Skip to content
Our Writers

Art Thief: Draw a Leaping Tiger

This pouncing tiger combines several drawing lessons. You'll notice that we use perspective by observing how much larger the front feet are compared to the back ones. We also use chiaroscuro - a dramatic lighting technique where deep shadows obscure some of the detail.

Amy Raudenbush


1. Start with the rectangular box shape shown in orange. Notice how it's narrower at the back than it is at the front. Give the tiger a curved, tapered tail. The head is an oval with a triangular nose close to the top of the head. Keep the ears small, and add the brow ridges.

2. We are using perspective when we draw the legs and feet in the foreground bigger than the ones farther from the viewer. Those two little orange lines will form the top of the cat’s nose. The eyes will touch these lines. Draw the muzzle and chin, and then carefully observe the mouth shape that connects them.

3. The mouth parts are complex, but don’t sweat it. Give your tiger fangs and a tongue. Sketch in the pads on the big foot and the claws on both front feet. Now your tiger needs a bump for its shoulder muscles and another at its haunch.

4.  we are using dramatic lighting, or chiaroscuro (key-aer-e-skyoor’-o) on this beast. Do this with a black marker or with black paint. The belly of a tiger isn’t black, but we will make it black because it is in shadow. The area beneath the chin is black, too, as is the tail, eyebrows, foot pads, and tops of its ears. Gently erase your unneeded lines.  Lightly sketch the shapes on the face that will be orange.

5. It is easiest if you color the large orange areas first, and then add the black stripes on top. Remember to leave the white areas on the face. Carefully color the inside of the mouth red, and the tongue pink.

CONGRATULATIONS! Pat yourself on the back! It was hard, but you did it!

Art Thieves are invited to send or email copies of their work to Amy Raudenbush, our professional artist. Phone pictures are fine. One drawing weekly will be selected for publication on Sept. 3, and the selected artists will receive a prize.  Be sure to include your name, age, mailing address and email or phone number.
Email:
art@phillynews.com

Or send to:
Amy Raudenbush
Philadelphia Daily News
801 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Tyrannosaurus Rex winner: Savannah Spinelli

Shoutout to: Samiyah Jones

Next week is our last lesson of the summer: We draw a violin.
    Amy Raudenbush
    Dr. Timaree Schmit has a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality from Widener University, where she now trains future sexologists and clinicians. Her passion is bringing rational, empirically-based sex-positive information to the world, empowering others to celebrate their bodies, build intimacy and experience pleasure.