• 70 ideas

Easter Drawing Ideas for Eggs, Bunnies, Cards and Canvas

Three Easter subjects at a time, each with a way to start, sorted into easy, cute, eggs, cards, religious and ready to paint.

Easter Drawing Ideas for Eggs, Bunnies, Cards and Canvas

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  1. A bunny silhouette against a pastel skySmall canvas. Blend rose pink into primrose yellow wet-on-wet, let it dry, then paint the bunny in flat dark violet.
  2. A simnel cake with eleven marzipan ballsA fruitcake for Lent and Easter in the UK and Ireland. The 11 balls on top stand for the apostles minus Judas.
  3. A dove-shaped Easter bread with almonds on topColomba pasquale is an Italian Easter bread shaped like a dove and topped with pearl sugar and almonds.

Next step More subjects sized for a small canvasMore easy subjects made from plain shapes

All 70 ideas

Easy 13

  • A basket of eggs with a bow on the handle The Easter Bunny is said to carry coloured eggs in a basket. A bowl with a criss-cross weave and a hoop handle.
  • A bunny built from two circles and two long loops A small circle on a big one, then two tall loops for ears. Three short whisker lines each side of a dot nose.
  • A bunny peeking over the bottom of the page Just two ears, the top of a head and two paws on the edge. Let the ears lean in different directions.
  • A bunny silhouette against a pastel sky Small canvas. Blend rose pink into primrose yellow wet-on-wet, let it dry, then paint the bunny in flat dark violet.
  • A carrot with a bite taken out A long cone with a feathery top and short curved lines across it. Cut a round bite from one side, crumbs below.
  • A chick hatching through a zigzag crack Half an egg below, a zigzag edge, a round head above. Two dot eyes and a small triangle beak pointing sideways.
  • A chocolate bunny with a gold bow Small canvas. One sitting rabbit shape in burnt umber, a pale streak down one side for shine, ochre bow last.
  • A foil-wrapped chocolate egg, half unwrapped The first hollow chocolate egg was made in 1873. Crumpled foil is a jagged edge with short crease lines.
  • A hot cross bun, glazed and shining Small canvas. A spiced bun eaten on Good Friday. Burnt sienna dome, cream cross, one white highlight for the glaze.
  • A lamb's face in a ring of wool An upside-down egg for the face, ears out sideways, then a ring of small bumps all the way round.
  • A palm cross folded from one leaf On Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, palms are sometimes woven into crosses. Show each fold as a band.
  • A plain egg, fatter at one end, with three stripes Draw an oval, then pinch one end narrower. Curve the stripes like smiles so the egg looks round, not flat.
  • A row of five eggs, each with one pattern Stripes, spots, zigzags, checks and waves. Keep to pastel colours, which are commonly associated with Easter.

Cute 13

  • A bunny asleep inside half an eggshell The shell is a bowl with a zigzag rim. Curl the bunny to fit and drape one ear over the edge.
  • A bunny holding a sign with room for a name Draw the blank sign first, then the paws over its top edge and the head above. Letter the name last.
  • A bunny in dungarees painting an egg Brush in one paw, egg in the other, tongue out in concentration. Put a smear of paint on one ear.
  • A chick in a cracked shell, stippled fluff Small canvas. Lemon yellow chick, stippled with a stiff brush. Warm white shell with a blue-grey shadow inside.
  • A chick in an Easter bonnet tied under the chin An Easter bonnet is a hat decked with flowers, bunnies or eggs. Make it far too big and tie the ribbon in a bow.
  • A child dressed as an Easter witch, holding a drawn card In Sweden and Finland small children dress as Easter witches and swap decorated cards for sweets door to door.
  • A church bell with wings, dropping eggs In France the bells are said to fly to Rome and come back on Easter morning with eggs. Small wings, big smile.
  • A hare reading a murder mystery in an armchair In Norway people read murder mysteries at Easter. Prop the book on its knees and add small round glasses.
  • A lamb in a field of daisies Small canvas. Sponge a spring green field, stipple the white fleece with a dry brush, and dot the daisies in last.
  • A lamb shaped from butter on a dish In Poland a lamb is shaped from butter for Easter. Pale yellow, soft edges, two dots for eyes, a curl of wool.
  • A lamb wearing a daisy chain Loop the chain round the neck like a collar, one daisy bigger than the rest. Knock-kneed legs add charm.
  • An Easter Bilby holding a chocolate egg Australia's native stand-in for the Easter Bunny. Very long ears, a long muzzle and a black and white tail.
  • An Easter Hare with a notebook, checking who was good The first Easter Hare, a German Lutheran custom, judged whether children had been good. Hares have longer legs.

