How to Draw the Internal Structure of the Heart

Finding a Diagram

To find a good diagram, go to Google Images, and type in "The Internal Structure of the Human Heart". Find an image that displays the entire heart, and click on it to enlarge it.

Find a piece of paper and something to draw with. Start with the pulmonary veins. They will be to the lower left of the Aorta. There are two of them. Draw the top vein slightly smaller than the bottom vein.

Below the pulmonary veins, and slightly to the right, begin sketching the bottom of the inferior vena cava.

Begin sketching the base of the heart, including the right and left ventricles, and the right and left atriums. The pulmonary veins should be adjacent to the right atrium, and the inferior vena cava should be adjacent to the right atrium and right ventricle.

Change diagrams if needed. If the diagram that you are using is helping you to sketch the heart, you should continue to use the same diagram. If you are confused about where parts of the heart are, find a new diagram.

Sketching the Heart

Draw the other side of the pulmonary veins, and add circles at the end.

Begin drawing the pulmonary artery. Bottom ends at the top of the right ventricle. The left and right sides should be slightly above the atriums and pulmonary veins. The pulmonary artery is shaped like an uppercase 't'. It extends to the top of the right ventricle. Draw a circle at the end of it at the bottom.

To draw the aorta, begin by drawing the loop over and around the pulmonary artery, ending at the top of the left ventricle. To draw the back of the aorta, draw a single line connecting from the right side of the pulmonary artery to the top of the left atrium. To finish drawing the aorta, draw three nubs at the top of the loop. After you draw these, erase the lines connecting from one side of the bottom of the nub to the other. Add tilted circles to the top of all of the nubs. Draw a circle at the bottom of the aorta, adjacent to the left ventricle.

To draw the superior vena cava, draw a nub extending from the top of the right atrium, overlapping the left side of the pulmonary artery, to slightly above the left side of the pulmonary artery. At the bottom of the superior vena cava, adjacent to the right atrium, draw a circle.

Draw four circles in the left atrium, and one circle in the right atrium, slightly below the superior vena cava.

Draw the mitral valves between both atriums, and aortic valves in both the pulmonary artery and the aorta.

Coloring and Labeling

Color these pink: Border Left Atrium Right Atrium Pulmonary Veins

Color these purple: Pulmonary Artery Left Ventricle Right Ventricle

Color these blue: Superior Vena Cava Inferior Vena Cava

Color this red: Aorta

Make sure to label the following: Superior Vena Cava Inferior Vena Cava Pulmonary Artery Pulmonary Veins Left Ventricle Right Ventricle Left Atrium Right Atrium Mitral Valves Aortic Valves Aorta Pulmonic Valve (Optional) Tricuspid Valve (Optional)

To finish, label "The Human Heart" above the sketch.