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Christmas Drawing Ideas with Pencil: Tone, Texture and Line

Three Christmas subjects for pencil per press, each with where the darks and the bare paper go.

Christmas Drawing Ideas with Pencil: Tone, Texture and Line

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  1. A stone birdbath filled level with snowA dark bowl on a pillar, a bare disc on top, and a pale shadow to one side.
  2. Fresh footprints crossing a white lawnEach print is a small dark oval with a paler rim. They shrink toward the top of the page.
  3. Snow piled on a mailbox like a hatRound the top of the snow. Shade only its underside and the box below.

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Shine 12

  • A glass bauble showing the room bent round its curve Leave one small window shape as bare paper. The darkest tone sits right beside it.
  • A glass of water with a candy cane leaning in it Break the cane where it meets the water. Shade the water lightly and leave the rim bare.
  • A hand bell in brass, bright down one side Shade in bands that follow the curve, then lift the highlight out with the corner of an eraser.
  • A hard candy in clear wrap, twisted at both ends The wrap is a few sharp bright lines over a darker candy. The twists fan out like small bows.
  • A present in foil paper, creased at the corners Foil is sharp jumps between dark and bare paper. Do not blend at the folds.
  • A satin ribbon bow with soft folds Each loop goes dark, light, dark. Keep the edges of the folds soft.
  • A spoon with the tree lights caught in its bowl A row of small bare dots inside a dark oval. The handle is one long pale stripe.
  • A star cutter in bent tin, looked at from straight above A thin band of metal bent into points. One edge is bright and the inside edge is dark.
  • A star tree topper in polished metal Shade every other face of the star. The jump between faces makes it look cut.
  • An unlit string of lights coiled on a table, glass and wire Each bulb is a small egg with one bare streak. The wire is the darkest line on the page.
  • Three jingle bells on a leather strap Each bell is a ball with a cross-shaped slot. The darkest dark goes inside the slot.
  • Tinsel looped along a bough Short flicks in every direction, pressed hard and then lifted. Leave gaps for the glitter.

Glow 12

  • A dark tree where every bulb is a dot of bare paper with a soft ring Shade the whole tree dark first. Lift each bulb out with an eraser and smudge round it.
  • A face lit by the glow of an open oven door The light comes from below and in front. Shade the top of the head and behind the ears.
  • A flashlight beam finding a present under the bed A cone of bare paper from one corner. The box sits where the cone ends.
  • A night-light low on the wall, and the toys it picks out A small bare glow near the floor. Shade the room and show only the edges that face it.
  • A paper house with a tea light inside, windows glowing Shade the walls and leave the windows bare. Soften the tone just round each one.
  • A porch light left on, with snow drifting through its glow Leave a soft bare circle. The flakes are bare dots inside it and vanish outside it.
  • A reading lamp over a half-written card A bare cone of light on the desk. The card sits inside it and the pen throws a short shadow.
  • A tin-can lantern with light coming through punched holes Shade the can dark and leave rows of small bare dots. Add a pale patch on the ground.
  • Firelight spreading across a rug, the fire itself out of view No flames. Shade the room and leave a fan of bare paper across the floor.
  • The front door ajar at night, light running down the steps A bare upright rectangle, and a paler shape on each step below it.
  • Light under a closed door, and the dark hall outside it One thin bare line along the floor and a paler patch in front of it. The rest is tone.
  • One star above a roofline, the only light in the sky Darken the sky evenly. The star is a pinprick of bare paper with four short rays.

Snow and white things 12

  • A cotton-ball beard on a homemade Santa mask Cotton is lumps with soft edges. Shade faintly between them and keep every top bare.
  • A heap of marshmallows, white against white Each one is a short cylinder. Shade one side and the thin shadow where two touch.
  • A sheet draped over the sofa for a snow scene, folds and all Cloth is long soft shadows. Shade inside each fold and leave the ridges bare.
  • A snowman left as blank paper, with only the night shaded in Do not outline it. Shade the sky down to its edge and let the paper be the snow.
  • A stone birdbath filled level with snow A dark bowl on a pillar, a bare disc on top, and a pale shadow to one side.
  • A white china jug of holly on a windowsill White things are drawn by their shadows. Shade the wall behind and one side of the jug.
  • A white envelope on a white tablecloth Find the edges by their shadows: a thin dark line under the flap and one along the bottom.
  • Breath in cold air: one small cloud against a dark coat Shade the coat, then lift the cloud out with an eraser. Keep its edges soft.
  • Fresh footprints crossing a white lawn Each print is a small dark oval with a paler rim. They shrink toward the top of the page.
  • Icing sugar sifted over a star-shaped cookie Stipple the edges with the pencil point and leave the top almost bare.
  • Snow piled on a mailbox like a hat Round the top of the snow. Shade only its underside and the box below.
  • Snow sitting on every bar of a farm gate Draw the rails by shading under them. The snow on top is a bare strip with a soft lower edge.

