How to Draw a Lion Head: Easy 10-Step Guide for Kids

Ready to bring the King of the Jungle to life? This tutorial is perfect for young artists ages 5 and up. All you need is a pencil, an eraser, and a piece of paper to start building your lion's expressive face and iconic mane.

10 Steps

🎯 Final Result

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Sketching the Base Circle

A light pencil sketch of a circle used as a guide for drawing a lion head.

Draw a light circle in the center of your page. Teacher's Tip: Keep your pencil strokes very faint so they are easy to erase later; this circle is just a guide for the head shape.

Step 2: Defining the Cheeks

Adding curved cheek lines to the bottom of the circle to define the lion's face shape.

Use curved lines to shape the face. Start beneath the circle, curve outward for the cheeks, and bring them to a soft point in the center. Tip: Think of these as two rounded 'M' shapes meeting in the middle.

Step 3: Sketching the Muzzle

Drawing the rounded muzzle and mouth area on the lower part of the lion's face.

Draw a rounded shape at the bottom for the snout. Add an upside-down 'V' inside for the mouth. Tip: Keep the muzzle small—it helps the lion look more like a friendly cartoon character.

Step 4: Adding Eyes and Nose

Adding the nose triangle and eye shapes to the lion's face.

Draw a small triangle for the nose and two irregular shapes for the eyes. Tip: Make sure the inner corners of the eyes are slightly pointed toward the nose to give your lion a focused expression.

Step 5: Starting the Mane

Sketching the initial jagged lines for the lion's mane around the head.

Begin the mane by drawing jagged, short curved lines around the head. Tip: Don't worry about making them perfect; fur is naturally messy and uneven!

Step 6: Expanding the Mane

Adding more layers of jagged fur lines to build the lion's mane.

Continue adding more jagged, connected lines to fill out the mane. Tip: Vary the length of your lines to make the mane look thick and voluminous.

Step 7: Cleaning Up

Erasing the initial circle guidelines to reveal the clean lion face outline.

Gently erase the original circle guide lines inside the face. Tip: Use a soft eraser and hold the paper down firmly so you don't accidentally wrinkle it.

Step 8: Adding Ears and Detail

Drawing the lion's ears with furry textures and inner ear details.

Draw the ears by creating small, furry triangles within the mane. Tip: Add a small line inside each ear to give them a sense of depth.

Step 9: Final Facial Features

Adding final details like eyebrows and pupils to the lion's eyes.

Add eyebrows and pupils. Draw three circles inside each eye, shading the smallest one to create a realistic shine. Tip: Eyebrows help show emotion—angle them down to make your lion look brave!

Step 10: Bringing it to Life with Color

A fully colored, friendly cartoon lion head illustration.

Time to color! Use warm tones like golden yellow, orange, or brown for the mane. Tip: Use a darker shade of brown for the shadows in the mane to make it look 3D.