How To Draw A Dragonfly - HelloArtsy

Discover how to draw a dragonfly by following along with this helpful drawing guide.

Everyone will like this simple step by step lesson for learning how to draw a dragonfly. This easy dragonfly instruction guide is perfect for young students looking to learn how to draw.

All drawing steps are included here which make it fun and easy to follow! Plan for this drawing to require about 20 minutes, but the drawing process can actually take longer if a background is included as well.

Get a thrill out of learning how to draw a dragonfly. Go beyond the lesson…don’t forget to add some personal details. It is officially time to get creative!

Materials

• Pencil
• Drawing Paper
• Crayons or Colored Pencils
• Black Marker (optional)
• How to Draw a Dragonfly Printable PDF (see bottom of lesson)

In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to draw a dragonfly with basic drawing tools. Pay attention to the different sizes and shapes contained in the example drawing of the dragonfly. The pencil lines in each step is drawn out in blue so you can observe the current lines that you will be drawing.

Time Needed: 20 minutes

1. Begin With The Body

   

   Draw a tiny oval shape in the middle of your paper. Add horizontal lines in the middle. Curve each of these lines downward a bit.

2. Draw The Head And The Front Legs

   

   Draw a circle above the body that will be the head. Then add the left and right legs.

3. Add The Lower Part Of The Body

   

   Draw a long oval below the body. Then add more curved, horizontal lines inside similar to what you drew in step 1.

4. Draw The Lower Wings

   

   The dragonfly’s wings are thin and long. Let’s draw the first two wings here.

5. Draw The Upper Wings

   

   Next, add the upper wings. The dragonfly wings can be detailed with some squiggly lines inside them.

6. Complete Your Drawing

   

   For this drawing I used shades of blue, green, pink, and yellow.

How to Draw a Dragonfly PDF Download

Click the link below to view or download this drawing lesson. The PDF is a printable drawing lesson for How to Draw a Dragonfly. The last page of the downloadable PDF includes a coloring book page with just the outlines and an extension exercise for prompting kids to get creative!

Preview How to Draw a Dragonfly Drawing PDFDownload PDF

Short Lived Beauty

Dragonflies are known for their colorful wings that are often seen in many parts of the world. They are related to damselflies, which are also known for their vibrant colors.

Adult dragonflies have a very short lifespan. The beautiful winged insect the way we know the dragonfly is only a very short part of the entire insect’s life.

Female dragonflies lay eggs on water plants and then leave them to hatch into nymphs. The nymphs then grow up into adults within about three months and then live just long enough to mate and produce more eggs.

The wings on a dragonfly are broad and their body is mostly clear with black eyes. The color of their body can range from shades of green to shades of yellow.

Dragonflies are most active during the day which makes them vulnerable to predators who are also active during that time.

If you watched a dragonfly for the course of one day, you would notice that they can eat hundreds of mosquitoes.

What are Dragonflies?

Dragonflies can be distinguished as insects with large bodies and fast fluttering wings. They zip around and can fly forward, backward, and sideways. These are insects that can be found in every continent except the Antarctic. A dragonfly has some of the most vibrant colors you’ll see in an insect.

What’s So Cool About Dragonflies?

These insects have been around for around 300 million years, and back then were as large as crows with wing spans up to 2 and a half feet. When dragonflies need to regulate body heat, they do headstands.

These insects have been used by humans as an inspiration for technology like the drones. People use drones for filming and taking photos high in the sky.  These incredible inventions work by replicating the way dragonflies fly!

The Benefits of Having Dragonflies Around

Dragonflies are good for the environment because they are a good indication that an ecosystem is healthy and thriving. This insect is also very beneficial to humans because they hunt mosquitoes.  Mosquitos are known to carry deadly diseases and make anyone’s backyard experience really unpleasant.

As predators of mosquitoes, dragonflies play an important role in the food chain.  They serve as food for larger predators like birds and fish. Dragonflies eat smaller creatures and larger creatures eat them!

Fun Facts About Dragonflies

Dragonflies are born near or in bodies of water and spend most of their life underwater in their larval state and some are known to live in this environment for up to 6 years.

Dragonflies have an almost 360 degree view of their surroundings.  This means they can see clearly in all directions. This makes them able to lock on to prey despite being surrounded by other insects.

Unlike other insects that go through larval stages like butterflies and moths, dragonflies skip the pupal stage and burst out with their wings. They are ready to fly after just a few moments of gaining their wings.