This cartoon snowman is a great first winter drawing. He has big shiny eyes, a carrot nose, a cozy striped scarf and a red Santa hat, and every part is built from circles, curves and a few straight lines. The lesson comes from Rob at Art for Kids Hub, who draws it side by side with his daughter. It takes about ten minutes, and kids as young as five can follow along.
You need a black marker, a sheet of paper and something to color with. No pencil sketch is needed. If you feel nervous about ink, sketch lightly in pencil and trace over it when you like the shapes.
Why this snowman starts with the face
Most people draw a snowman as three stacked balls. This one starts with the eyes in the middle of the page and builds outward. The face sets the size of everything else. The hat lines up with the sides of the head, the scarf hangs off the chin, and the body drops down to the ground line last. You never have to squeeze a hat into a space that is too small.
Make him tall or short
The ground line decides the height of your snowman. Draw it low on the page and he turns into a tall, chubby snowman. Draw it closer to his scarf and you get a short, round little guy. Both work. On a letter-size sheet, keep the eyes about the size of a pea so the hat and arms still fit. Turn the paper tall, not wide.
Paper, markers and colors
Plain printer paper is fine for practice. For a drawing you want to keep, use a heavier sketch paper so the ink does not bleed. A fine point black permanent marker gives you the bold outline from the video. In the video the snowman is colored with colored pencils: red for the hat, orange for the carrot, red and green stripes on the scarf. Washable markers or crayons are easy picks for younger kids. Leave the body white, or shade the edges with light blue so the snow looks round. Our shading guide shows how.
Snowman ideas for the holidays
A snowman drawing is handy all December. Draw a small one on the front of a folded card. Cut a few out and use them as Christmas gift tags. Teachers can run it as a classroom activity and tape the finished snowmen across a window. Want the real thing? Here is how to build a snowman outside once the snow sticks.
Snowman drawing ideas to try next
Same eyes, same carrot, new snowman.
- Classic three-ball snowman. For little kids, stack three circles with the smallest on top, then add the face and twig arms.
- Top hat or earmuffs. Swap the Santa hat for a black top hat or a pair of fuzzy earmuffs. The head shape stays the same.
- Melting snowman. Draw the head sitting in a wide puddle with the hat tipped over and the scarf lying flat. Kids love this one.
- Snowman family. Draw two or three at different heights by moving the ground line, then give each one a different scarf.
Fill the sky behind them with a few drawn snowflakes.
Common snowman drawing problems
- The hat looks flat. Let the two hat lines dip down a little past the top of the head. That small overlap makes it look like the hat sits on him.
- The scarf looks like a collar. Curve the stripes. Stripes on the left bend one way and stripes on the right bend the other, so it wraps around.
- The smile is crooked. Draw the coal dots from the middle out, and let the row tip up at both ends.
- The arms look stiff. Make the twig lines wobbly. Real branches are never straight.
Want to add a snowy scene behind him? Try how to draw a tree. New to drawing? Start with how to draw for the basics.
