1. Design & Illustration
  2. Drawing/Illustration
  3. Animals

How to Draw a Sloth Step by Step

Let's draw a cute sloth hanging from a tree branch! It's an easy drawing tutorial that's perfect for beginners.
Scroll to top
Final product imageFinal product imageFinal product image
What You'll Be Creating

Sloths are amazing creatures, so different from everything we know. The seem to have a very chill attitude towards life, and they're definitely not lazy—they just don't see the need to hurry! Sloths are also unbelievably cute, so we're going to draw one today. It will be a simple illustration perfect for beginners, and later you can use it to create a colorful vector illustration with Nataliya Dolotko!

1. How to Draw a Sloth's Body

Step 1

Our sloth will be hanging from a tree branch, and its back will be neatly curved. So start the drawing with this clear curve.

sloth body curvesloth body curvesloth body curve

Step 2

To draw a uniform curve of the body, we may feel it with circles. First a big circle...

sloth body shapesloth body shapesloth body shape

... then a smaller one...

sloth body circlessloth body circlessloth body circles

... an even smaller one...

sloth body drawingsloth body drawingsloth body drawing

... and a similar one on top for the head.

sloth sketch headsloth sketch headsloth sketch head

Step 3

You can now outline the body.

sloth body sketchsloth body sketchsloth body sketch

2. How to Draw a Sloth's Legs

Step 1

Draw the limbs that are the closest to us first. To keep the illustration simple, draw them as simple curves.

sloth back legsloth back legsloth back leg
sloth armsloth armsloth arm

Step 2

Draw a tree branch above the sloth. Feel free to use a ruler for this, but it's not necessary.

sloth hanging branchsloth hanging branchsloth hanging branch

Step 3

Draw the foot holding the branch.

sloth footsloth footsloth foot

Step 4

Draw the outline of the leg going from the foot towards the body.

sloth leg curvesloth leg curvesloth leg curve
sloth leg fullsloth leg fullsloth leg full

Step 5

Draw the hand—it will be more rounded than the foot.

sloth rounded handsloth rounded handsloth rounded hand

Step 6

Use the same technique as before to outline the arm.

sloth arm curvesloth arm curvesloth arm curve
sloth arm completesloth arm completesloth arm complete

Step 7

There's another pair of limbs we need to draw. It should be easy—just mirror the curves:

sloth other leg curvesloth other leg curvesloth other leg curve
sloth other arm curvesloth other arm curvesloth other arm curve

Step 8

Make the other leg complete the same way as before:

sloth other footsloth other footsloth other foot
sloth other leg  shapesloth other leg  shapesloth other leg  shape
sloth other leg completesloth other leg completesloth other leg complete

Step 9

And another arm, too:

sloth other handsloth other handsloth other hand
sloth other armsloth other armsloth other arm

Step 10

Finally, add the long claws holding the branch.

sloth claws directionsloth claws directionsloth claws direction
sloth claws fullsloth claws fullsloth claws full

3. How to Draw a Sloth's Face

Step 1

Draw the outline of the sloth's flat face.

sloth face shapesloth face shapesloth face shape

Step 2

Add some basic guidelines to see the proportions better.

sloth vertical guide linesloth vertical guide linesloth vertical guide line
sloth horizontal guide linesloth horizontal guide linesloth horizontal guide line

Step 3

Draw the circle in the lower half—this will be the muzzle.

sloth muzzlesloth muzzlesloth muzzle

Step 4

Draw the smile across the muzzle.

sloth smilesloth smilesloth smile

Step 5

Add some details to the smile.

sloth smile detailsloth smile detailsloth smile detail

Step 6

Draw the nose.

sloth nosesloth nosesloth nose
sloth nose bridgesloth nose bridgesloth nose bridge
sloth noseholessloth noseholessloth noseholes

Step 7

Draw the eyes.

sloth eyes shapesloth eyes shapesloth eyes shape
sloth eye patchessloth eye patchessloth eye patches
sloth eyessloth eyessloth eyes

Step 8

Draw the dark pattern along the face.

sloth face patternsloth face patternsloth face pattern

Step 9

Draw the cute fringe on the forehead.

sloth face fringesloth face fringesloth face fringe

4. How to Finish the Drawing of a Sloth

We're going to draw the final lines now. If you're drawing traditionally, use a darker tool for it, or place a new sheet of paper over the sketch.

Step 1

Outline parts of the limbs, leaving space for other outlines.

sloth limbs outlinesloth limbs outlinesloth limbs outline

Step 2

Outline the nose.

sloth nose outlinesloth nose outlinesloth nose outline

Step 3

Draw the details of the eyes. First, plan the shine dots...

sloth eyes shinesloth eyes shinesloth eyes shine

... then fill everything outside of the shine dots...

sloth dark eyessloth dark eyessloth dark eyes

... and slightly darken the lower dots (they come from reflected light).

sloth reflect light eyessloth reflect light eyessloth reflect light eyes

Step 4

Outline the cute mouth.

sloth cute mouthsloth cute mouthsloth cute mouth

Step 5

Add the "mask".

sloth masksloth masksloth mask

Step 6

Outline the whole face.

sloth face outlinesloth face outlinesloth face outline
sloth fringe outlinesloth fringe outlinesloth fringe outline

Step 7

Outline the claws. Try to make them all very similar.

sloth claws outlinesloth claws outlinesloth claws outline

Step 8

Outline the whole body and the branch.

sloth body outlinesloth body outlinesloth body outline
sloth branch outlinesloth branch outlinesloth branch outline
sloth full outlinesloth full outlinesloth full outline

Step 9

Finally, thicken some of the lines to make the drawing visually more interesting without any colors or shading.

sloth fancy linessloth fancy linessloth fancy lines

So Cute!

Good job! You can now take your drawing and turn it into a vector illustration. And if you're interested in other tutorials like this, check one of these:

how to draw cute sloth step by stephow to draw cute sloth step by stephow to draw cute sloth step by step