Eggs 14

  • A cascarón breaking in a burst of confetti Cascarones are emptied eggs filled with confetti and sealed with tissue paper, made to be broken over a head.
  • A giant decorated egg on a stand, tiny people below Vegreville in Alberta has a giant pysanka about eight metres tall. The small figures at the base give the scale.
  • A hollow chocolate egg cracked open, sweets inside The first chocolate eggs were seen at Louis XIV's court. Draw the shell thick, like a broken bowl with a jagged rim.
  • A jewelled egg that opens to show a tiny ship The jewelled eggs made for the last two Russian Tsars mostly held a surprise, such as a clockwork bird or a ship.
  • A pysanka-style egg drawn in fine white lines Pysanky are Ukrainian wax-resist eggs, and the name comes from the verb to write. White lines first, colour after.
  • An egg dance: shoes stepping between eggs on the floor The old egg dance was danced among eggs without breaking any. Draw only the shoes, mid-step, and six eggs.
  • An egg filled with doodle patterns, pen only Divide the egg with wavy lines and fill each patch with one repeat: scales, bricks, spirals or stripes.
  • An egg hunt map with a dotted trail The Easter Bunny is said to leave the hidden eggs. Draw the garden from above and mark every egg with an X.
  • An egg split into five bands, a new pattern in each Curve every dividing line the same way so the egg looks round. Fill the bands with dots, waves, checks and leaves.
  • An egg tree: bare branches hung with eggs on ribbons In Germany eggs are hung on trees and bushes at Easter. Draw the twigs first, then an egg under each ribbon.
  • Eggs rolling down a grassy hill Children in the UK and Germany rolled eggs down hillsides at Easter. Tilt each egg a different way to show the spin.
  • One red egg in a bowl of plain ones In Orthodox churches eggs are dyed red for the blood of Christ, and the hard shell stands for the sealed tomb.
  • Three eggs in a row on a cream ground Small canvas. Mint, primrose and lilac ovals. Dry them fully, then print white dots with the end of a brush handle.
  • Two eggs knocked together in an egg-tapping match Each player hits the other's egg and the last one uncracked wins. One fine crack, two very determined fists.

For cards 14

  • A cross covered in fresh flowers Flowering the cross is an Easter custom. Draw the bare cross lightly, then pack it with blooms until no wood shows.
  • A dove-shaped Easter bread with almonds on top Colomba pasquale is an Italian Easter bread shaped like a dove and topped with pearl sugar and almonds.
  • A frame of eggs and willow twigs round a blank middle Overlap the eggs a little and alternate two patterns. The empty centre is where the message goes.
  • A picnic blanket with eggs, bread and a basket Pasquetta picnics are an Italian Easter custom. Draw the blanket as a tilted checked diamond, food in the middle.
  • A Polish Easter basket with a butter lamb inside In Poland baskets of food are blessed on Holy Saturday, a custom called Święconka. Line the basket with cloth.
  • A simnel cake with eleven marzipan balls A fruitcake for Lent and Easter in the UK and Ireland. The 11 balls on top stand for the apostles minus Judas.
  • A tall iced Easter bread in a basket of flowers Kulich is baked in tall round tins and topped with white icing that runs a little way down the sides.
  • A wreath of eggs, catkins and ribbon Draw a light circle, lay the eggs along it at different angles, tuck twigs between and tie a bow at the bottom.
  • An Easter bonnet on a hat stand, ribbon trailing Small canvas. Wide white brim, pastel ribbon, flowers on top. Block the hat in, then dab the blossom in thick paint.
  • An Easter lily with one open trumpet and two buds The Easter lily is white and trumpet-shaped and stands for the resurrection. Flare the rim and curl it back.
  • An egg cracked along the card fold, chick inside The crack runs along the fold. Put the closed egg on the front and the chick inside, waiting to be found.
  • Birch twigs in a vase, a coloured feather on each In Sweden coloured feathers are tied to birch branches in a vase. Thin bare twigs, one fluffy feather at each tip.
  • Happy Easter lettering with an egg for each letter a Pencil the words first, then swap both letter a shapes for patterned eggs the same height as the other letters.
  • He is risen lettering over a rising sun The Paschal greeting is Christ is risen, answered by He is risen indeed. Arch the words over a half sun.

