How to Draw a Cheetah

Pas per pas

1. Pas 1

   Lay in the chest mass as a single oval, drawn in one motion.

   The ribcage is the largest single mass in almost every four-legged animal, and drawing it too small is the most common structural error in the whole category. Draw it in one motion and make it bigger than feels right.

   Vigila amb Drawing the chest small to leave room for everything else.

   Comprova The chest oval should take up around a third of the body's length on its own.

2. Pas 2

   Add the pelvis as a second oval, set back from the first.

   The gap between the two masses is information: it is most of what separates a long animal from a compact one. Decide the gap deliberately rather than letting it happen.

   Vigila amb Butting the pelvis directly against the chest.

   Comprova You should see clear space between the two ovals.

3. Pas 3

   Join the two ovals with a single spine curve.

   One continuous curve, drawn in one pass. The spine sets the whole animal's attitude, and a spine assembled from three short strokes reads as three different animals stitched together.

   Vigila amb Drawing the spine as separate flat segments.

   Comprova The curve should touch both masses without a corner.

4. Pas 4

   Add the head - one oval, plus a guide line back to the body.

   Note where the neck leaves the chest before you place the skull - on most animals it comes off the front of the chest mass, not the top, and that single angle carries the species.

   Vigila amb Hanging the head above the body instead of in front of it.

   Comprova The neck guide should leave the FRONT half of the chest oval.

5. Pas 5

   Draw the neck as a solid, not a stick.

   A neck is a solid with real thickness, and on most animals it is thicker than you think - nearly as deep as the head itself. Two curves, one over, one under.

   Vigila amb A thin stick neck, which makes any animal look fragile.

   Comprova The neck should be nearly as thick as the head is tall.

6. Pas 6

   Join chest to hips with a topline and a belly line.

   This is where the animal stops being two eggs. Let the topline follow the spine you already drew and keep the belly line taut - a sagging belly is a decision, not an accident.

   Vigila amb Ignoring the spine curve you drew and inventing a new back.

   Comprova The topline should agree with the spine curve underneath it.

7. Pas 7

   Draw the belly line underneath.

   The belly is a separate decision from the masses: it hangs below the line joining them, sagging most midway, and how much it sags is part of the animal - taut on a deer, generous on a cow. Draw it as one curve, not two arcs meeting.

   Vigila amb A straight line between the ovals, which reads as a table.

   Comprova The belly should dip below both mass bottoms at its middle.

8. Pas 8

   Close the silhouette at both ends.

   Two curves seal the body into one shape: down the front of the chest into the belly, and from the top of the hips around the rump to meet it. Without them the animal has no front or back and the legs float - this is the step that turns parts into a body.

   Vigila amb Leaving the ends open because the ovals suggest them.

   Comprova You should be able to trace the whole body without lifting your pen.

9. Pas 9

   Draw the two front legs as chains from shoulder to foot.

   Legs are chains of segments with a joint at each bend, and every leg bends somewhere. Draw joint to joint in straight strokes first; curves come later if at all.

   Vigila amb Straight tube legs with no joints, which read as furniture.

   Comprova Each front leg should bend at least once.

10. Pas 10

    Put in the hind pair, bending backwards at the hock.

    The hind legs fold the opposite way to the front pair - the hock points backwards. Compare their length against the front legs rather than judging them alone.

    Vigila amb Back legs bending the same way as the front ones.

    Comprova Front and back feet should reach the same ground line.

11. Pas 11

    Put the ears on, high and further back than feels right.

    Ears attach further back on the skull than feels natural, and their shape is one of the strongest species signals you have. Draw the second by comparing it to the first.

    Vigila amb Planting the ears on top of the head like handles.

    Comprova Both ears should attach behind the midpoint of the skull.

12. Pas 12

    Build the muzzle and place the eye on it.

    The muzzle projects forward from the lower half of the head mass. Its length relative to the skull is the proportion to measure - it is the one that changes species when you get it wrong.

    Vigila amb A muzzle pointing down instead of forward.

    Comprova The eye should sit in the top half of the head mass.

13. Pas 13

    Add the tail and the cheetah markings.

    Detail is suggested, never itemised. Put the marks where they identify the animal and stop early - texture spread evenly everywhere flattens the drawing back out.

    Vigila amb Covering the body evenly in fur marks.

    Comprova Step back: the big shapes should still read first.

14. Pas 14

    Build the eye: iris, pupil, one highlight, and the brow.

    An eye is built in layers - iris, pupil inside it, one small highlight, and the brow line above that gives it a direction to look. The highlight and pupil must not touch, and the brow is what turns a circle into a gaze. This one feature carries more life than the rest of the head together.

    Vigila amb A single black dot, which reads as a bead.

    Comprova The highlight should sit at the pupil's edge, not inside it.

15. Pas 15

    Give every leg a foot: a base line and a toe split.

    A leg without a foot is a pole. One short base line at the bottom of each leg, angled with the ground, plus a single toe split, and all four legs suddenly bear weight. Feet are also where the ground line will attach, so place all four bases at nearly the same height.

    Vigila amb Legs ending in points, or feet at four different heights.

    Comprova All four feet should sit within one pencil-width of the same line.

16. Pas 16

    Anchor it: ground line, then the shadow under the cheetah.

    The ground is one line through the feet, and the cast shadow is one flattened arc beneath the body, darkest between the legs. Together they anchor the animal - without them even a perfect construction floats in white space. Keep the shadow tight under the body; a wide puddle reads as water.

    Vigila amb Skipping it, leaving the animal hovering.

    Comprova The shadow should touch at least two of the feet.

17. Pas 17

    Break the clean outline with tufts of coat.

    Fur is an edge event: a few tufts where the coat genuinely hangs - chest, belly, rump - and nowhere else. Each tuft leans the way the coat grows, back and down, and the outline should still read as one body between them. This is also where the sealed construction line stops looking mechanical.

    Vigila amb Scalloping the entire outline evenly, which turns any animal into a sheep.

    Comprova Most of the outline should still be smooth between the tufts.

18. Pas 18

    Shade the cheetah - underside first, one direction.

    Two or three patches of parallel strokes - under the belly, behind the shoulder - all leaning the same way, and the drawing suddenly has light in it. Keep the patches small: shading in a sketch is a note about where the dark lives, not a rendering.

    Vigila amb Scrubbing tone everywhere, which flattens the sketch it took fifteen steps to build.

    Comprova All the hatch strokes should lean the same direction.

19. Pas 19

    Weight the outline and remove the blocking-in shapes.

    Press harder on the outline and the face, leave the small marks light, and erase the construction ovals. That weight difference is what makes the drawing look decided.

    Vigila amb Going over every line at the same weight.

    Comprova The outline should be clearly darker than the interior marks.