By CraftingStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by Cartooning Club Junior.
This is how to draw Santa Claus the easy way: a round, jolly cartoon Santa with a big white beard, a floppy red hat and his arms up in the air. If you have been looking for how to draw a Santa that kids can finish in one sitting, this is it. The lesson comes from Cartooning Club Junior, a channel made for young and beginner artists, and the whole drawing takes about eight minutes.
You need a black marker, a sheet of paper and a few colors. No pencil sketch required. If you want a safety net, sketch lightly in pencil and trace over it once the shapes look right.
Most people start with a big circle for the head. This method starts with a tiny oval nose in the middle of the page and builds out from there. The eyes sit on top of it, the mustache hangs under it, and the beard wraps around everything. Because each shape leans on the one before it, the face stays centered and you never have to guess how big to make the head. If faces give you trouble in general, our guide on how to draw a face covers the same idea of placing features before outlines.
Printer paper is fine for practice. For a drawing you want to keep, use a heavier sketch paper so the red does not bleed through. A fine point black permanent marker gives you the bold outline from the video.
Keep the nose small, about the size of a pea on a letter-size sheet. Santa ends up roughly four noses wide at the beard and about twelve noses tall from hat to boots. Start the nose a little above the middle of the page so the boots fit at the bottom.
The finished drawing uses red for the hat, suit and mittens, a light peach for the face and nose, gray or black for the boots, and gold for the belt buckle. Leave the beard, mustache, eyebrows, pom-pom and fur trim white. That white is what makes him read as Santa at a glance. Alcohol markers give the smooth, streak-free red you see in the video. Washable markers and colored pencils work fine for kids, and crayons are great for little hands.
Draw Santa on the front of a folded card and write a note inside. Shrink him down for homemade Christmas gift tags, or draw him on cardstock, cut him out and punch a hole at the top of the hat for a paper ornament to go with your Christmas ornaments. Teachers can run the steps as a December classroom activity and tape the finished drawings to a window.
New to drawing? Start with how to draw for the basics, then try how to shade to give Santa's suit some depth.
10 steps · about 8 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Start in the center of the page. Draw a small oval for Santa's nose, starting at the top, going around the left side and back up. Now add the eyes on top of the nose. On the left, curve a line up and bend it back down like an upside-down U. Line up a matching curve on the right. Those curved eyes make Santa look like he is laughing.
Tip
Keep the nose small. It sets the size of the whole drawing, so a big nose leaves no room for the boots.
Start on the left side of the nose. Curve a line up and out, then bend it back up into a little curl at the tip. Bring the bottom of the mustache down and back up to the center, right under the nose. Repeat on the right side so both halves match. You should end up with a wide, swoopy mustache that hugs the bottom of the nose.
Tip
Make the curls at the tips point up. Upturned ends keep Santa looking cheerful.
Find the spot where the two halves of the mustache meet. Right below it, draw a small half oval, coming down and back up. That is Santa's open mouth. Fill the inside black. Step down a little from the bottom of the mouth and draw a short curve, down and up, for the lower lip. Keep it small and centered under the mouth.
Tip
Leave a tiny gap between the mouth and the lip line. It makes the smile easier to read.
Start on the far left edge of the mustache. Draw a big half oval that goes down and around the bottom of the face and comes back up on the right side, closing in under the chin. Now draw two fluffy ovals above the eyes for the eyebrows. Start at the top, curve down over each eye and come back up.
Tip
Make the beard wider than the mustache. A skinny beard makes Santa look like a snowman.
The bottom edge of the hat sits right above the eyebrows. On the left, draw a short line up and in toward the side of the face. Do the same on the right. Add a curve across the forehead, right above the eyebrows. Then draw the outside of the brim, connecting the two sides with a puffy curve that bumps up in the middle.
Tip
Make the brim thick. It is the white fur band, and it needs room for color contrast later.
Start on the left side of the brim and draw a big curve up over the head. Swing it around to the right and let the tip flop down toward the side of the head. Add a round pom-pom at the end of the tip. Finish with a small fold line where the hat bends over, tucking the right side in under the curve.
Tip
Let the pom-pom hang past the side of the beard. It balances the drawing and adds movement.
Move below the beard. Draw the sides of the body going out and down on the left and right, stopping at the same height. Connect the bottom with a curve for the coat trim. Draw the belt as a band across the middle, then add a square buckle in the center with a smaller square inside it. Fill the belt black on both sides of the buckle.
Tip
Draw the buckle before you fill the belt. It is much harder to leave a clean white square afterward.
Tuck the legs in under the coat trim with a small gap in the center. Draw a straight line down for each leg toward the heel. Round out the bottom of each boot, coming down and back up, and draw the top of the foot. Step out for the outside of each leg and run it up under the body. Add a trim line near the top of each boot.
Tip
Keep the legs short. Stubby legs give a cartoon Santa that cute, chubby look.
Go to the side of the beard and draw the arm stretching up and out toward the wrist. From the wrist, point the thumb up like a half oval. Draw the rest of the mitten around the outside, rounding it out and pulling it back to the wrist. Bend the bottom of the arm down into the side of the body, then add a curved cuff at the wrist. Repeat on the other side.
Tip
Raising both arms makes Santa look like he is cheering. It fits a Christmas card nicely.
Start with a skin tone for the face and nose, working from left to right. Switch to red for the hat, coat, sleeves, legs and mittens. Go around the fur trim, beard and pom-pom so they stay white. Fill the boots with dark gray or black, and color the belt buckle gold or yellow. Sign your drawing in the corner when you finish.
Tip
Use a lighter peach on the face than you think. Dark skin tone can make the white beard look gray.
Keep going
How to Draw a Face: Beginner Proportions Guide
How to Draw Santa Claus
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5 questions covering what you just read. No signup, no score saved, and you can stop after this one.
Question 1 of 5
Where does this Santa drawing start?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.Where does this Santa drawing start?
Answer: A small oval nose in the middle
Building out from the nose keeps the face centered on the page.
2.Why does starting from the nose help with sizing?
Answer: Each shape leans on the one before it
Eyes, mustache and beard all attach to the nose, so proportions stay right.
3.How do you make the mustache halves match?
Answer: Repeat the same curl on each side
Mirroring the curve from the center gives a balanced mustache.
4.When coloring the red suit, what should you go around?
Answer: The fur trim, beard and pom-pom
Leaving the fur and beard white is what makes Santa read as Santa.
5.If you feel nervous about drawing straight in marker, what helps?
Answer: Sketch lightly in pencil, then trace
A light pencil sketch is a safety net you can ink over once it looks right.
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