Lion Drawing!

Only the cutest little lion on the block! Draw our King of the Jungle in this step by step tutorial.

Lions. The King of the Jungle! The most feared predator on the African plains. Who doesn’t love lions though, they’re such magestic animals and that mane is such an iconic feature, its hard to not want to draw it. Maybe that’s why lionesses often get left out a bit when it comes to drawing big cats. 

Hmmm… I think I will need to add a ‘how to draw a lioness’ tutorial to this page later I think! Especially as its the females that do the ‘lions share’ of the food gathering (see what I did there? Hahahahaha…) 

Seriously though, while our maned friend is lounging in the sun, occassionally scaring off the off hyena with a yawn displaying his massive teeth, the female lions are off working as a pack hunting down the next meal. But let’s just ignore the lion’s work ethic today shall we and hop on into the lion drawing tutorial!

Nicola xx

Ps: Don’t forget all artwork on this site is original art created by me. I’d love you to recreate it and share your stuff on social, just remember to tag me @nicolamilanart (and no commercial resale allowed. Thanks!)

Step One

Drawing big cats is no easy feat, but our cartoon version is truly a sinch. Start off by drawing a funky looking circle for the head and stick a couple of ears on the top.

Step Two

Super easy step for step two… simply erase the ear lines and connect them nicely to the head.

Step Three

Have you SEEN how large lion’s noses are? HUGE! I mean, everyone gets distracted by the mane, but maybe that’s just a sneaky ploy to keep the attention away from that oversized shnoz. 

We’re going to let ours take up most of the lion’s face. heh heh.

Step Four

So easy my friends. Drawn two lines on either side of the lion’s nose to create the mouth. DONE!

Step Five

Why is it that step five always ends up being the fun step in many of my tutorials? Anyhoo… this is where you get to add your facial features. I’ve gone for a pretty minimalist, cutsie kinda lion drawing today but if you want to add some expressive eyes and eyebrows, now would be the time.

Step Six

The lion’s mane is going to take up most of the pic. Cartooning is all about exaggerating certain features while having the drawing still look like it works. The mane is no exception. To get it right, draw a guide line circle around your lion’s head. You’ll follow this in the next step when you’re drawing in the fluff.

Step Seven

LET THERE BE FLUFF! Draw a bunch of rounded or jaggedy lines for the mane.

SWEET TIP: The more jaggedy your mane, the more ragged and mean your lion will look.

Step Eight

A large ball of fluff our lion drawing may be… but let’s be nice and give our little fella some feet to stand on. 

I’ve drawn mine in the easiest way possible poking out below the mane. Literally just stumps with claws drawn in. Happy days. 🙂

Ta Daa!

Color is the spice of life! Ok, I’ve gone really traditional with my lion today. Very unusual for me. Usually I’d mix things up with a bit of blue for the mane and some punk sunnies or something. I must be in a normal mood today. (Rare).

I hope you enjoyed this cartoon lion drawing tutorial. If you did, let me know in the comments below.

Nicola xx