How to draw a cheetah — easy step by step drawing ideas

Cheetah drawing ideas are requested by every child who has ever learned that the cheetah is the fastest animal on land, which is all of them. A cheetah is sleek, golden and covered in spots, with a face that looks like it is wearing racing stripes, and it is one of the most exciting big cats to draw. Learning how to draw a cheetah is really learning how to draw a slim, friendly cat and then having a wonderful time dotting it.

I like this tutorial right after the tiger or the lion, because the shapes are the same family — a rounded head, a body, four legs and a tail — but the cheetah is slimmer and lighter, and the spots at the end are a completely different kind of fun from stripes or a mane. The tear marks on the face are the secret ingredient: two little lines that make everyone say “cheetah” straight away.

In this tutorial we will build a cheerful golden cheetah in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips I use when teaching it, the mistakes that trip up nearly every beginner, and quick fixes for when your cheetah starts looking like a leopard or a house cat. Grab a pencil and a yellow crayon, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy cheetah drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the head and ears

Start with the head, a little above the middle of the paper and toward the left, because the body will stretch out to the right. Draw a rounded shape, a touch wider than it is tall, with slightly fuller cheeks at the bottom — like a soft circle that has been gently squashed. A cheetah's head is small and round compared to a lion's, so keep it neat.

Then add two small rounded ears on top, one on each side, like two little half-circles. Cheetah ears are small and round, set fairly wide apart. Keep the pencil light; you will darken the keeper lines at the end.

Step 2 — Add the face

Now the cheetah gets its personality. Draw two big round eyes in the middle of the head, set a little apart, with a small white shine dot in each. Below and between them, draw a small rounded nose, and just under it a small curved smile with a little line down from the nose to the mouth.

Here is the step that makes a cheetah a cheetah: from the inner corner of each eye, draw a curved line running down beside the nose to the corner of the mouth. These are the tear marks, and they will be colored black at the end. Two little lines, and the face is instantly a cheetah. Finish with a curved line inside each ear.

Step 3 — Add the neck and body

From the back of the head, draw a short neck curving down and to the right, then the body: a long, slim rounded shape stretching out to the right, with a gently curved back and a belly that tucks up a little toward the back legs. A cheetah is built for speed, so the body is leaner than a lion's or a tiger's — think of a stretched-out bean rather than a loaf.

Tuck the body in behind the head so the two overlap slightly, and keep the outline smooth. Do not close the underside too neatly, because the legs will grow out of it in the next step.

Step 4 — Add the legs and tail

Draw four legs hanging down from the body: two at the front and two at the back, each a pair of slim, fairly straight lines ending in a small rounded paw. Cheetah legs are long and slender — about as tall as the body is deep — and that length is what makes the cheetah look fast even when it is standing still.

Then the tail: a long, curving line sweeping out from the back of the body, thicker at the base and narrowing toward the tip, curling gently upward at the end. A cheetah's tail is long, almost as long as the body, and it helps the cheetah steer when it runs. Make it generous.

Step 5 — Add the spots

Here is the part everyone has been waiting for. Scatter small round dots all over the back, sides, neck and legs of the cheetah — twenty or thirty of them, roughly evenly spaced, with a bit of plain body showing between each one. Cheetah spots are small, solid and round, like coins, and they are all about the same size. Keep them off the belly and off the face.

Then, near the tip of the tail, draw three or four short curved lines across it for the rings, with the very tip left plain. A few spots on the top of the head and the tops of the ears finish the pattern. Do not rush the spots; slow, evenly spaced dots look far better than a quick scribble.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Darken the lines you want to keep and erase the light scaffolding underneath — the part of the body hidden behind the neck, the tops of the legs inside the body, and any ground line you sketched. Then color: fill the head, neck, body, legs and tail a warm golden yellow, color the belly, chin and inner ears cream, and fill every spot, the tear marks and the tail rings solid black.

Color the nose pink and leave the shine dots in the eyes uncolored so they sparkle. Then give your cheetah somewhere to be — golden savannah grass, a big orange sun, a flat-topped tree, a little cloud of dust behind its paws. Sign your name in the corner; every finished drawing deserves a signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

Forgetting the tear marks

This is the mistake that turns more cheetahs into leopards than any other. Without those two lines from the eyes down beside the nose, a spotted cat is just a spotted cat.

Draw the tear marks clearly, starting at the inner corner of each eye and curving down to the mouth, and color them black. Two small lines make all the difference.

Spots that are too big or touching

Large blobby spots that run into each other look like a leopard's rosettes or a cow's patches. Cheetah spots are small, solid, separate dots.

Keep every spot about the size of the eye's shine dot or a little bigger, all the same size, with plain gold between them. Fewer neat dots beat lots of messy ones.

A chunky body

A thick, heavy body makes the cheetah look like a lion or a tiger with spots. The cheetah is the sprinter of the cat family, and its slim build is part of its character.

Keep the body long and lean, with a belly that tucks up toward the back legs, and make the legs long and slender.

Troubleshooting

“My cheetah looks like a leopard”

Add the tear marks from the eyes down beside the nose, and make sure the spots are small solid dots rather than rings. Slim the body a little too.

“My cheetah looks like a house cat”

Round the ears, lengthen the legs and the body, add the spots and the tear marks, and make the tail long with rings near the tip. Small round ears and a lean body are the big-cat signals.

“The spots look messy”

They are probably different sizes or bunched up. Erase the worst ones, then re-draw them slowly, one at a time, keeping them the same size and evenly spaced with a gap between each.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this cheetah drawing tutorial for? The six-step version works from about age 5 with a grown-up nearby, and most kids around 7 and up can follow the sheet on their own. The spots take a little patience but they are just small circles, and there is no wrong place to put one.

How is a cheetah different from a leopard? The tear marks and the spots. A cheetah has two black lines running from the inner corners of its eyes down beside its nose, and its spots are small solid dots. A leopard has no tear marks and its spots are rosettes, little rings with a gap in the middle.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser, paper, and crayons or markers in golden yellow for the body, cream for the belly and black for the spots, tear marks and tail rings. Pink for the nose is a nice extra.

How many spots should I draw? Enough to look spotty but not so many that the cheetah turns grey: around twenty to thirty small dots spread over the back, sides and legs, with a bit of plain gold between them. Keep them off the belly and the face.

That is your cheetah! Whether the spots came out neat and even or a little bit scattered, you built the fastest animal on land out of a few slim shapes and a handful of dots — and that belongs on the fridge. Keep the sheet handy, draw a cheetah racing across the savannah, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

More tutorials: All tutorials · How to draw a tiger · How to draw a lion · How to draw a zebra