Australia is the outline everyone thinks they own until they have to draw the top half. Players nail the chunky southern mass and then improvise the north, forgetting Cape York's upward hook entirely — and Tasmania, poor Tasmania, gets left off more often than any island its size deserves.
The shape at a glance
Australia is a huge, roughly egg-shaped continent, wider than tall by about five to four. The north has two defining features: Cape York peninsula stabbing up toward Papua New Guinea on the right, and the Gulf of Carpentaria scooping a deep bite just left of it. The south coast is dominated by the Great Australian Bight, an enormous smooth inward curve. Tasmania floats as a small rounded island off the southeast corner, and the southwest has its own rounded bulge.
Step by step
- Block in a huge mass a bit wider than tall — think of a squashed egg with the fat end toward the left.
- Draw the south coast as one great smooth concave arc, the Great Australian Bight, spanning the middle of the bottom edge.
- Add the southwest corner as a rounded bulge below the Bight's left end, then run the west coast up in a long, fairly straight diagonal.
- Cut the Gulf of Carpentaria deep into the top-center: a wide rectangular bite between two arms of land.
- Draw Cape York on the right side of the gulf as a narrow peninsula hooking upward, ending in a point aimed at Papua New Guinea.
- Finish the east coast as a long convex curve descending from Cape York to the southeast corner, and float Tasmania just below it as a small rounded triangle.
Mistakes that cost you points
- Forgetting Cape York, which erases the continent's most distinctive northern feature.
- Drawing the Gulf of Carpentaria as a shallow dent when it cuts deep into the landmass.
- Leaving off Tasmania, or sticking it far out at sea instead of snug under the southeast corner.
- Making the Great Australian Bight jagged — it is one of the smoothest big curves on any map.
Place it on the map
Australia sits between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with Papua New Guinea hovering just above Cape York's tip and New Zealand far off to the southeast. Indonesia's island chain runs along its entire northwest horizon.
Pro tip: The continent's widest point is roughly opposite the Bight's deepest curve — use the bite as your centerline. Draw the Bight first, place Cape York and the southwest bulge at equal heights above and below it, and the whole egg assembles itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you draw Australia from memory?
- Start with the overall box — is Australia wider than tall or the reverse — then place its signature feature first and build the rest of the outline around it. Finish with the coastline details, then compare against the real border in a free practice round to get a 0-100 score.
- How hard is it to draw Australia?
- Australia rates as medium difficulty. The continent is iconic, but the Gulf of Carpentaria, Cape York and the Great Australian Bight punish lazy blob-drawing.