How to draw a lion
A lion is a cat with a big collar. Draw the face exactly as you would a cat's, then ring the whole head with the mane, and the mane does all the work.
- 8 steps
- 10 minutes
- 4-10 Ages
- Easy
Draw it step by step
The new lines for each step are drawn in red. The grey dashed shapes are guides, sketch them lightly and rub them out at the end.
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1 Step 1: Guide shapes
Lightly sketch the big circle and the wide oval as guides.
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2 Step 2: Mane bottom and sides
Draw a wavy curved line across the top of the lower oval for the bottom of the mane. Add two short side lines on left and right, plus two tiny dashes and a short line on the tummy.
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3 Step 3: Fluffy mane
Draw a big fluffy cloud shape around the head to finish the mane. Add small curved lines inside both ears.
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4 Step 4: Face shape
Draw a large oval inside the mane for the face.
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5 Step 5: Ear bases
Add a small curved band on each ear where it meets the mane.
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6 Step 6: Eyes and muzzle
Draw two small oval eyes. Add a tiny nose, a short line, and a smiling mouth inside a big oval muzzle, plus a big U shape on the belly.
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7 Step 7: Front paws
Draw two round ovals at the bottom for front paws, each with three short toe lines. Add a tiny ground line under them.
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8 Step 8: Back legs and tail
Add a curved line behind each paw for the back legs, with three short toe lines. Draw a curvy tail ending in a small diamond leaf.
What you need
A pencil, paper and an eraser. If you have already done our cat tutorial, you are most of the way there.
Before you start
Sketch the grey guide shapes lightly. Here is the thing to understand before you draw a single real line: the head circle is the FACE, not the whole head. The mane goes around the outside of it. Beginners draw the circle, fill it with a face, and then have nowhere left to put the mane, so leave a generous ring of empty paper all the way round.
The part most people get wrong
The mane, and the mistake is drawing it as a fluffy cloud. It is not a cloud, it is a ring of pointed tufts, and the tufts point OUTWARDS, away from the face, like the rays of a sun. Draw it as a circle of spikes rather than a wobbly outline, and vary their length so it does not look like a flower.
The other thing: the muzzle is wide and low, and it is drawn as two soft bumps side by side, not one circle.
Make it your own
- Draw a lioness. Simply leave the mane off. Lionesses have none, and the face is the same face.
- Make it a cub. No mane yet, bigger eyes, rounder head, and a few soft spots.
- Make it roar. Open the mouth into a wide O and add two small pointed teeth at the top.
- Add the tail tuft. A long thin tail with a little brush of hair at the very end.
Learn more about lions
The mane is not decoration either. A darker, fuller mane is a sign of a stronger, healthier lion, and other lions can read it from a distance, which is why it is the first thing you notice and the first thing you should draw big. Lions are also the only cats that live in groups, called prides, and they are the only cats where the male and the female look so different that you would draw them differently. And a lion's roar carries about eight kilometres, further than any other big cat.
