Sketching Lions: Simplifying Head and Torso with Basic Shapes

Here’s a record of this week’s lion head still life exercise, where we focused on expressing the volume and mass of its mane.
Side note: every time we discuss a lion’s head in class, it brings up the image of a braised meatball for some reason! 🤤

In the second half, I’ve put together an overview of lion anatomy and structure, particularly focusing on the head and torso. If you’re interested, feel free to read along! The second image will help illustrate the concepts.

●Lion Body Structure:

In the top-right side view, the body is broken down into several sections. The head is represented by a square, the torso by a cylinder, and the legs and tail are built from rectangular shapes.

1. Head:

A cube can be used as the basic form of the lion’s head. The shape can be divided into a cubic form to help capture its overall appearance, as shown in the small diagram on the right. The protruding parts of the face (like the muzzle) can be represented by smaller cubes added to the face, giving the lion’s head more three-dimensionality.

2. Torso Structure:

The body can be simplified into a rectangular shape. Pay special attention to the spine, which shows the lion’s strength and curvature.

The ribcage and pelvis can be represented with ovals and squares. When drawing, note how the muscles affect the simplified shapes, such as the pelvis being wider at the top and narrower at the bottom

3. Structure in Motion:

When the lion is running or hunting, you can observe the stretch and contraction of its spine, as illustrated in the small drawing on the bottom left. The tension during motion is shown through the curves of the spine and the bending of the limbs.

I hope this structural overview helps you better understand the anatomy of a lion’s body. If you have any suggestions for topics or want to learn a specific drawing technique, feel free to leave a comment or message me. Happy drawing!

Sketching Lions: Simplifying Head and Torso with Basic Shapes