How to Draw a Tiger Head

STEP 1.

 Here are the pencils that I chose for this task. I used HB for sketching and some dark lines. I used 5H for light shading/lines and 2B for dark shading/lines.

STEP 2.

 Start out with a light sketch of the tiger's head. You can follow the guidelines if you need help.

STEP 3.

 Roughly and lightly add in the tiger's stripes. Don't worry about details yet.

STEP 4.

 Now, alternating between 2B and HB pencils, stark adding definite outlines and shading. I like starting at the eyes and working my way outward.

STEP 5.

 Define the nose and mouth area.

STEP 6.

 Now define the stripes from the nose upward. The stripes around the mouth won't be added until we are ready to add whiskers.

STEP 7.

 Now, shade in the background to make the head pop out. Using an HB pencil to shade and blending with a blending stump works well for this.

STEP 8.

 Now roughly shade in the dark patches of fur on the tiger's face.

STEP 9.

 Now, start detailing starting with the ears. I found that the 5H was perfect for the light fur in the ears. Also work on the top outline of the head. Once you have the ears shade in the eyes.

STEP 10.

 Bridge the gap between the ears and eyes by working on the forehead. I used the 5H to add in the super short fut lines. Also take this chance to redefine the stripes with a 2B or HB pencil.

STEP 11.

 Now, shade in the nose and the area around it. Do some erasing in preparation of adding whiskers. You can get the basic idea of where they are going to be.

STEP 12.

 Now, finish up the drawing by shading in the rest of the stripes, adding the whiskers, and darkening the area below the head. Be very patient with this last step! I look forward to seeing how you draw this, let me know if you upload it onto the site!