From the bearded dragon and komodo dragon to a monitor lizard or frilled lizard, there are many species of the smaller reptiles that many people have as pets.
For my grandson’s sixth birthday last year, I got him a bearded dragon along with the tank, the basking lamp and sunlamp, and all of the accessories with his parents’ permission. They travel a lot so I would take care of Luna while they were gone but two months after I got him for Brayden, my daughter found out she was pregnant and could not have the bearded dragon in their home. Of course, Luna now lives with me but I love her because she is awesome.
My grandchildren and I are in the process of writing a children’s book series with Luna the bearded dragon as the main character. The problem has been that none of us really know how to draw very well but my niece is quite the artist. She is hopefully going to do the cover art and the other art throughout the book but in the future, she may not have time to work on the drawings for the rest of the books in the series as she will be going off to college in the fall. Because of this, I have thought about learning how to draw a lizard so that I can try to do some of the drawings myself even though I basically suck at art.
I am hoping this article helps me to at least get the basic steps down pat because you have to start somewhere. If you have been wondering how to draw a lizard or would like to help your children or grandchildren to be able to draw a lizard, this is the article for you and me as well.
We will take you step by step from the head of the lizard to the tip of the tail down to its toes to teach you how to draw one. Check out each little lizard step below to learn more about how to draw a lizard.
How to Draw a Lizard (in 6 Simple Steps)
Materials
- 1 Piece Paper
- 1 Pencil
Instructions
- In figure one, we are starting with the basic shape for the lizard head. Simply draw a small circle and this will be our starting point in creating a drawing of a lizard. Keep in mind that a lizard's head is technically not a circle shape but for the purpose of our cute cartoon style lizard that we are drawing during this quick tutorial, it will suffice.
- In step two, you will want to use your pencil to draw an oval shape that is attached to the small circle you just drew for the head of your lizard. This oval shape is the body of the lizard you are creating in our step drawing tutorial.
- Step three is all about the tail. Simply add a tail to the oval shape you drew for the body of your lizard. Try to make it swivel a little, similar to drawing a snake. To create the lizard's tail, draw two long, curved lines that form a shape similar to the letter S then draw them to meet each other in a sharp point. Keep in mind that the lizard's tail should be pretty much the same length as the body you already created, including the lizard's head.
- In figure four, it is time to add feet for our animal. Simply draw lines that extend downward, two of them that are identical, starting at the base of the neck area of your lizard and then running across the body. Be sure to put a bend in the lines. The curved line will help form each hind leg of the lizard and will become the lizard's elbow. You can then draw reptilian-style toes by using three sets of parallel lines that extend from the foot. The toes should meeting in a V-shape at the base and then you can enclose the ends of each toe by using your pencil to draw very small circle shapes.
- In photo five, we get to start adding features to the face of our cute lizard. You can now add a pair of eyes to your lizard's face. If you have a real-life lizard at your house, or in my case, a bearded dragon, you can use that as a guide to creating a face similar to that of your own lizard. Whether you have a gecko, iguana, or even a leopard gecko, you can attempt to recreate the face of your beloved lizard as much as possible.
- In figure six, the last of our step tutorial, you can add lizard scales to your amazing and very first lizard drawing. This is not only an easy step in our tutorial process, it is a fun little dragon step. You can add as many scales as you would like to then you get to color the drawing of your lizard. You can create a green lizard or opt to create more of a komodo dragon or alligator lizard or use brown to create a bearded dragon or one of the other reptile types. You can even use several different colors to portray a changeable lizard, such as a chameleon, or you can make it look more like a girdled lizard. This is the fun part of creating your cartoon lizard-style picture during our drawing lesson.
The Basics of Lizard Anatomy
First of all, we will check out the basics of a lizard’s anatomy. Keep in mind, there is an entire group of various reptiles that fall under the very common name of lizards but they all have a specific anatomy when it comes to their skeleton.
Lizards boast a long body with their head transitioning seamlessly into their neck. Their neck then transitions very smoothly into their chest area.
A lizard’s tail is very long and is usually about the same length as their entire body area. Some lizards, although not all of them, may lose their tail when they feel they are in danger to be able to hide better from a predator but they can and will grow it back later on.
Lizards sway slightly when they walk because anatomically their limbs are made to bend outwards away from their body.
The lizard’s feet are considered to be what is called plantigrade which simply means that are planted completely on the ground.
The lizard’s body stays very low to the ground almost all the time. With Luna, I have noticed that this only changes when she is out of her tank running around the house. Otherwise, she stays super close to the ground.
At this point, you may not be in line to win an artist award and to become a sought-after painter or sketch artist, but at least you have the basics down pat when it comes to learning how to draw a lizard. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, you can repeat this process as many times as you like and use this drawing lesson as a basis to begin adding in more details as you get better at drawing sketches of lizards so that one day you, and me, may very well be able to use our own drawings in a children’s book or some other project versus having to hire an artist to do it for us.