How to Draw a Cartoon Lion Step-by-Step

If you'd say this is an ideal King of the Jungle you'd be lion. <--bad pun.

Learn how to draw a cartoon lion and you'll be king of cartoon-land. Lions are brave warrior-like and... well, a little lazy. When King Leonard's subjects demand more services and less taxes, the King of the Jungle become a scaredy-cat.

This cooky character may be challenging for beginners, but muster up the courage and brave your way to making a wonderful cartoon character.

Step 1: Sketch your Lion's Outline

The head should look like a skull with two ovals in the center.

The body is an irregular shape but you could always add a small circle for the bum and a large oval for the chest. and then connect them with a drooping line at the top.

Add an oddly shaped small rectangle for the end of the tail. Then add in the feet. The front feet and the back feet need to line up on a slant to make it look like the feet are actually behind the lion.

Step 2: Add Leg's to Your Lion

To make King Leonard look more goofy, give him some awkward looking legs. and attach them to the body.

Connect the derriere to the end of the tail with an arc. This also adds to the goofy drama our lion king is going through. It looks kind of like a bell ringing mirroring the ringing that must be going through his ears.

Step 3: The Mane Thing

Crown Optional

Add in the Mane behind the head. This is a unique feature to the male lion, a lioness lacks this. Sketch in the lion's mane over the skull and outside the skull.

Draw in the muzzle like the top half of a heart, but upside-down. The bottom part of the mouth put at an angle. Lion's have what looks like an under-bite, and their mouths always seem to open to the side. With out lion going crazy, it's even better reason to offset this.

The top of the nose should be in line with the top of the muzzle. The nose should look like a diamond with no sharp corners.

Step 4: Sketch in the Details

Sketch in the eyebrows around the hairline at an angle.

Add in four goofy looking teeth with the tongue hanging out behind them.

The Lion's Tummy tag should come in from the bottom and curve up the chest. Even though this lion has lost a lot of his roar, he's still got that lionly chest.

On each of the paws add in lines to show his claws.

Colour in your Cartoon Lion

His Majesty's crown is royal purple. The Mane should be a very light brownish orange and the body is a khaki colour. The tummy tag should be a slightly lighter banana-like colour.

When his Royalty is complete you should have something that looks similar to this crazy-kitty.

Now that you know how to draw a cartoon lion, you'll be roaring to draw more.