• 60 scenes

Christmas Scene Drawing Ideas: Indoors, Streets and Night Skies

Three whole Christmas scenes per press, each with its viewpoint and what goes in front, in the middle and behind.

Christmas Scene Drawing Ideas: Indoors, Streets and Night Skies

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  1. A steeple against the stars, seen from the lane belowLooking up: the steeple narrows to a point. Leave the stars as untouched paper and shade the sky round them.
  2. A church on a hill in three shapes: box, roof and spireThe hill is one curve. Set the box on top, a triangle on the box and a thin triangle beside it.
  3. The living room on Christmas morning, seen from the top of the stairsFront: the banister rail. Middle: the tree and torn paper. Back: a window gone pale with early light.

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All 60 scenes

Indoors 13

  • A child's bedroom on Christmas Eve, seen from the doorway Front: the edge of the door. Middle: the bed and a stocking on its post. Back: a night light.
  • A parlour with a candle-lit tree, seen from the doorway Before electric lights, trees carried lighted candles. Give every flame its own small ring of glow.
  • A staircase wound with garland, seen from the bottom step Front: the post at the foot of the rail. Middle: stairs climbing to one side. Back: a landing window.
  • The attic with the decoration boxes open, seen from the hatch Front: the rim of the hatch. Middle: open boxes spilling tinsel. Back: one bare bulb and long shadows.
  • The front hall with every peg loaded, seen from the doormat Front: wet boots on the mat. Middle: coats along one wall. Back: a bright room at the far end.
  • The kitchen table mid-baking, seen from the doorway Front: the door frame. Middle: the table, flour and trays. Back: the oven, its glow the warmest light.
  • The living room on Christmas morning, seen from the top of the stairs Front: the banister rail. Middle: the tree and torn paper. Back: a window gone pale with early light.
  • The long table set for the big meal, seen from the head chair Front: one plate, large. Middle: the table narrowing away. Back: the far chair and a candle.
  • The mantelpiece at eye level, cards and candles along it Front: the edge of the shelf. Middle: cards standing in a row. Back: a mirror showing the lit room.
  • The tree beside the fire, seen lying on the hearth rug Front: the fringe of the rug and one parcel. Middle: the tree. Back: the fire, lighting it all from behind.
  • Under the table at the big dinner, seen at shoe height Front: the hem of the tablecloth. Middle: chair legs and shoes. Back: a strip of bright room beyond.
  • The whole family dozing after the meal, seen from behind the tree Front: branches and baubles, large and soft. Middle: the sofa. Back: a lamp in the corner.
  • Wrapping night on the bedroom floor, seen from straight above Looking down: paper, scissors and tape in a ring round one half-wrapped box. The lamp is off the page.

Street and village 13

  • A bandstand with a brass band playing, seen from the back of the crowd Front: the backs of heads and hats. Middle: the bandstand, lit from inside. Back: dark trees.
  • A chestnut stand glowing at the corner of an old market Old market stands sold roasted chestnuts, nuts and almonds. The fire lights the seller from below.
  • A house with every edge outlined in lights, seen from the street Front: the mailbox. Middle: the yard. Back: the house, kept dark so the lights stand out.
  • A main street under strings of lights, seen from the middle of the road The strings sag from one wall to the other and shrink toward one point. Shopfronts run along both edges.
  • A medieval market square with open-air stalls, seen from a balcony Christmas markets are late medieval in origin. Stalls in front, the square in the middle, gables behind.
  • A shopping street at closing time, seen from the opposite sidewalk Front: the curb and a lamp post. Middle: people as dark shapes. Back: bright shopfronts, the only light.
  • A tree lot at dusk, seen from the entrance Front: a hand-lettered sign. Middle: trees leaning in rows. Back: a hut with one lit window.
  • Carol singers under a lamp post, seen from across the road The lamp lights them from above: bright hats and shoulders, dark faces, long shadows at their feet.
  • Five doorsteps in a row, a wreath above each, seen from the gate Front: the gate posts. Middle: a path and steps. Back: three doors, the nearest with the most detail.
  • The ice rink in the town square, seen from the rail Front: the rail. Middle: skaters, each leaning a different way. Back: buildings lit on three sides.
  • The last bus pulling in on a snowy evening, seen from the curb Front: shopping bags at your feet. Middle: the bus, doors open and lit inside. Back: the dark street.
  • Market stalls down both sides of an aisle, seen from one end Front: one stall, large, on the left. Middle: roofs stepping away. Back: strings of bulbs meeting at a point.
  • The village green with one tall tree, seen from the church steps Front: the steps and a rail. Middle: the tree, lit. Back: a ring of cottages with small yellow windows.

