How to Draw a Christmas Wreath

Start near the top of your paper, in the middle. Draw a small square, but round off the corners as you go so it looks soft. This is the knot in the middle of the wreath bow. Keep it small. Everything else in the drawing grows out from this little shape, so leave plenty of empty space around it on every side.

From the top and bottom corners of the knot, draw two lines going out on each side. Make them long. This is a big wreath bow. Now close each side with a curve. Go up from the top line, dip in a little, then come back out and down to the bottom line. You end up with two loops shaped a bit like a bow tie.

Make the bow look 3D. Inside the bottom of each loop, draw a curve that dips down and swings back into the knot. Then add wrinkles. Draw two or three short curved lines in each loop, starting at the knot and reaching out. Your bow might look different from the video. That is okay. The most important thing is to have fun with it.

Draw two ribbon tails hanging down from the knot. Start with two lines down the middle, close together at the top. Then draw a line on the outside of each one. Let the tails spread apart as they go down, so they flare out at the bottom. Close each end with a V shape, like an upside down letter A. Now the bow is done.

Start on one side of the bow and draw a zigzag line that curves down and around under the ribbon tails and back up to the other side. This is the inside edge of the wreath. Make the zigzags messy. Some small, some big. That is what makes it look like pine needles. Try to keep the overall shape round like a circle.

Now draw the outside of the wreath with the same crazy zigzag, only bigger. Start up by the bow and go all the way around. Point some zigzags one way and some the other. Going a little faster can help the line look loose and natural. Stay close to your line, though. You want a full pine ring, not a tangle of scribbles.

Fill in the top of the wreath between the two bow loops. Draw a short zigzag line that peeks out above the knot and stops where it touches each loop. The wreath keeps going behind the bow, so you never draw through it. That is called overlapping. The bow sits in front of the pine, and the drawing starts to look 3D.

Decorate the wreath with ornaments. Draw big circles for the main ornaments, two on the left side and two on the right, about the same size. Then add two smaller circles between each pair of big ones. You can decorate yours any way you want. Candy canes, little presents or snowflakes all look great on a wreath.

Time for color. Grab a green colored pencil and fill in the pine ring. Color around the ornaments and leave them white for now. Use a darker green along the outer edge if you have one. It gives the wreath some depth. Pause the video whenever you need more time. Coloring the whole ring takes a while.

Color the bow red, and the big ornaments too. Add little yellow berries in the small circles. To make the ornaments look shiny, press harder on one side for a darker red and leave a tiny white spot near the top for a highlight. Rob adds shading. His daughter skips it to keep things easy. Both versions look great.