The Realistic Wildlife Drawings
of Kevin Hayler
A Wildlife Art Collection: Part 2



The following 22 wildlife drawings were all reproduced as limited edition prints, most of them in editions of 350.
It made sense, at the time, to sell a mixture of open and limited edition prints to satisfy the different requirements of my customers. I made my living selling mostly open edition prints, and sold the limited editions to enthusiasts who were very keen on my work, or to people who wanted something special and more exclusive.
I’m often asked how I know which drawings should be limited edition. In truth, the answer is, I don’t. It’s a calculated guess. It’s a gamble. I’m not even sure, in the long term, if I made any more money.
It was certainly profitable at the time. I sold my prints from a market stall and I didn’t have to sell many limited prints to make good money.
The problem is simple, limited edition prints have a finite return. A popular limited print will sell out and that’s the end of your profit. By contrast, a bestselling open edition print will continue to sell for many years years to come, and make more money over time.
If only you knew what would sell. You could sell out of a limited edition and replace it with a new bestseller. It doesn’t work like that, of course. You can have an idea for a great drawing, but the public is fickle. You can tick all the boxes and still get it wrong.
There is only one solution, keep drawing.
Scroll through this collection and read about them. Enjoy.
Rhino Art

I saw this southern white rhino in a large enclosure within the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. I’m not 100% sure but I think this lady was being acclimatized before being released. She was certainly healthy enough and hopefully, I’ve managed to recreate a sense of the heat of the African sun as she sought some relief in the shade.
Cheetah Art

If you have ever wanted to see cheetahs in the wild then I advise you to head for the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya. This is a young male I saw on my last visit but he was not alone. They are essentially solitary hunters but male siblings will team up and I was lucky enough to find three brothers together that day, a wonderful sight.
I’m particularly pleased with the results of this drawing. I tend to over-finish my work but in this case, I managed to hold myself back. Keeping that unfinished sketchy feel improves the work considerably.
Giraffe Art

A tryptic of giraffes, made by stitching separate images together. Sometimes you have to get creative and construct a scene from the references you have available. This composition is a winner and the edition sold out quickly.
Popular as it was, I was in two minds about whether or not to include this giraffe drawing on my list. Why? Because the image is far grainier than the original drawing. I’ve adjusted this image as best I can, but the subtlety is lost and it bugs me.
I was paying top dollar for professional drum scans so I complained of course, but you have a problem as the artist, it’s easy to be dismissed as precious.
Eventually, I discovered the problem. The scanner was set to auto-sharpen – bloody idiots. The lesson? Never assume that the pros will do the job properly. Check, double-check, and oversee everything.
Snow Leopard Art

This beautiful cat was born in the Snow Leopard Breeding Centre in Darjeeling. I saw her in the neighbouring zoo where she was housed in a large enclosure well away from the public. I’m especially pleased with the quality of this reproduction, it is an amazing match and you could almost run your fingers through her fur.
Lion Art

You don’t see so many lioness pictures, they are almost always males. I came across this family in Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya and to be honest they were easy to find, there are lions everywhere it’s hard to miss them. I saw my first when I was on a local bus on the way to the reserve, we had to slow down to let a lion cross the road!
Panda Art

All in all, pandas don’t seem to need much for a good life. A supply of bamboo and plenty of sleep seems to be enough, even a sex life isn’t a big deal.
They feed by stripping bamboo stems with one paw, rolling the leaves, and chewing them from one side of the mouth. They eat upright, or on their backs, which is one of the endearing quirks that make pandas so popular. The real reason they do this, so I am told, is to aid their digestion.
Jaguar Art

Jaguars are immensely strong with a bone-crushing bite and I’ve tried to convey the raw power at the moment of ambush. As usual, the success of the work depends entirely on the eyes. They must hold your attention and be perfectly drawn.
I won’t kid you that this was a wild jaguar, I have yet to see one in the wild. This reference was taken in Singapore Zoo, I captured the action as the keeper threw in titbits into the water to keep the Jaguar active and engaged.
Leopard Art

Two leopards for the price of one or buy one, get one free. This is one cub drawn twice. It’s not always possible to take great photos so a little imagination is required when constructing a pleasing composition. One of the easiest tricks is to use the same subject multiple times, a device I use often. All I had to do with this drawing was to take care that each cub had different spots.
Squirrel Art

I needed a squirrel’s eye view to get this composition. There I was in the park and on my belly with a packet of broken biscuits to bribe my subjects to come ever closer. I was a little self-conscious with the locals looking on in high amusement but dignity can’t get in the way of art.
Elephant Art

These elephants were in Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The park is full of wild elephants but these are the working jumbos that take tourists out to find the rhinos. This scenario is essentially what I saw, but I bunched up the family group to give the drawing more punch and gave the baby some flapping ears. Much better than the original photo.
White Tiger Art

I thought I would have another bash at drawing a white tiger. This time I chose to draw her face-on as her attention is focused to the right of the viewer. In actual fact, she was looking at the zoo keeper who’d arrived with lunch.
I always find out the feeding times when I visit a zoo. It’s the only occasion you can be sure to get an alert and interesting picture.
Lion Drawing

There is no better place in the world to see wild lions than in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. It has the highest concentration of large predators on earth.
This guy was not really alone, he was with his brother. They were both fit and healthy and showed none of the battle scars of older males. They were young pretenders to the throne and for the time being, they were hanging out and biding their time.
The keen-eyed amongst you might have noticed that the setting is unlike the crater. This is because I added the acacia trees as an afterthought.
Giraffe Drawing

Another giraffe, why not? This is an unusual composition, you seldom see giraffes resting this way. It’s important to find your own unique style and develop an ‘eye’, one that signals your work as different from the rest. Call it your trademark or brand.
Somehow your art must stand out from the crowd and be identifiable. It’s not easy and emerges over the course of time. I takes practice to find a style of your own.
Monkey Art

