A five-pointed star is a familiar symbol, but a living starfish rarely looks so orderly. Its arms can bend across rocks, spread at uneven angles or appear shorter when turned away from the viewer. The spaces between those arms are often the easiest places to begin drawing.
My approach to how to draw a starfish begins with one of those empty spaces. By following its edges, I can establish two neighboring arms at once. The rest of the animal develops through comparisons rather than a circle divided into equal sections.
For this tutorial, I’ll use a five-armed sea star resting on an uneven surface. Not every sea star species has five arms, so the number and shape of the arms should always come from your reference. You can make the drawing in pencil, pen or another medium that allows you to observe and revise the edges directly.
One gap gives you two arms
Find a photograph where you can distinguish the starfish from the sand or rock beneath it. An overhead or slightly angled view is useful, particularly when the surface creates small shadows under the arms.
Look for an opening between two arms that has a recognizable shape. It may be wide near the tips and narrow sharply toward the centre, or it may remain rounded and open.
Begin by drawing one side of this space. Follow the edge inward until it reaches the deepest part of the gap. Then let your line turn outward along the neighboring arm.
You have now described parts of two arms without drawing a complete outline around either one.
Pay attention to the shape of the inward turn. Some gaps are deep and narrow. Others form shallow curves where the arms meet the central body. These differences are much more useful than trying to place five identical points around an imaginary centre.
I keep the first marks visible as I work. If a curve needs to move, I place a new line beside it and allow the earlier observation to remain on the page.
Move around the shape without evening it out
From your first gap, look at the next opening between the arms. Compare its width and depth with the one you have already drawn.
Is the next opening wider? Does it face in a different direction? Does one arm bend so that the space between it and its neighbor becomes unusually narrow?
Draw those differences as they appear. Do not try to make each gap occupy the same amount of space.
Continue around the starfish until the separate contours begin to establish its full silhouette. You may need to rotate your sketchbook occasionally so your hand can follow a particular edge more comfortably.
The arms should have their own widths and directions. One may taper gradually toward a rounded tip, while another widens near the centre before curving sharply to one side.
An arm resting across a raised rock may appear shorter or narrower because part of its surface turns away from the viewer. Follow the visible shape rather than correcting it to match the other arms.
If the last contour does not meet your original line perfectly, look again at the reference before changing anything. A new mark may resolve the proportion, or the slight disagreement may simply remain as part of the exploratory drawing.
The centre is where the arms meet
Once the silhouette is established, turn your attention toward the central body of the sea star.
There is no need to enclose this area in a circle. Look at the way the surface spreads outward into the arms and how the texture changes near their bases.
The centre may appear raised, flattened or slightly displaced by perspective. In an angled photograph, it will not necessarily sit an equal distance from every arm tip.
Find a few visible marks or changes in value that extend from the centre toward the arms. These connections help the animal feel like one continuous body rather than separate pieces joined together.
You may see a darker central area, subtle ridges or changes in the surface texture. Draw the clearest evidence first. A small amount of well-placed information can establish the structure without outlining every division.
Show where the starfish touches the seafloor
An overhead starfish drawing can easily appear flat if its shape is separated from the surface beneath it.
Look for the contact shadows around the arms. These may be especially dark where the central body presses against a rock or where an arm folds over an uneven surface.
Place a few of these shadows before adding detailed surface texture.
A narrow dark edge beneath one arm can suggest thickness. A softer shadow beyond another arm may indicate that it is raised slightly above the ground.
Keep the shadows responsive to the reference. They should not become a uniform dark border surrounding the entire starfish.
Sand may partly cover an arm, while the irregular surface of a rock can interrupt its contour. Preserve these overlaps instead of cleaning them into an uninterrupted shape.
If the reference shows the underside of a raised arm, you may also see some of the small tube feet that sea stars use to move and hold onto surfaces. These should be drawn only where that underside is visible, not scattered across the upper surface.
A small amount of surrounding sand or rock is usually enough to make the animal feel grounded. The environment can support the drawing without becoming a fully developed underwater scene.
Let the texture follow the arms
Sea stars vary considerably in surface appearance. Some have noticeable bumps or spines, while others show smaller plates, irregular patches and subtle changes in colour.
Before drawing individual marks, look for the broadest differences in value. One arm might be darker where it turns away from the light. A raised section near the centre may catch a highlight.
Establish those larger areas first. Then observe how the smaller details travel across the surface.
Marks may follow the length of an arm, gather near its edges or become denser toward the centre. Their arrangement depends on the species and the angle of the photograph.
With graphite, I use broad value changes before concentrating on individual bumps. With pen, I vary the size and spacing of dots, small irregular marks and short lines.
Texture should become less prominent where the surface turns away or falls into shadow. It may also become finer toward the tip of an arm.
Resist the temptation to distribute equally sized dots across the whole body. That creates decoration rather than describing the particular animal in your reference.
Leave quiet areas where the surface is relatively smooth or the lighting reveals little detail. Those areas make the more textured sections easier to read.
Keep the irregularities that make it believable
Step back and look at the silhouette without concentrating on its surface markings.
Does one arm turn more sharply than the others? Is the central body slightly offset? Do the spaces between the arms reflect the uneven position of the animal on its surroundings?
If the drawing looks too much like a symmetrical icon, compare those relationships with your photograph. The problem may be the spacing of the arms rather than a lack of detail.
Make corrections where the observation calls for them, but avoid balancing the drawing simply to make it look neater. The shorter arm, uneven gap or interrupted contour may be one of the most convincing features.
I am comfortable leaving visible thought lines where I’ve reconsidered an edge. Against the varied texture of a sea star, those marks often feel like a natural part of the sketch.
The spaces between the arms establish the shape. The centre connects it, the contact shadows give it weight and the surface marks describe the individual animal.
For other subjects to observe along the seafloor and coast, see my sea animal drawing tutorials.