"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.
Scroll down for a downloadable PDF of this tutorial.
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.
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 tutorial, see also the following drawing guides: Penguin, Polar Bear, and Whale.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Drawing a Monkey
1.Begin by drawing a circle. This outlines the monkey's head.
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.
3. Erase the overlapping lines from the shapes, leaving a clean outline of the monkey's face.
4. Draw large circles to form the eyes. Between them, draw a small oval to indicate the nose.
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.
MORE DRAWING TUTORIALS:
6. Draw two "C" shaped lines on the top of the head, enclosing the circular shape of the ears.
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.
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.
9. Draw the monkey's hands. Use connected "U" shaped lines to outline the fingers.
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.
Is your cartoon monkey in free fall? Give him a sturdy tree branch to wrap his prehensile tail around.
MORE DRAWING TUTORIALS:
Printable Drawing Tutorial
This printable is for members only. Join now!
Learn how to get access to thousands of printable pages!
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).
Thanks, they were pretty simple!
And you're amazing! 🙂
This is so nice!
Thank you 🙂
cute, but are the ears supposed to look like that?
This is an old drawing guide so I'm thinking of remaking it some time soon! Thanks for the comment 😎