How to Draw a Lizard

Do you want to learn how to draw a lizard? We have the perfect drawing guide where we will show you how to create your own unique reptile clipart. There are over seven thousand species of lizards that include geckos, chameleons, and iguanas! Lizard designs are a favorite for creatives and designers because you can use any color or pattern you want.

Choose your favorite art supplies for this tutorial. You have the creative freedom to use any art medium including digital programs like Procreate.

Procreate is going to be our "medium" of choice along with these ink Procreate brushes. The brushes will be used to make our sketch and permanent outline before adding color to the lizard drawing.

Design Bundles also has a fantastic selection of Lizard clipart for you to check out.

Step 1 - Sketch the Body of your Lizard

Let's begin by roughly sketching the body shape. For your rough sketches, use a medium that you can remove such as a pencil. You can also use a light color that is easy to cover up later on.

Sketch the Head and Body

Start by drawing a teardrop shape with the pointed end to the left for the head. Then, leave a small gap on the right side of the head and sketch a horizontal oval for the body.

Connect the head and body shapes with an indented line at the top and bottom for the neck.

Create the Tail Shape

Next, sketch the tail extending out from the right side of the body. The tail should be twice the length of the body, wider at the base, and narrower towards the end. We curved the tail up and around, but you are welcome to change the position.

Step 2 - Sketch the Lizard Legs and Details

With the base shape and tail complete, it's time to sketch the legs and face details on the head.

Sketch the Legs of your Lizard

Take a look at the sketch below. We sketched two sets of blocky front and back legs extending out from the body. The front legs should be a little smaller, and closer to the body than the back legs.

Add the Toes and Face Detail

At the end of the front legs, draw five lines splayed out. Then, draw three lines on the back legs. These lines will be our guide for the lizard's toes. Sketch two circles on each side of the head for the eyes and two small lines for the nostrils.

Step 3 - Permanently Outline Your Lizard Sketch

Swap over to a more permanent medium and outline your rough lizard sketch. Begin with the outermost sketch line of the body and the eyes, then the nostril lines.

Next, outline the legs and feet. Looking at our example below, we created an outline around the toe lines, with a slightly rounded end that connected to the legs. Once you have outlined your drawing, remove the rough sketch lines.

Step 4 - Create a Pattern on your Lizard

For this step, we are going to create a pattern on the body. This can be any pattern you want with full artistic freedom. You could even skip this step and go straight to adding color.

We decided on a striped pattern with extra details in the next step using different colors.

Step 5 - Add Color to Your Lizard

We can finally add color to our lizard clipart. Choose your color palette or use one of the many Procreate palettes available for purchase on Design Bundles. We are going to add a base color and then continue adding details to our pattern.

Add the Base Color

Begin adding your base colors to your drawing. Use vibrant rainbow colors such as bright pink and blue, or more muted tones like brown and green. We used two shades of yellow for the stripes.

Add Pattern Details

Enhance the lizard pattern by adding more details with different colors. For our lizard, we used a dark red to fill in the small stripes and to add dots on the body. We also added dots on the head and body with a light yellow.

Well done on creating your very own cute critter! Spark creativity by using your lizard drawing in your next craft project. Print and cut stickers, and create sublimated t-shirts or wall decals. Make your design pop with a variation of colors and create a whole collection of adorable lizards!