
- His nose is next. It is a banana shape that fits right in the space below his eyes and above his mouth (no surprise there). SpongeBob’s nose is rarely drawn with nostrils, so you don’t have to worry about those. You can also think of the nose as a pulled out bean shape. The length of his nose is the same as the width of his eye.
- Now for some clothes. SpongeBob’s shirt, tie, and shorts make up only the bottom third of the rectangle you drew. Of that bottom third, 1/6 is his shirt, and 1/6 are his shorts. They are almost like two bottom layers to him. His tie is usually red and can be drawn as two little diamond shapes for his tie near where the top of his shirt would be. Then there are two little half triangles on either side to show his collar. The belt of his pants is drawn like it was a series of long black dashes over the brown of his pants.
- He needs some feet and some arms. To make his feet, start below the rectangle, outside of it, about 1/3 of the length of the rectangle down, make two little bean-shaped globs to suggest SpongeBob’s feet. Draw a line to connect the bottom of the rectangle to the top of his feet. Make a second line right next to it so he’s got more than line legs. To draw the part of his shorts that cover the top of his little legs, think of marshmallows and make two lumpy squares that connect into his leg. To make SpongeBob’s arms, you have to make shoulders, which look kind of like rounded caps. The round part of the cap is the top of his shoulder, and the flat side goes towards the rest of his arm. The rest of his arms can be double lines that aren’t very wide… SpongeBob’s arms and legs are comically skinny. Draw his hands with only four fingers, or more accurately, with three fingers and one thumb.
- Finally, you need to make the edges of the top part of the rectangle a little wavy and bumpy so he looks more like a sponge and less like a block. Make about twelve little blobs of darker shapes to show the gaps or hollows in the sponge. A lot of people draw two of these shapes near each corner of the rectangle that makes his body, and that adds about four more on each side of him. But that’s totally up to you.
How to Draw SpongeBob Video Tutorial
