Embodiments of the present invention disclose a picture download method and a communication terminal. The method comprises the steps of when the terminal plays, in a lock screen play interface, a first lock screen picture corresponding to first lock screen picture information in a to-be-played lock screen picture list, sending a second lock screen picture download request to a server when a preset event is triggered; receiving a second lock screen picture that is returned by the server in response to the second lock screen picture download request; and adding second lock screen picture information corresponding to the second lock screen picture to the to-be-played lock screen picture list. According to the method, the second lock screen picture is downloaded while the first lock screen picture is played, so that downloaded pictures to be played are always in the terminal, the pictures are downloaded steadily and timely so as to be played smoothly and naturally, screen pause and black screen are prevented, and the user experience is improved.