Texture 12

  • A birch log with its dark dashes and one peeling curl Leave the bark mostly bare. Add short dark marks across it and shade under the curl.
  • A burlap sack tied at the neck, its weave showing Cross short lines both ways for the weave. Gather the folds toward the string.
  • A cookie with a matte crumb and glossy icing lines Stipple the cookie all over. Leave the icing bare, with a thin shadow beside it.
  • A sprig of pine, one stroke for every needle Flick each needle away from the twig, pressing at the start and lifting at the end.
  • A stack of split logs with the end grain facing you Each end is a rough circle of rings with one crack. The gaps between logs are darkest.
  • A toboggan's slats, the lines of the grain running lengthwise Long wavy lines that never cross, and one oval knot for the lines to bend round.
  • A wool mitten with a ribbed cuff Soften the outline with tiny loops. The cuff is straight parallel lines.
  • A wreath of three kinds of leaf: spiky, flat and feathery Give each kind its own stroke: jagged, smooth, and quick flicks.
  • An orange stuck all over with cloves Dimple the peel with dots. Each clove is a tiny dark cross.
  • The fringe of a wool scarf, strand by strand Each strand is two close lines with a twist. Let them overlap, and darken where they cross.
  • The fur trim of a red hat, with no outline Short strokes that follow the fluff outward. Let the edge be broken and soft.
  • Rough twine tied in a bow round brown paper Twist the twine with short diagonal marks. The paper is smooth, so shade it flat.

Line only 12

  • A bauble, its cap and its hook in a single outline One circle, one small rectangle, one curl. Keep the line the same weight all the way.
  • A blind contour of a lit candle: eyes on the flame, not the page Look only at the candle and draw its edge in one slow line. Check the paper when you finish.
  • A decorated tree in one continuous line, star included Start at the star and do not lift the pencil. Let the line loop once for each bauble.
  • A mitten, a hat and a scarf as three separate outlines Even line weight throughout. Leave one small break in each shape.
  • A paneled door in clean outline with one bell on a ribbon Rule nothing. Panels are rectangles inside a rectangle, and the bell hangs dead centre.
  • A reindeer in profile where no line is allowed to curve Short straight strokes meet at angles for the legs, the back and the antlers.
  • A row of houses in outline, the snow on the roofs left as gaps Break each roof line where the snow sits. The gap reads as white.
  • A sleigh in outline, its runners one sweeping curve each Draw both runners first as long S shapes. The body sits on top as a simple box.
  • A sprig of mistletoe in slow outline, leaf by leaf Move the pencil as slowly as your eye moves along each leaf. No filling in.
  • A wrapped box showing three faces and a ribbon Edges that are parallel stay parallel. The ribbon crosses the top and runs down two faces.
  • The same bauble three times: thin line, thick line, broken line Change only the line. It shows how much an outline can say by itself.
  • Three tapers in a row, each one outline and one flame Draw the tallest first. Nothing is filled in, not even the wicks.

How it works

These Christmas drawing ideas with pencil are chosen for what graphite does well: shine on glass and metal, a glow in the dark, snow left as bare paper, rough texture. Each hint says where the darkest tone goes.

Read the full guide

Christmas graphite drawing ideas start with the darks

Decide where the bare paper will be before you start: a highlight, a flame, a drift of snow. Shade everything else toward it. Hatching is closely spaced parallel lines, and cross-hatching lays a second set across the first. Use a soft pencil for the darks and an eraser to lift light back out.

Christmas line drawing ideas, with no shading

Line only holds subjects for outline alone, such as a decorated tree in one continuous line. In pen they also serve as Christmas drawing ideas black and white.

  • Keep a scrap of paper under your drawing hand so finished shading does not smear.
  • Squint at the page. If the lights and darks merge, the darks are not dark enough.

Questions and answers

What Christmas things are good to draw in pencil?

Things with strong light and dark: a glass bauble, a brass bell, a lamp over a dark desk, snow against a night sky. Pencil runs from bare paper to near black, which is what those subjects need.

How do I draw snow with a pencil?

Leave it out. Snow is the paper. Shade the sky, the shadows and whatever sits behind the snow, and stop at its edge. A little tone on the underside of a drift gives it shape.

Which of these are easy?

Choose Easy in the box under the button. Most are single objects that need two or three tones and no fine detail, such as a stone birdbath filled level with snow.

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