Through a window 12

  • A bakery window full of cakes, seen from the sidewalk Front: your own reflection, faint. Middle: shelves of cakes. Back: the baker, lit from above.
  • A bookshop window from behind the display, a child looking in Front: the backs of books, in shadow. Middle: the glass. Back: one face, lit by the window.
  • A café window from the inside, shoppers hurrying past Front: a cup on the table. Middle: the lettering on the glass, backwards. Back: figures passing.
  • A frosted pane with a clear patch rubbed in it, the garden beyond The frost blurs everything but the rubbed circle. Inside the circle, draw a sharp small view.
  • A neighbour's window across the way, a tree lit inside it Front: your own dark sill. Middle: a gap of night air. Back: one small bright square with a tree in it.
  • A train car at dusk, white fields sliding by, seen from your seat Front: the table and a wrapped parcel. Middle: the frame. Back: fields drawn in streaks to show speed.
  • A window fogged by cooking, seen from the garden path The fog softens every shape inside. Light falls from the window onto the snow in one long patch.
  • A windshield on a snowy drive, the road lit by headlights Front: the dashboard. Middle: flakes rushing at the glass. Back: the road, bright near and black far.
  • The back yard filling with snow, seen from the kitchen sink Front: the faucet and the sill. Middle: the glass, flakes close and large. Back: a fence and one tree.
  • Looking in at a lit living room from the snowy yard Everything outside is dark. The window is a bright box with the tree inside it.
  • One candle in a cottage window, seen from the dark lane A black house shape, one small window, one flame. The light reaches only the sill and the snow below.
  • The street far below, seen from a third-floor window Front: the window frame. Middle: rooftops. Back: the street, people as dots under the lamps.

Night sky and rooftops 12

  • A cat on a roof ridge with the moon behind it The moon is a big circle. The ridge crosses it as a straight dark line and the cat sits on that line.
  • A city skyline with one decorated tree on a rooftop terrace Front: the terrace rail and the tree. Middle: lit towers. Back: a sky with hardly any stars.
  • A clock tower at midnight on Christmas Eve, seen from the square below Looking up: the tower narrows as it rises. The clock face is the brightest thing in the picture.
  • A farmhouse alone under the Milky Way, seen from the field gate Front: the gate. Middle: a white field. Back: the house, one window lit. The sky takes two thirds.
  • A harbour at night, boats with lights in their rigging, seen from the quay Front: a mooring post. Middle: boats and their reflections. Back: the dark hill of the town.
  • A mountain village after dark, seen from the far slope Front: fir tops. Middle: the valley, in shadow. Back: a cluster of lit windows under a pale peak.
  • A sea of roofs under falling snow, seen from the attic Front: your own roof edge. Middle: ridges overlapping like waves. Back: they fade into the snowfall.
  • A steeple against the stars, seen from the lane below Looking up: the steeple narrows to a point. Leave the stars as untouched paper and shade the sky round them.
  • A valley town after dark, seen from the hill road above it Looking down: dark blocks of roofs, bright threads between them and one brighter square in the middle.
  • A weathervane on a ridge, the roofs of the town spread out below Front: the weathervane, large and black. Middle: roofs stepping downhill. Back: a pale band of sky.
  • One bright star over a dark village, seen from a hill The star is the only light. Keep the houses as flat dark shapes and give the star four long rays.
  • The stars through a skylight, seen from the bed below it Front: the edge of the blanket. Middle: the frame of the skylight. Back: stars, and snow on the glass.

Easy 10

  • A barn with a star on its gable and one wide field of snow The field takes the bottom half, as empty paper. The barn is a box and a triangle, the star a small cross.
  • A cabin with a path to its door, seen from the end of the path The path is two lines that start wide at the bottom of the page and meet at the door.
  • A chair, a floor lamp and a small tree, seen straight on Three shapes on one floor line. The lamp is the light, so shade the far side of the chair and the tree.
  • A church on a hill in three shapes: box, roof and spire The hill is one curve. Set the box on top, a triangle on the box and a thin triangle beside it.
  • A cottage, a fir and a moon, seen from the road Draw the ground line first. The cottage sits on it, the fir beside it and the moon above. Three things.
  • A fence, a snowman and a wide sky The fence runs across the lower third. The snowman stands in front of it and the sky fills the rest.
  • A plain window from inside, snow piled along its ledge A square, a cross inside it and a lumpy white line along the bottom. Add one tree in a pane.
  • A porch with a lantern and a swept path, seen head on Two posts, a small roof and a door between them. The lantern hangs from the roof and lights the path.
  • A white hill with one fir at its summit One curved line for the hill, one triangle for the tree, dots for snow. Leave the sky empty.
  • Three cottages on one ground line, a yellow square in each Three boxes with triangle roofs. Shade the walls and leave one small window bright in each.

How it works

Christmas scene drawing ideas are whole pictures: a room, a street, a view through a window, a sky over rooftops. Each one names where you stand, and its hint places the front, the middle and the back.

Read the full guide

Build a scene in three layers

Draw the front layer large and dark: a banister, a gate, a window frame. Put the subject in the middle. Keep the back small and pale. Let each layer hide part of the next, and the picture has depth.

Indoor Christmas scene drawing ideas

Indoors, choose the light before anything else: the fire, the tree, an oven door, a pale window. Shade whatever faces away from it. One light is easier to draw than three.

  • For Christmas house scene drawing ideas, stand across the street: the yard in front, the house behind.
  • Pick the viewpoint first. A low one makes the tree tall, and a high one shows the floor.

Questions and answers

Which are the Christmas morning scene drawing ideas?

Choose Indoors in the box under the button. The main one is the living room seen from the top of the stairs: the banister in front, the tree and torn paper in the middle, a pale window at the back.

Are there historical Christmas scene drawing ideas?

Three. A parlour with a candle-lit tree, from before electric lights replaced the candles. A late medieval market square, since Christmas markets began in late medieval German-speaking Europe. And a stand selling roasted chestnuts.

What is the simplest Christmas scene to draw?

Choose Easy in the box under the button. A cottage, a fir and a moon need a ground line and three shapes. Add the falling snow last, as dots.

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