Among the wild animals covered on this site, great apes tend to draw the most attention for portraiture work, and this close-up of an orangutan’s head captures exactly why. This guide walks through how to draw an orangutan’s head using just 7 steps, focusing on the defining facial structure of one of the most expressive primates.
A Close-Up Portrait With More Going On Than It Looks
The tutorial is a portrait-style sketch rather than a full-body study, so all 7 steps concentrate on the head, facial features, and a partial hand resting near the chin. The composition is compact, but the facial structure packs in a lot of detail work, especially around the muzzle and the wide cheek pads. The result is line art with no color, which keeps the focus on getting the shapes and proportions right.
What the Orangutan’s Head Looks Like in This Drawing
- Large rounded head with wide cheek pads
- Deep-set eyes with brow wrinkle lines
- Protruding muzzle, closed smiling mouth
- Hand raised near chin, resting pose
- Small ear visible on the left side
If you enjoy sketching animal portraits, there are several related guides worth checking out. The elephant head from front view follows a similar close-up portrait format, while the cheetah full body side view is a good next challenge once you are comfortable with heads. For something with more variety, the 14-pose wolf drawing collection covers a wide range of angles and styles.
How the Step Colors Work in This Tutorial
Each step image uses a three-color system to show exactly what is new and what is carried over:
- Red Color: lines added in the current step.
- Black Color: lines completed earlier.
- Gray Color: base sketch for structure.
How to Draw an Orangutan’s Head: Step-by-Step Tutorial
Finished Your Sketch? Show It Off
Once the drawing is done, drop a photo in the comments below. It is always good to see how different people handle the cheek pads and muzzle shape, since those two areas tend to vary the most from sketch to sketch. New tutorials go up on Facebook and Telegram as soon as they are published, and a new YouTube video based on existing guides goes live every day. If you want more animal portraits to practice with, the full-body elephant from front view and the 14-pose lion guide are solid follow-ups. Supporting the project on Patreon also gets you access to unique hand-drawn coloring pages that are not available anywhere else.