Religious 10

  • A Celtic cross on a stepped base A Latin cross with a ring round the crossing. High crosses usually carry interlace and stand on a stepped base.
  • A donkey on a road strewn with palm branches Palm Sunday recalls the entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. Big ears, lowered head, long fronds laid on the ground.
  • A haloed lamb holding a cross banner The Lamb of God stands with one foreleg cocked round a staff that flies a white pennant with a red cross.
  • A Paschal candle marked with a cross, alpha and omega The largest candle in the church, lit at the Easter Vigil. It carries a cross, alpha and omega, and the year.
  • A stained-glass cross in jewel colours Small canvas. Paint the black lead lines first; in real glass they are part of the design. Fill with ruby and cobalt.
  • A sunrise service: small figures facing the dawn Sunrise services are an Easter custom, some of them starting in cemeteries. Dark figures below, bands of light above.
  • A two-light church window with tracery above Each opening in a window is called a light. Two tall lights side by side, one small shape of tracery on top.
  • An Easter lily in a terracotta pot Small canvas. White trumpets on a sage green ground. Shade each flower with pale grey-green, never with black.
  • An empty tomb with the stone rolled aside A dark round doorway in a rock face, a disc of stone beside it, light coming out. Easter eggs stand for this tomb.
  • Three crosses on a hill at sunset Small canvas. Blend cadmium orange up into violet. When dry, paint the hill and three crosses in one flat black.

To paint 6

  • A basket of eggs on a pink gingham cloth Small canvas. Gingham is two sets of pale pink stripes crossing, darker where they meet. Ochre basket on top.
  • A hare in long grass at dawn Small canvas. Yellow-brown fur, black ear tips, white underside. Flick the grass upwards over the feet last.
  • A village well crowned with evergreen and painted eggs Small canvas. An Osterbrunnen, a German well dressed for Easter. Dab sap green garlands, then dot red and yellow eggs.
  • An Easter fire on a hilltop at dusk Small canvas. Lit at sunset on Holy Saturday in northern Germany. Indigo sky first, then dab orange and lemon upwards.
  • An Easter kite over a turquoise bay Small canvas. In Bermuda kites fly at Easter to symbolise Christ's ascent. Paint the sea first, the red kite last.
  • Pussy willow stems for Palm Sunday on sky blue Small canvas. Willow stands in for palm in Eastern Europe. Cerulean ground; each catkin is one press of a round brush.

How it works

Easter is kept in church and in the kitchen, and these Easter drawing ideas serve both: eggs, bunnies, chicks and lambs, the breads and cakes, customs from Sweden to Bermuda, and church motifs for religious cards. All 70 have a hint for the first lines, and the customs and symbols were checked. Deal three, then pick a group such as Eggs or Religious.

Read the full guide

Simple Easter drawing ideas and Easter egg drawing ideas

The Easy group holds 13 simple Easter drawing ideas made of ovals and loops. A bunny built from two circles and two long loops needs no neck, legs or shading. The Eggs group holds 17 Easter egg drawing ideas, from pattern schemes to customs like egg tapping. Curve every band the same way, like a smile, and a flat oval turns round.

Easter painting ideas for a small canvas

The To paint group holds 16 Easter painting ideas, each with named colours and one technique. A bunny silhouette against a pastel sky takes two steps: blend the sky wet-on-wet, let it dry, then add one flat dark shape. Easter painting ideas on canvas go background first and details last.

  • Easter things to draw on a card sit under For cards: 18 layouts, such as A frame of eggs and willow twigs round a blank middle.
  • The Religious group holds 16 motifs for church cards. The Paschal candle, for one, carries a cross, alpha and omega, and the current year.
  • The first Easter Hare was a hare, not a rabbit. For a hare, draw longer legs, a slimmer body and black tips on the ears.

Questions and answers

What are good Easter art ideas for a class?

Press five times and let everyone choose. To fill a wall, give each child a paper egg and one pattern from the Eggs group, then hang them together as an egg tree, after the German custom of decorating branches with eggs.

Why does the date of Easter move?

Easter is the Sunday following the first full moon on 21 March or later, worked out from church tables. In the Gregorian calendar that lands between 22 March and 25 April. Orthodox Easter falls from 4 April to 8 May. Check this year's date and allow drying time for paint.

Are the religious ideas accurate?

The 16 Religious motifs follow the encyclopedia article for each symbol. The Lamb of God flies a white pennant with a red cross, eggs stand for the empty tomb, and the Easter lily stands for the resurrection. Traditions differ between churches, so ask what yours uses before you ink a card for it.

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