How to draw a Praying Mantis

The praying mantis is a goofy looking animal that’s got a lot of parts to it. There’s a lot of steps to this one, so without further ado, let’s begin! Here’s how to draw a praying mantis:

Step 1:

First draw a circle. Make sure you know the diameter as we will be using it for proportions. We will call the diameter 1 unit.

Step 2:

Then draw another circle with a 1 unit diameter where the center is on the edge of the first circle.

Step 3:

Two units away from the second circle draw another 1 unit circle.

Step 4:

Draw two outwards curves between the head and lone circle. They should be 1 unit away from each other at the peaks.

Step 5:

Draw a half circle with a 1/2 unit diameter on the other side of the head.

Step 6:

Draw a line connecting the first two circles. Draw two tangents from where the circles meet and the half circle meets the circle and connect them with a curve

Step 7:

Erase the base circle.

Step 8:

Draw a diagonal from the lower circle to a point 1/2 unit out. Then draw a horizontal line that is 3 units long.

Step 9:

Draw a curve that is 1 unit long at the peak and that ends 1 unit down from the end of the last line.

Step 10:

Draw a curve from the end of the last curve to 1/2 unit away from the body. Then draw a curve above the end of the wing to make the other wing.

Step 11:

Draw a line 1/2 unit out from the peak of the wing. Then draw a curve from that point to a point 1 and 1/2 units back and 1 unit below the bottom of the wing.

Step 12:

Connect the end of the abdomen to the wing with a curve. Draw a 1/2 unit line from the abdomen. Connect it to the wing. Repeat until you reach the end of the wing, then connect it to the body.

Step 13:

Draw a V near the top of the body.

Step 14:

On each end of the V, draw a 1and 1/2 unit long thin oval, vertical.

Step 15:

Draw a parallel curve behind the oval, connecting at the top but not the bottom.

Step 16:

Draw the other side of the forearms.

Step 17:

Draw the tips of the arms, each 1 unit long.

Step 18:

Draw a spiky squiggle down the sides of the ovals in the arms.

Step 19:

Draw the near legs. The front leg is 1&1/2 units forward and slightly more than 2 units down. The rear leg is 1 unit back and slightly more than 2 units down.

Step 20:

Draw the back legs with another set of L shapes. The front should be 2 units down, and the back should extend 1 unit past the body.

Step 21:

Draw a hexagon in the center of each eye.

Step 22:

Draw antenna, two units long.

Step 23:

Erase extra lines.

Step 24:

Color everything green, with a yellowish belly. Pupils are dark grey.

Step 25:

Gently shade.

So that’s how you draw a Praying Mantis!

The Praying Mantis is a goofy looking animal, and I made sure to reflect that in the tone of the poem. I still laugh when I look at this page even after seeing it a hundred times while writing it. The praying mantis page is one of my favorite pages in the book.