Lesson 2 — Illustrating Noah's Ark

// the scene

The Noah's Ark story is one of the most illustrated Bible scenes in history. It has everything an artist loves — a giant boat, pairs of animals, stormy water, a rainbow, and a family. Your job is to capture that scene using the shapes you learned in Lesson 1.

You do not need to draw every animal. You need to draw a scene that tells the story at a glance. A viewer should look at your drawing and immediately know — that is Noah's Ark.

🎨 What Makes This Scene Work

The key elements are: the ark (large and dominant), water underneath, at least two animals visible, Noah or his family, and ideally a rainbow or dark clouds to set the mood. You do not need all of them — but the ark must be unmistakable.

// step by step — drawing the ark

01Draw the hull — a large rectangle, wider than it is tall. This is the body of the ark. Make it big — it dominates the scene.

02Add the roof — a triangle or rectangle on top of the hull. This is the cabin where Noah's family stayed.

03Draw water — curved lines below the hull. Wavy lines suggest a flood. The ark should look like it is floating.

04Add animals — draw two simple animal shapes peeking over the side or walking up a ramp. A giraffe neck (long rectangle + oval) and an elephant (large oval + rectangle legs) are easy and recognisable.

05Add Noah — a small circle head and rectangle body at the front of the ark. He can be waving or looking at the sky.

06Add the sky — dark clouds above (oval shapes grouped together) or a rainbow (curved lines in an arc). This sets the mood of the whole scene.

// colour choices

Brown — the ark. Wood. Warm and solid.
Blue and grey — the water and storm clouds. Cold and powerful.
Green — any land or plants beginning to appear
Rainbow colours — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple — the promise
Warm light — if you show the sun breaking through, use yellow and orange

// what to focus on

The most important thing in this illustration is scale. The ark should be the biggest thing in the picture. Everything else — animals, people, water — should feel small next to it. That size difference tells the story. It shows how enormous the ark was and how much faith it took to build it.

✏️ Try It Now

Draw the Noah's Ark scene using the 6 steps above. Start with the hull — get that right first. Then add each element one at a time. Do not erase — just keep building. When you are done, show it to someone and ask: "What story does this show?" If they say Noah's Ark — you nailed it.