What is the nettipattam?

The decorated headpiece and caparison worn by temple elephants in Kerala. The temple elephant sheet draws it down the forehead, with bells and an umbrella on top.

What is the difference between the styles?

Classic is a plain black outline built up one panel at a time. Guide shapes starts from light gray circles and ovals and traces the black outline over them. New lines in red shows each step's lines in red over the black lines before.

Can I ask for a different animal?

Yes. Type a different animal, such as a mammoth or a rhino, and the page is built to that request. The result is not guaranteed to match the nine shown.

Are these hand-drawn?

No. They are illustrations made for this page, not scans of hand drawings.

toile

/how-to-draw-elephants · coloring

How to draw elephants: a baby elephant, an elephant in side view, a temple elephant

How to draw elephants — a four-panel step sheet drawing a cartoon baby elephant, a round head, big ears, a curled trunk and four stubby legs, the numbers "1" to "4" in the box corners, clean uniform black outline, every panel adds new lines to the panel before and the last box holds the finished drawing

Change this one

More like this

the whole catalog →

How to draw trees9 samples · coloring

How to draw unicorns9 samples · coloring

Kawaii coloring pages9 samples · coloring

Printable mazes9 samples · coloring

every sample — three subjects, three styles ↓

Reading 1Baby elephant

Reading 2Side view

Reading 3Decorated

Step sheets for children and drawing classes who want an elephant with a trunk that bends right. Each picture builds an elephant in numbered panels, from the body and trunk to the legs, ears and tusks. The three subjects are a cartoon baby elephant, an elephant in side view and a temple elephant in the gold nettipattam, as worn at Thrissur Pooram. Type a different animal, such as a mammoth or a rhino, and the page is built to it.

a children's drawing lesson
a school project on Kerala festivals
a wildlife sketchbook
a classroom animal unit

Frequently asked questions

What is the nettipattam?: The decorated headpiece and caparison worn by temple elephants in Kerala. The temple elephant sheet draws it down the forehead, with bells and an umbrella on top.
What is the difference between the styles?: Classic is a plain black outline built up one panel at a time. Guide shapes starts from light gray circles and ovals and traces the black outline over them. New lines in red shows each step's lines in red over the black lines before.
Can I ask for a different animal?: Yes. Type a different animal, such as a mammoth or a rhino, and the page is built to that request. The result is not guaranteed to match the nine shown.
Are these hand-drawn?: No. They are illustrations made for this page, not scans of hand drawings.

About toile

This page is a showcase and a starting point: nine samples already rendered, three readings of the pack crossed with three styles, each shown at the size and ratio it was made for. Take any of them further on the wall with a few words, or ask for all nine again under your own direction; a sign-in keeps what you make, and it is free while Toile is new. The recipe behind each sample — the subject, the style, the palette, the framing — travels with the image rather than staying private to the render: it is in the alt text of every sample and in the page's own structured data, so a search engine reads the same handles a person would.