How to Draw a Tiger Face?

To draw a tiger face, start with one large circle, build a furry ruff of jagged cheek lines around it, then add the ears, chin, eyes, nose and mouth, and finish with the stripes. The 20 steps below walk you through it in that order, with a picture for each one. It takes some patience, but nothing here is beyond a beginner, and the result is a roaring tiger head like the one below.

What you need before you start

All you need is a pencil and a sheet of white drawing paper, such as Canson. Keep an eraser close: you will use it to correct mistakes and, in step 4, to remove your first guide line. If you prefer working in pen, choose an erasable one.

In each step picture, the lines added in that step are shown in gray and the lines from earlier steps in black, so you can always see what is new. Draw lightly at first, since some early lines will be erased later, and keep an eye on proportions so both sides of the face stay even.

The angry, roaring tiger face you are about to draw has a long history in the art of many Asian countries. The tiger once lived throughout Korea and much of China, and a small wild population still lives in northeastern China. If you like seeing how other artists have treated the animal, our article on the tiger in art is a good companion to this tutorial.

And if you would rather wear a tiger head than draw one, the pastel tiger head t-shirt uses a very similar face.

Steps 1 to 6: the shape of the head

Step 1: the construction circle

Draw a large circle. It does not have to be perfect, though you can use a compass if you like clean lines. This circle is only a guide for the size of the head.

Step 2: the first cheek ruff

On the left side of the circle, draw a series of short curved lines that meet in jagged points. Together they form the furry ruff that covers the tiger's cheek.

Step 3: the second cheek ruff

Draw a mirror image of that ruff on the right side. Tracing paper helps if you want the two sides to match closely.

Step 4: erase the circle

Gently erase the guide circle. The cheeks now hold the shape of the head on their own.

Step 5: the top of the head and the ears

Join the tops of the two cheek lines with a series of curved lines. On each side, include a U-shaped curve to form an ear.

Step 6: the chin

Close the bottom of the head with short curved lines that meet in jagged points. This forms the furry chin.

Steps 7 to 13: ears, eyes, nose and mouth

Step 7: ear details and forehead marks

Inside the top of each ear, draw two curved lines that meet in a point at each end, and shade that shape. Add a few short curves below it for the fur inside the ear. Then draw several more curved shapes on top of the head and shade them too.

Step 8: the eyes

Below the forehead marks, draw each eye with two curved lines. Let the top line run a little past the bottom one at both ends; this gives the tiger its narrowed, intense look.

Step 9: the bridge of the nose and the muzzle

From the inner corner of each eye, draw several curved lines down to form the bridge of the nose. Then shape the muzzle as a closed, rounded "T" made of curved lines; its top edge also gives you the brow stripes.

Step 10: the mouth

Draw a curved line under the nose and join it to the nose with a short straight line. Add a second curved line below the first to enclose an irregular shape: the open mouth.

Step 11: the upper teeth

From the top of the mouth, draw curved lines downward that meet in sharp points to form the teeth. Make the teeth at the far left and far right longer than the rest: those are the canines.

Step 12: the lower teeth

From the bottom of the mouth, draw a row of curved lines rising to sharp points.

Step 13: the throat and tongue

Inside the mouth, draw curved lines that pass behind the large teeth. They mark the opening of the throat and the shape of the tongue.

Steps 14 to 19: stripes and final details

Stripes are what turn a big cat into a tiger, and no two tigers wear the same pattern. For more on that, see how many stripes a tiger has.

Step 14: the stripes on one cheek

On the right cheek, draw a few narrow closed shapes with curved lines, each tapering to a point at both ends. Add a triangle reaching down from under the eye. Shade all of them.

Step 15: the stripes on the other cheek

Repeat the same stripes and shading as a mirror image on the left cheek.

Step 16: the snarl

To show the face wrinkling into a snarl, draw several thick curved lines on each side of the nose. Add two more stripes on top of the head.

Step 17: the stripes beside the mouth

Draw one thick zigzag stripe on each side of the mouth.

Step 18: the stripes above the eyes

Draw thick curved lines rising from the outer side of each eye.

Step 19: the pupils and the shadows

Draw a circle inside each eye, then a smaller circle inside it, and shade the ring between the two. Finally, shade the space between the mouth and the tongue. Your tiger head is now complete in pencil.

Step 20: color, paint and where to go next

Coloring is optional. Tigers are usually orange with black stripes and white around the muzzle, chin and above the eyes; colored pencils, markers or pastel pencils all work. If you would rather draw a white tiger, keep the coat white and the stripes dark, and read what makes a white tiger to get the details right.

Once you are happy with the pencil version, try the same face in watercolor or acrylic. Sketch the outline on your paper or canvas, then fill in the color. You can stay with orange and black, paint a white tiger in soft blues and grays, or paint an Amur tiger in its winter coat, which is longer and paler than its summer coat, in more yellowish tones. If you want ideas for color and composition, our tiger canvas paintings include watercolor heads, cosmic portraits and photographic scenes that are good to study.

Bold, simple shapes are also a great exercise: the black silhouettes in our tiger wall stickers show how much a few strong lines can say about a tiger. Copying one of them is a quick way to practice the stripes before your next full drawing.

Feel free to share your finished tiger heads on social networks, for example with #tiger_universe_store on Instagram. We would love to see them.