These monkeys are called Black-Shanked Douc Langurs and are critically endangered. I saw them when I visited a breeding project run by Frankfurt Zoo in Coq Phuang National Park, Vietnam. They were breeding well and this mother and baby decided to pose, but they were side by side, not so good.
I had to recompose the scene and place the baby in Mom’s lap. Now the picture came to life.
Baby Elephant Art

Just when I thought I’d taken photo realism to the limit, I went one step further. This is detail gone mad and I question my sanity. This is Napasha from Daphne Sheldricks’ Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi. It was visitors’ time when the public was allowed in to view the orphans playing around and being fed. Napasha was the only youngster that had learned to pick up her own bottle and feed herself; irresistible.
Leopard Drawing

This drawing was one of my early experiments using mechanical pencils. They were a game-changer for me and gave me control I never had with standard graphite pencils. If detail and precision are your thing, I urge you to try them out for yourself. Use Pentel 0.3mm pencils 4H, 2H, HB, B, 2B.
Read This: Can You Draw With Mechanical Pencils? YES! Here’s How
This print sold out quickly. I’m my own worst critic and I will always find fault in my own work, but the public certainly liked this one. You can’t go far wrong with cats of any kind.
Zebra Art

In reality, these zebras were running the opposite way, I flipped the photo 180 degrees and drew them the other way round. For some curious reason, a picture tends to feel more pleasing if it flows from the left to the right. From the right the zebras appear to be entering the picture but reversed and running to the left they would be departing.
These zebras were part of a herd running across the track ahead of our land rover in Masai Mara reserve in Kenya.
This drawing was a fine example of getting it wrong. It didn’t sell.
In hindsight, I can see that the foal doesn’t stand out, it’s a bit ‘lost’. It merges with Mom behind. I should’ve lightened the adult or simply drawn the foal as a standalone subject. Oh well.
Elephant Drawing

These are pygmy elephants on the banks of the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Borneo. We saw them from a boat as they rolled around in the mud and played. Needless to say, I took a lot of photos.
This will interest you: 6 Realistic Elephant Drawings in Pencil
This is one of my favorite drawings and I think it ticks off most of the boxes for a successful drawing. There’s so much more to drawing animals than simply capturing a likeness.
Drawing of Puppies

On a visit to a temple near the desert town of Bikaner in Rajasthan, I noticed these puppies warming themselves in the morning sun. They looked to be well-fed and posed rather elegantly I think. It is difficult when dealing with a subject such as this not to tip over the dividing line into sentimentality.
Hopefully, I’ve succeeded in capturing the charm without the goo! I am personally very pleased with the results.
Baby Chimp Drawing

If this chap looks familiar it’s because I’ve drawn him before. I liked this pose so I drew him again, why not? With a face like this the temptation was too much.
I think he has a quiet contentment about him, his expression is calm and composed, and riding on Mom’s back he is safe and secure. He’s probably as happy as he will ever be and that’s a good enough reason to capture the moment.
Tiger Art

This is the face of a wild tigress and yes she really was peeking around a clump of bamboo. There is some artistic license in re-arranging the bamboo but it reflects the truth of seeing her only 20 feet (7m) away! This tiger was in Kanha National Park in Central India.
If you want to see a wild tiger then head for Kanha or Bandhavargh National Parks in India, where you are almost guaranteed a close encounter!
I’ve seen tigers many times over the years. As well, as seeing them in the above-mentioned parks, I’ve seen tigers in Ranthambore, Tadoba, and Kaziranga National Parks too.
Otter Art

I knew I had something in my photo references. I rarely take a shot that is good enough in itself. Photography is such an underrated skill.
These two short-clawed otters were playing away and I took plenty of pictures. This photo stood out, but there was a problem. The head on the left was blurred. I went through my other shots and found a head in a similar angle and transplanted that onto the other image.
Sounds easy, but getting the scale right was difficult, and blending it in to look authentic was tricky. I think it worked
Realistic Wildlife Drawings: Final Thoughts
I couldn’t tell you how many hours went into making these drawings. The drawing time is only part of it. I also had to take the original reference shots, visualize the potential composition, and plan it out. That’s quite apart from making the prints and selling them.
If you thought about the time and logistics involved from the initial idea to a saleable print, you wouldn’t do it.
Just as well I didn’t think things through when I started out.
I had a simple dream. I would draw wildlife, sell the prints, use the money to travel, come back, and do it again. It worked. I lived this way for over 20 years.
If you have an idea and want to sell your art too, I can show you how I made my living from a market stall. No fancy galleries, no commissions, just a seasonal business. This guide will show you how to sell your art. You can copy everything I did, or cherry-pick the best parts that relate to you.
Has this post been enjoyable? If so, you may like to read the following articles:
- 12 Wildlife Art Bestsellers (Use These Subjects to Make Money)
- The Wildlife Drawings of Kevin Hayler
- 25 Realistic Animal Drawings
- How to Start Drawing Wildlife and Become a Wildlife Artist
- 7 Bird Art Bestsellers: Best Wall Art Selling Guide
- 9 Farm Animal Art Bestsellers: Home Decor That Sells!
- How to Draw Realistically: 11 Realistic Drawing Tips
- How to Draw a Realistic Giraffe: Step by Step and Get Great Results
- 9 Ways of Framing on a Budget You Need to Know!

Hi, I’m Kevin Hayler
I’ve been selling my wildlife art and traveling the world for over 20 years, and if that sounds too good to be true, I’ve done it all without social media, art school, or galleries!
I can show you how to do it. You’ll find a wealth of info on my site, about selling art, drawing tips, lifestyle, reviews, travel, my portfolio, and more. Enjoy