How to Draw a Cartoon Monkey: Easy 11-Step Guide

Ready to bring a playful primate to life? This tutorial is perfect for ages 5 and up, requiring only a pencil, paper, and an eraser. Follow these simple steps to build your monkey character from basic shapes, helping you master proportions and expressive cartooning.

11 Steps

🎯 Final Result

A colorful, finished cartoon monkey hanging from a branch, ready for coloring.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Sketching the Head

A light pencil sketch of a circle representing the monkey's head on a white background.

Start by drawing a light circle to serve as the monkey's head. Teacher's Tip: Keep your pencil strokes very faint so you can easily erase them later; think of this as the 'skeleton' of your drawing.

Step 2: Defining the Snout and Eyes

Sketch showing an oval for the snout and two circles for the eyes overlapping the head shape.

Draw a large oval overlapping the side of the head for the snout, then add two smaller circles for the eyes. Teacher's Tip: Don't worry about the overlapping lines yet; we will clean those up in the next step!

Step 3: Cleaning the Outline

The monkey's head outline with unnecessary overlapping lines erased for a clean look.

Gently erase the overlapping lines inside the snout and eyes to create a smooth, clean face shape. Teacher's Tip: Use a soft eraser and light pressure to avoid crinkling your paper.

Step 4: Adding Facial Features

Detailed sketch of the monkey's eyes and a small oval nose.

Draw two large circles for the eyes and a small oval in the center for the nose. Teacher's Tip: Placing the nose slightly lower between the eyes gives the monkey a friendly, youthful expression.

Step 5: Adding Pupils and a Smile

The monkey's face now includes pupils in the eyes and a wide, happy smile.

Add small shaded circles for pupils and a wide 'U' shape for the mouth. Teacher's Tip: Make the pupils look in different directions if you want your monkey to look extra silly!

Step 6: Drawing the Ears

Sketch showing two C-shaped ears added to the sides of the monkey's head.

Add two 'C' shaped lines on the sides of the head to form the ears. Teacher's Tip: Try to keep them symmetrical so the monkey looks balanced.

Step 7: Adding Ear Detail and Body

Adding inner ear details and the start of the monkey's torso.

Draw smaller 'C' shapes inside the ears for detail, then add a large curved line for the body. Teacher's Tip: The body line should start just below the head to show the neck.

Step 8: Sketching the Limbs

Sketching the monkey's arms and legs using parallel curved lines.

Use pairs of parallel curved lines to create the arms and legs. Teacher's Tip: Keep the lines slightly curved to make the monkey look relaxed and natural.

Step 9: Drawing the Hands

Adding simple, cartoon-style hands with fingers to the arms.

Add the hands using small, connected 'U' shapes for fingers. Teacher's Tip: Don't worry about perfect anatomy; simple shapes work best for cartoon styles!

Step 10: Feet and Tail

Adding feet and a long, curly tail to the monkey drawing.

Draw the feet with simple toes and add a long, spiral tail. Teacher's Tip: Make the tail look like a spring to give your monkey a sense of movement.

Step 11: Final Touches

The completed cartoon monkey hanging from a tree branch.

Add a sturdy tree branch for your monkey to hang from! Teacher's Tip: Use thick, dark lines to outline your final drawing to make it pop.