How to draw a tiger
A tiger is a round, friendly cat until the very last step, when the stripes arrive and turn it into the biggest cat in the world. Build the cat first; save the stripes for last.
- 9 steps
- 11 minutes
- 4-10 Ages
- Easy
How do you draw a tiger?
Sketch a circle for the head and a wide oval for the body. Give the head a fluffy edge, add two round ears, an oval snout and a triangle nose. Draw the eyes, then the stripes: short curved marks on the forehead, cheeks, belly and tail. Add the front legs, two round paws and the long curved tail. Nine steps.
Watch it drawn, line by line
The whole drawing in under half a minute, in the same order as the steps below. No sound, so play it anywhere.
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 a big circle for the head and a wide oval below for the body.
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2 Step 2: Fluffy head edge
Add short curved lines around the top and sides of the head circle for a fluffy edge, plus two tiny neck dashes.
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3 Step 3: Ears and snout
Draw two big ear circles with smaller inner circles. Add an oval snout and a tiny wavy mouth line.
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4 Step 4: Face details
Add a small triangle nose, two oval eyes, three short ovals on the forehead, and three curved stripes on each cheek.
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5 Step 5: Body edges
Draw two short straight lines for the sides of the body, and a small curved line at the bottom for the belly edge.
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6 Step 6: Neck and belly
Add a long curved line under the head for the neck. Draw two small shoulder bands and two horizontal ovals on the belly, plus one tiny dash on the left side.
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7 Step 7: Curvy tail
Draw the tail on the right, a long curved shape with a rounded tip and two curved stripes. Add a small triangle at the tail base and a short vertical line for the leg edge.
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8 Step 8: Front legs
Add two long U shapes down the body for the front legs. Draw short side lines to finish the body, and a small curve on the right ear edge.
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9 Step 9: Paws and toes
Draw two round front paws and add three short toe lines on each. Add small curved bumps above the paws for the elbows.
What do you need to draw a tiger?
A pencil, paper and an eraser. Orange and black to colour it help at the end, but the whole tiger is built in pencil first, because the stripes are the last thing you add, not the first.
Where do you start?
With two grey guides: a circle for the head and a wide oval below it for the body. Sketch them lightly. A tiger cub is round and low to the ground, so the body oval is wide rather than tall, and everything else hangs off those two shapes.
What is the hardest part of drawing a tiger?
The stripes, and the mistake is drawing them first and drawing them straight. Build the whole round tiger in pencil FIRST, then add the stripes last, as short curved marks that wrap around the form: they arch over the forehead, fan down the cheeks, ring the belly and band the tail. Straight lines laid flat look like a fence; curved marks that follow the body look like fur.
Second thing: they come in rough pairs, one set on each side, but they do not have to match exactly. Real stripes never do, so relax and let them be uneven.
How do you make it your own?
- Colour it in. Orange with black stripes and a pale chin is the classic; leave the belly light.
- Make a white tiger. Pale grey stripes on white, with blue eyes.
- Add whiskers. Three long lines on each side of the snout.
- Give it a family. The same shape smaller beside it is a cub; a little bigger is the mother.
What else is worth knowing about tigers?
The stripes you added last are the one part no two tigers share: like a fingerprint, every tiger has its own pattern, and it runs right down to the skin, so a shaved tiger would still be striped. They are not just decoration either. In tall grass the dark bands break up its outline, so the biggest cat in the world can creep up close before anything sees it coming.
Questions people ask about drawing a tiger
Is this a good first tiger for a 5 year old?
Yes, with a little help on the stripes. The head, body, ears and legs are simple shapes a young child can manage, and an adult can add the stripe marks at the end if small hands find them fiddly.
How long does it take?
About eleven minutes. The stripes add a few of those minutes because there are a lot of small marks, but not one of them has to be exact.
What makes it a tiger and not a cat?
The stripes and the round ears. Take the stripes off and you have a chubby cat; the pattern is what does the work, which is exactly why you add it last, over a shape that already reads as a big friendly cat.
