Caroline
They say the lion is the king of the jungle, but this is a title that is a bit inaccurate as lions don’t actually live in jungles.
King of the savannah may be more accurate, but what some people don’t know is that it is actually the female lion, or lioness, that does most of the hunting and hard work.
They truly are incredible animals, and they are popular among wildlife artists for their beauty and power.
Learning how to draw a lioness is a great way to create some artwork of your own that features these hunters.
If you would like to create some great artwork featuring these amazing creatures, then this is the guide for you.
This step-by-step guide on how to draw a lioness will be the perfect way for fans of the lion to express their love in drawing form!
How to Draw A Lioness – Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
In this first step of this guide on how to draw a lioness, we will begin by drawing the head, neck and first leg of the animal.
Lions have quite a short snout, and this gives their heads a rounded, efficient design. Using some smooth lines, you can draw the outline of the head, nose and mouth.
We will also be drawing the small, rounded ears on top of the head.
Then, once this outline is drawn, we will then be adding some inner details. These will include the inner shapes for the ears, and then there will also be some facial texture details and outlines for the nose and eyes.
Finally, finish off this step by drawing the muscular shoulders and the large first leg of the lioness. Then it will be on to step 2!
Step 2 – Now, draw the belly of the lioness
For this next step of your lioness drawing, we will be adding a belly for her. This should be quite an easy step for you to do!
To begin, draw a curvy line extending back from beneath the shoulder of the leg that you drew in the previous step.
Then, we will be adding some details to the belly to make it look a bit more textured. To do this, add some lines close to one another for some shading details for the belly.
That’s all there is to it for this step, and then it will be on to step 3 of the guide!
Step 3 – Draw the rest of the body outline for the lioness
We will be adding quite a lot to the picture in this step of our guide on how to draw a lioness.
In this part, we will be finishing the majority of the outline for the lioness, and you can start by drawing her back with another curvy line.
This will extend to a curvy tail, and then there will be a bit back leg at the base of the tail that connects to the belly.
To finish off this step, draw the bottom half of the other front leg below the body. Then add some shading details to all of these elements before you proceed.
Step 4 – Next, draw the other back leg of the lioness
Now you can add the final leg to the lioness drawing before we add some final details in the next step.
This leg will be extended backward and will be at an angle below the tail. There will also be some more shading details for the leg, more than you’ve been using for the other parts of the lioness.
That will complete the entirety of the outline for the lioness’s body, and then you’ll be ready to finish it off with those final details.
Step 5 – Add the final details to your lioness drawing
You’re almost ready to add some colors in the final step of the guide on how to draw a lioness, but first we will be drawing the ground that it is walking on.
Use a thick, straight line below the lioness for this ground, and then you can draw some small rock and pebble details. Before you move on to the final step of the guide, you could also add some details of your own to finish it off!
There are various different environments that lions can be found in, so you could draw background details such as tall grass or maybe a lake setting behind it.
These are just a few ideas that you could go for, so what else can you think of to finish off this majestic lioness?
Step 6 – Finish off your lioness drawing with color
This is the final step of your lioness drawing, and in it we shall be finishing it off with some colors.
Lions aren’t particularly vibrantly colored, but this helps them to blend into their environment while hunting.
We went for this more realistic look in our image, and that means that we used a light brown tan color for the body of the lioness.
Along with this tan color, we also used lighter and darker shades to give the colors a bit more vibrancy.
For the ground, we finished off by using a rich, dark brown color. You could use similar colors if you like how these look, but you should also feel free to use any other colors you love for it.
What colors and art mediums do you think would best suit this image?
Do this to take your lioness drawing to the next level
Make this lioness sketch even more incredible with these fun and easy tips!
Lions live in groups called prides, so they are rarely seen alone. Not only this, but there will usually be a group of lionesses when it’s time to go hunting.
For this reason, it would be cool to add some more lionesses to your lioness drawing! Now that you have done it once throughout this guide, you could add a few more to finish up the group.
You might want to change a few details such as the pose of the head to differentiate each lioness. What sorts of poses would you like to create?
Another way you could populate this drawing of a lioness would be to add a male lion. The main difference between a lion and a lioness is that the male lion will have a large, distinctive mane.
This would be easy enough to add to a second lion, so you could draw the lioness as it appears and then add the mane. You could have a few lionesses and one male to add some variety!
Adding additional lions is one way to increase the population of this lioness sketch. You could also add different animal species for even more variety.
This could include some gazelles that the lioness may hunt. Or, you could add different predators such as a leopard or a cheetah.
These are a few animals that you could add, but what are some others you could add?
Finally, it would be great to finish it all off with a background for this lioness drawing. Lions come from Africa, so an African savannah would be the perfect environment for this image.
This could include some grassland that could be yellow and dry or green and lush. You could also go for a zoo or a circus setting for a different twist to the background.
What are some other background ideas you have for this picture that would make it more complete and distinct?
Your Lioness Drawing is Complete!
That will conclude this guide on how to draw a lioness!
Whenever taking on a new picture to draw, the best way to tackle it will be to break it down into smaller steps so that it can become more manageable.
That’s what we aimed to do in this guide, so hopefully it was made easier and more fun for you to do!
When you have finished this lioness drawing, you can then keep it going by adding some extra details and ideas of your own. What else can you think of to finish off your creation?
Be sure to visit our website for more drawing guides! We upload new ones often, so stay tuned for those.
When your lioness drawing is complete, please remember to share it on our Facebook and Pinterest pages for us to enjoy.
