Drawing a Realistic Lion

Artist: Dawn / September 19, 2015
Drawing a Realistic Lion

Step 1.


Make the guidelines and shapes to form the framework of your realistic lion that you are about to draw.

Step 2.


Let's zoom in while we tackle the face and head. Utilize the facial guidelines to draw out the eyes and nose like you see it done for you here. Notice the slight shading at the corners and ends of the lion's eyes.

Step 3.


Next, begin sketching out the structure of the lion's snout or muzzle like so. When you draw in the chin use a gentle stroke to make the hair on the chin seem soft and somewhat fluffy.

Step 4.


We will now use a light stroke as we sketch in the detailing scattered on the lion's face. Detailing and definition should be placed on the forehead between the eyes, along the cheeks, on the chin and around the outer parts of the face. Don't forget    

Step 5.


Sketch out the small shapes of each ear. Notice that they are almost hidden by the mane.

Step 6.


We will zoom out now and tackle the rest of the lion's body and head. Start with the massive mane. The bigger the lion mane the more dominate the lion to other males. They are also more attractive to the lioness as well.

Step 7.


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Step 8.


Once the mane is sketched out and detailed, you can draw in the front legs and paws. Notice how the paws look loose and big.

Step 9.


Almost done folks. Draw in the back end of the lion. This should also include the back leg and paw as well.

Step 10.


Lastly, draw the tail, the tuft of hair on the tail end, and then draw in the toe separation along with the nails. When you are satisfied with the drawing you can erase the mistakes and guides.

Step 11.


And here is the finished lesson for your lion drawn in a realistic manner. I hope you had fun and I also hope you learned something new with this drawing lesson.

Comments (3)
Batman01 · 4 years ago
B)
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Tigereyes · 4 years ago
;)
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Tigereyes · 4 years ago
Thanks a lot for including this in your large collection of lion tutorials, I love how simple yet realistic this is.
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Details
Artist: Dawn
Date Added: September 19, 2015
Steps: 11
Favorited: 8 (view)
Views: 0 in last hour, 10 in last day, 102 in last week, 37186 total
Comments: 0
Tags: how to draw lions, how to draw big cats
Description: This lesson shouldn't be too complicated to tackle especially since it's a tut on how to draw a realistic Lion. I have done many lion lessons in the past and this one just looks correct. When drawing a lion you really have to make sure to get the face sketched out almost perfectly because a lion's face is what sets him/her apart from the other lions on the Savannah. It took about two hours to complete the sketch of this realistic lion drawing and if you love drawing big cats, you should really enjoy this tut. After this lesson there are two portraits going up on two of my favorite people so stick around to see who they are.

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