Lion Drawings

Lion Drawings:

The lion is the only big cat that lives in groups, where all other big cats live a solitary life. And it is the same that can be said for their smaller counterparts. Our house hold cats, they being primarily a lone cat as well.

Lions are a popular big cat to start with, as they are often seen, and don't hide away like some of their more shyer cousins. Big Cats are not that much different than their smaller cousins, so I would like you to also consider what you learn in the cat art section on this site. As their physical structure is the same. Study the movements of your cat at home for lion drawings(if you have one) as their movements are the same. Study how your cat moves, in every way the small cat sits, moves or stalks- is the same as the big cat.  And studying your subject is of the utmost importance in order to get your lion drawings right.

Only when you study the movements of your intended subject, will you be able to draw them.

Learning the anatomy of all your subjects - is probably the best start that I could advise you. You don't have to be a doctor to be an artist. But I guarantee... that you will probably know more about anatomy than the average person. And this is part-and-parcel of being an artist.

In order to know how your subject moves, you have to see the limitations of their structure. How the skeletons are connected, the muscle structure and how this affects the way a subject runs, walks and sits.

This applies to all your subjects, Whether you draw, paint or sculpture you need to know the limitations that can be achieved when applying them to art.

A working foundation of the overall subject needs to be understood, in order to achieve movement. Have a look at this diagram of the anatomy of the lion. It shows you the main basic structure. This is what you will need to follow. I bet you had no idea how complicated the back structure of the leg really looked. And to see a big cat, you only see the muscles covering those powerful back upper legs.

 What do you see when looking at the picture of the lion to the left of you?  a picture of power and size.

This is what you need to get through in your drawing to make it believable. To achieve this subjects best character, and the best sort of drawing to start with is a standing drawing like this one for your lion drawings.

You need to achieve the basics firstly before you further your drawings into movement. Most probably a side view of the lions head at first would also be best. Because as you will find out - drawing a subject face on; and I am also talking about their heads. You are going into a different perspective again. And this is harder, because all its features take a different angle. And I can tell you, this is where your subject becomes harder to draw.

In sculpture, I would say that it isn't. Because you are working with many dimensions.  Yet with drawing... you are working with one dimension, and to achieve this allusion on canvas or paper  is a whole new ball game. And takes allot longer to achieve. But don't get discouraged. As you need to walk before you can run. And as your skills become more and more developed and your brain becomes trained, you can achieve these steps to becoming a good big cat artist.

These things that I am bringing up with you now are the fundamental starting points of drawing the big cat or lion drawing, and the basics that you will understand before getting your pencil to paper. And don't forget the rubber.

However I do want you do do one form of exercise, that is to get a piece of plain paper. Get a ruler and draw two parallel lines adjacent to each other.  Giving yourself enough room to draw straight lines from one of these adjacent lines to the other - and to keep on doing this freehand. No rulers please, that would be cheating and defeating the whole exercise.

You will keep drawing straight lines as best as you can. And don't be too slow about it either. This is an ongoing exercise, to keep going back to. Gradually you will see that your lines become more fluent and straight.

What you are doing is training your brain and hand coordination to work together. It will become easier and easier for you as time goes on. I also want you to do the same, though this time, slightly curved. You may wonder why. As I mentioned coordination, and the curved lions will also develop as well. These basic exercises are training your hand movements. And when it comes to sketching out the basic frame work of your big cat. It will be so much easier.

Next lesson we will be discussing  the different pattern work of the big cats and how to achieve it in drawing.