How to draw a chameleon step by step

How to draw a chameleon in detailed steps is discussed in this article! Somewhere in Africa, you can stand in front of a tree for a long time, carefully examining the trunk, crown, and leaves, and only after a few minutes discover that there is a living creature sitting on a branch right in front of your eyes. It is impossible to imagine how the pattern of the surface on which it sits is accurately reflected on the chameleon’s skin. The chameleon is so unusual that it seems like a visitor from another world. You can encounter this wonder while hiking in Tanzania.

The chameleon is a lizard capable of changing the color of its body. The chameleon family belongs to the order Squamata, class Reptilia. Depending on the species, the body length can vary from three to 60 centimeters, but most often does not exceed 30 centimeters. The head looks as if it is wearing a helmet. Usually, it is adorned with crests, bumps, and even horns. Chameleons look like alien creatures. This impression is reinforced by their huge eyes, which are exactly how aliens are depicted in science fiction films. The chameleon’s legs are thin and long. Sometimes it seems that they cannot even support its weight and will break. However, its legs allow the animal to climb trees deftly. The toes on its feet resemble claws, allowing it to grip branches tightly. The tail is long. Chameleons can twist it into a spiral, which looks very unusual. This spiral wraps around branches, providing additional support. A long tail is characteristic of most species. Unlike lizards, which can easily grow a new tail to replace a lost one, chameleons do not have this ability, so they cherish their tails like the apple of their eye.

Drawing a chameleon is an interesting and exciting activity-the main thing is to follow our recommendations! Even more amazing are the reptile’s eyes. They protrude far to the sides, providing a 360-degree view! The eyelids are so large that they have grown together, leaving an opening for the pupil. A chameleon is able to look in different directions with its eyes — when the left eye looks straight ahead, the right eye can see what is happening behind it. This ability is very useful when hunting insects. When a chameleon is lying in wait, its body is completely still, but its eyes are constantly rotating, like radars. At night, however, chameleons have very poor vision, so they prefer to rest.

Chameleons also have hearing problems because they don’t have ears. They have no idea what ear shells and eardrums are! So how do they cope? Just like snakes do. They detect vibrations in the range from 200 to 600 hertz. For comparison, the human ear can perceive sound frequencies from 16 hertz to 20 kilohertz. By human standards, chameleons are almost deaf. Since the range of the human voice is between 100 and 4,000 hertz, if you talk to reptiles in high tones, they simply won’t hear you.

But the most amazing feature of the chameleon is not its bulging eyes, but its ability to change color. Imagine placing your palm on a brick wall and immediately seeing an image of bricks appear on the back of your hand—it would seem like a real miracle! Chameleons possess this magical ability thanks to chromatophores — skin cells that contain pigments of various colors. When the cell projections contract, the pigments are redistributed, causing the skin to change color. But that’s not all!

The reptile’s skin layer contains a substance called guanine, which is responsible for the appearance of more subtle shades. They appear when light rays are refracted in the skin. Thanks to this, the skin color can be white, light orange, dark yellow, olive green, brown, black… Moreover, the color of the entire body can change, or just a small area. This creates a complex pattern on the skin.

Let’s start drawing a chameleon right now!

How to draw a chameleon realistic

Step 1

The first step in drawing, as we often do, is to create a circle, which will give us the outline of the chameleon’s eye!

Step 2

Next, draw the outline of the head in the shape of an irregular triangle!

Step 3

Let’s draw a mouth, nose, and eyebrows for our amazing animal!

Step 4

At this stage, we draw the outline of the front part of the branch, as well as the front paws!

Step 5

The next step is to draw the middle part of the branch on which the chameleon is sitting, the outline of its back, and one visible hind leg of our hero!