How to Draw a Lion

How to Draw a Lion:

The Lion is a powerful, majestic beast that run in prides. So what is it that makes us want to capture these wonderful big cats in our art.

Any big cat is an art in themselves, yet the male lion has this big mane of his, that just stands out.

Catching this in art work is an art of its own. And you can do allot with this most prized of the male lion's features.

So lets go ahead on our lesson. Remember..... we are breaching subjects where we want to get the best out of each and every subject that we do.

This is not just another animal I want you to draw in your art, I want you to really focus on the animals strengths: its beauty and individuality, this way your art work is going to shine out where other artists art work won't.

Doing your home work on your chosen subject at the time, is a must.

And if you want to capture the very essence of your animal; be it pet or wild, study beforehand will make your subject come to life on your canvas or drawing board.

You can see here in this drawing the lions skeleton; the strong shoulder blades and leg bones.

Observe the way the skeleton is constructed, how different the front shoulder blades and back legs are to your own form.

Now you can't see the skeleton on a live animal, naturally, thought having a look at how the lions skeleton is constructed will give you an idea of the limitations of the big cat movements.

I have sketched an example of a male lion here for you to have a look at.

See how I have made the lions mane his main feature.

This is the lions biggest asset, and I want you to also concentrate of this feature when drawing him.

In how to draw a lion, drawing the lions face at front view, can be more difficult than drawing a lion side on.

If you remember to sketch the shape of the lion, like the example I have done here for you here, you will have these shapes in which to guide you.

Do remember though... when drawing any animal front on, as I have done here, you need to get the overall shapes right first.

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Include the guidelines that we would normally draw in.

To get the shape of the animals front legs as shown.

This will give you the proportions for the lions legs and the other shapes, will guide you when drawing the mane and back of the body.

"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery" - Francis Bacon

The lion is quite stout in build, his main power and bulk is mainly in his powerful shoulders.

So don't make the mistake of thinking that his body is the same as any other big cats.

They all have their own specialties.

You will most probably want to learn how to draw a lions face so do go over to this page to continue your lessons on Lion Drawing.

The male lion is also bigger than his female counterpart, and don't forget to make a study the amount of mane the lion has at different stages in his life.

When he is a youngster, the growth of his mane is not so think and long.

This sketch here is showing a male lion in the full prime of his life. When old, his mane begins to get thinner.

So do take this into account when drawing the lion and how you want to portray him, young, to old.

Don't be too nervous when your draw, just sketch to your hearts content.

You will get better with practice and encourage yourself when you find that you are understanding more and more about how to draw your lion with greater ease. Remember practice, practice.........

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