How to Draw a Monkey in Cartoon Style

Improve Your Drawing Skills with Printable Practice Sheets!

Learn how to draw a great looking Cartoon Monkey with easy, step-by-step drawing instructions, and video tutorial.

By following the simple steps, you too can easily draw a perfect Cartoon Monkey.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Drawing a Monkey

How to Draw a Monkey Featured Image

How to Draw a Great Looking Cartoon Monkey for Kids and Beginners - Step 1

How to Draw a Monkey: step 1

1.Begin by drawing a circle. This outlines the monkey's head.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 2

How to Draw a Monkey: step 2

2. Draw a large oval overlapping one side of the circle; erase the overlapping lines. This forms the monkey's snout or mouth. Then, draw two circles overlapping the oval and each other. These will outline the monkey's eyes.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 3

How to Draw a Monkey: step 3

3. Erase the overlapping lines from the shapes, leaving a clean outline of the monkey's face.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 4

How to Draw a Monkey: step 4

4. Draw large circles to form the eyes. Between them, draw a small oval to indicate the nose.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 5

How to Draw a Monkey: step 5

5. Shade a smaller circle within each of the eyes to indicate the pupils. Draw a wide "U" shaped line to form the smiling mouth.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 6

How to Draw a Monkey: step 6

6. Draw two "C" shaped lines on the top of the head, enclosing the circular shape of the ears.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 7

How to Draw a Monkey: step 7

7. Draw a smaller "C" shaped line within each ear to detail it. Then, draw a larger "C" shaped line along the side of the head. This outlines the monkey's body.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 8

How to Draw a Monkey: step 8

8. Use pairs of parallel curved lines to draw the monkey's limbs. Use one pair for each of the arms and one pair for each of the legs. Connect each pair on the ends using a short curved line.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 9

How to Draw a Monkey: step 9

9. Draw the monkey's hands. Use connected "U" shaped lines to outline the fingers.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 10

How to Draw a Monkey: step 10

10. Use curved lines to draw the feet, with short, connected, "U" shaped lines forming the toes. Then, draw the tail. Use a pair of narrowly spaced curved lines, parallel and in a spiral shape.

Easy Cartoon Monkey Drawing - Step 11

How to Draw a Monkey: step 11

Is your cartoon monkey in free fall? Give him a sturdy tree branch to wrap his prehensile tail around.

Easy, step by step Cartoon Monkey drawing tutorial
How to Draw a Monkey | Share to Pinterest

Click HERE to save the tutorial to Pinterest!

Learn More About The Cartoon Monkey Drawing

"Near the deep black waters
of a dark, cool river,
tiny, tiny monkeys
jabber in the sun...
And they climb, up, up!
And they slide, down, down!
...Tiny, tiny monkeys having fun!"
- So Say the Little Monkeys, children's book by Nancy Van Laan

There are about 200 species of monkeys, primates that have a tail. The tail is often prehensile, able to hold onto things like an extra hand.

Monkeys are also called simians, macaques, or baboons. They differ from the great apes, which are larger and have no tail.

Did you know? The word "monkey" may have been derived from a German fable, Reynard the Fox, published around 1580. A character called "Moneke" is introduced as the son of an ape named Martin.

Monkeys are native to South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. Many monkeys live in tropical forests called jungles.

Others, such as Japan's snow monkeys, live on cold mountains. Some are arboreal, living in trees, while others roam the savannah or forest floor. The smallest monkey is the pygmy marmoset, which is only 117 millimeters (4.6 inches) in length.

The largest is the mandrill, which grows to a meter (3.3 feet) in length and weighs up to 36 kilograms (79 pounds).

What do monkeys eat? Their favorite foods include leaves, seeds, fruit, nuts, flowers, eggs, small animals, bugs, and spiders.

Scroll down for a downloadable PDF of this tutorial.

Monkeys have long featured in art and literature. Monkeys can be seen in Chinese mythology, including the Chinese zodiac, and Buddhist symbolism.

Modern literary and cartoon characters include Curious George, the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz, Jake from My Gym Partner's a Monkey, and Rafiki from The Lion King.

Ooh-ohh, ahh-ahh! You'll go ape over this cartoon monkey drawing tutorial. Its steps are easy to follow, and all you'll need is a pencil, an eraser, and a sheet of paper.

If you liked this drawing tutorial, see also the following guides: Penguin drawing, Polar Bear drawing, and Whale drawing.

Cartoon Monkey Drawing Tutorial - Easy & Fun Printable Pages

Join now and get immediate access to thousands of printable drawing instruction and practice pages!

Printables thumbnail: How to draw a Monkey in Cartoon Style

Learn how to get access to thousands of printable pages!

Become a member sales prompt

MEMBER TROUBLESHOOTING

Still seeing ads or not being able to download the PDF?

First, check that you're logged in. You can log in on the member login page.

If you're still not able to download the PDF, the likely solution is to reload the page.

You can do this by clicking the browser reload button.

It is a circular arrow-shaped icon at the top of the browser window, typically found in the upper-left side (you can also use keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+R on PC and Command+R on Mac).


Why You Can Trust Our Drawing Guides

We've been creating high-quality, easy-to-follow drawing tutorials since 2016. Rauno and the team of experienced artists are dedicated to helping people of all ages and skill levels learn to draw.

We've carefully crafted over 1,900 step-by-step tutorials, ensuring that each one is safe, beginner-friendly, and engaging. We expand our library with new drawing guides every week, adding more drawing ideas and staying up-to-date with new trends.

Our commitment to quality and accessibility has earned the trust of more than 1,700 satisfied paid members who have access to the huge library of drawing printables and ebooks, in addition to the regular step-by-drawing tutorials that are available for all readers.

You can trust Easy Drawing Guides to provide you with some of the best drawing tutorials available online.

Learn more about Rauno and Easy Drawing Guides.