Tyrannosaurus rex captivates our imaginations as a monarch of the Late Cretaceous era. With its colossal size, serrated teeth, and tiny arms, this charismatic carnivore reigns supreme as an icon of the dinosaurs.

How can you draw a cartoon T.rex? This Natural History Museum London video, featuring museum scientist Zach Dickeson, shares a helpful trick: With a pencil, draw a triangle, a circle, a rectangle, a zigzag line that starts near the circle’s center and ends with a tiny rectangle.

Next, switch to a pen and erase the pencil shapes when you’re done. They’ve included a shapes template (.pdf) and written instructions with photos to help.

Then make the T.rex your own! Draw patterns, colors, environments, and expressions from your imagination:

“Where is your dinosaur looking? Forwards, backwards, upwards or at you (gulp!)? Where you put the black circle inside the eye will change which direction the dinosaur seems to be looking in.

“Do you want your dinosaur to have its mouth shut, or open to show off its terrible teeth?

“Zach says, ‘Teeth are really fun to draw. Why not try drawing them slightly wonky? – It makes the dinosaur look a bit goofy.”

Experiment! Then learn more with these videos:
• Why does T.rex have tiny arms?
• What did a baby T.rex look like?
• Rebuilding a real Tyrannosaurus rex with scientific research and new technology