72 ideas

Lantern Drawing Ideas

One lantern to draw per press: paper, a lamp with a flame, something glowing inside, or its light.

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Drawn: A candle lantern with four glass panesA candle lantern with four glass panesA box of glass with a peaked metal roof and a ring on top. The candle stands in the middle of the floor.

Next step Still life set-ups with one light

All 72 ideas

Paper lanterns 18

A cluster of seven globe lanterns at different heights Overlap them. The nearer ones are larger and brighter, and each puts a faint light on its neighbor.
A cube lantern on a frame of thin sticks Four paper panels on a stick frame. The corners show as darker lines where the paper doubles.
A globe lantern showing its ribs Many paper lanterns have a collapsible frame of hoops. Draw them as flattened ovals, closer near top and bottom.
A Japanese chochin with its hoops showing through Chochin are one of the traditional styles of paper lantern in Japan. Show the frame as faint rings under the paper.
A lantern swinging from a carrying stick In Thailand a lantern carried hanging from a stick is called a khom thue. Tilt it to show the swing.
A paper bag lantern with a candle glow inside Fold the top edge of the bag over once. Light the lower half and let the glow fade toward the fold.
A paper lantern seen from above, looking into the opening The top ring is a wide ellipse with the light at its center. The body below it is squashed short.
A paper lantern swinging in wind, the flame leaning Tilt the lantern one way and lean the flame the other. The cord above stays tight and straight.
A revolving lantern with its pictures in motion In Thailand, khom pariwat are lanterns that revolve in the heat of the candle inside. Blur one edge of each picture.
A shadow lantern with cut-out shapes inside the paper Shapes fixed inside the paper show as dark silhouettes when it is lit. Keep their edges soft.
A torn paper lantern with light leaking through the rip The tear is the brightest shape on the page. Curl the torn flap outward and shade the back of it.
A water lantern floating on a pond A water lantern is a paper lantern that floats on the surface. Draw its reflection as broken bars of light.
An accordion-fold lantern, squashed flat and pulled open Draw it twice. Flat, it is a stack of thin rings. Open, the folds become zigzags down each side.
An unlit paper lantern in daylight No glow: shade it like any round object, with a light side, a dark side and an ordinary shadow.
The glow through thin paper, bright in the middle Leave the center of the lantern as bare paper and shade toward its edges. No outline is needed.
Three shapes on one string: a globe, an oval and a tube Hang them at different heights. Each has a dark cap at the top and an open ring at the bottom.
Two paper lanterns side by side, one lit and one dark The lit one is lighter than the background and the dark one is darker than it. Same outline for both.
Your name lettered around the curve of a lantern Japan has a lettering style used on lanterns, chochin moji. Squeeze your letters narrower toward the edges.

Lamps with a flame 18

A bull's-eye lantern with a bulging lens A lantern with a bulging glass side went by the name bull's-eye lantern. Draw the round patch of light it throws.
A candle in a jar with a wire handle Twist a wire around the neck of the jar and loop it over the top. The glass shows the flame twice.
A candle lantern with four glass panes A box of glass with a peaked metal roof and a ring on top. The candle stands in the middle of the floor.
A dark lantern with its shutter half open A candle lantern with a sliding shutter that hides the light without putting it out. Show one bar of light.
A hurricane lantern on a windowsill in rain Drops on the window each hold a tiny upside-down flame. The lantern itself is sharp and the garden is not.
A hurricane lantern with its wire handle up A kerosene lantern is also called a hurricane or barn lantern. A glass globe sits between a metal base and cap.
A lamplighter's pole reaching up to a street lantern A long pole reaches into the open door of the lantern. Dusk sky behind, the first window lit below.
A lantern flame close up A teardrop, dark at the wick, brightest in the middle and fading to nothing at the tip.
A lantern with one cracked pane and soot on the glass The soot is a soft gray fan above the flame. The crack is a bright hard line that catches the light.
A miner's safety lamp with mesh around the flame The Davy lamp of 1815 enclosed its flame inside a mesh screen, for use in coal mines. Crosshatch the mesh finely.
A pierced metal lantern throwing dots of light on a wall Hundreds of small holes in the metal. Each puts a dot of light on the wall; draw the far dots larger and fainter.
A railway lantern swung in an arc at night Railways used lanterns to signal to trains. Draw the arm at one end of the swing and dot the path of the light.
A ship's lantern swinging from a beam below deck Lanterns enclosed the flame below deck, where fire on a wooden ship was a catastrophe. Tilt it against the beams.
A six-sided lantern hanging under the eaves In Japan small four- or six-sided lanterns of metal or wood hang from the eaves of a roof. Draw three of the sides.
A stone garden lantern beside a path Stone lanterns stand along garden paths and near water as ornaments. Stack a post, a fire box and a wide cap.
An oil lamp with a tall glass chimney A kerosene lamp protects its wick with a glass chimney. Draw a tube that swells around the flame.
Six lanterns for six jobs on one sheet Farm, mine, ship, railway, street and garden. Draw them the same height so the differences show.
Stone lanterns along a path, shrinking with distance Space them closer together as they get smaller. Only the nearest shows the texture of the stone.

What glows inside 18

A comet circling inside a lantern The head is a small bright dot. The tail curves once around the inside of the glass and thins to nothing.
A crescent moon resting inside a lantern The moon leans in one corner as if it had been set down. Its light falls through the panes in bars.
A flower growing where the flame should be The stem rises from the candle holder. Leave the petals as bare paper and shade everything around them.
A glowing feather floating in a lantern The feather hangs upright with nothing holding it. Light the quill brightest and let the barbs fade outward.
A goldfish glowing in a lantern of water The fish takes the place of the flame. Give it a glow and draw a line of water near the top of the glass.
A jellyfish drifting in a lantern A soft dome with trailing threads that brush the floor. The dome is the lightest shape on the page.
A lantern full of autumn leaves that glow Pack the leaves in loosely. The ones in the middle are brightest and the ones against the glass are dark.
A lantern full of fireflies Dots of bare paper with a soft ring around each. A few have slipped out through the open door.
A lantern full of glowing letters Loose letters drift inside the glass. Their light throws the same letters, larger and softer, on the wall behind.
A lantern holding a single star A five-point star floating in the middle, with short rays that stop at the glass.
A lantern holding one ember shaped like a heart A dull glow with a brighter edge, sitting in a little ash. It lights only the lower half of the glass.
A lantern holding the northern lights Ribbons of light fold back and forth inside the glass. Shade the ribbons softly and keep the panes dark.
A lantern inside a lantern inside a lantern Three sets of panes, each a little dimmer than the one inside it. Only the smallest holds a flame.
A lantern whose flame is a dancing figure Build the dancer from flame shapes: a teardrop body, arms that taper, feet that vanish into the wick.
A lantern with a phase of the moon on each of its four panes New, half, full, half again. You see two panes clearly and two through the glass, reversed.
A lantern with a tiny sun rising inside A half circle on the floor of the lantern with rays fanning up. The top of the glass is still dark.
A small dragon curled in a lantern, breathing the flame The dragon fills the floor of the lantern, tail around itself. One small flame leaves its mouth and lights its snout.
An owl roosting in a lantern, only its eyes lit The owl is a dark shape that fills the glass. Two round eyes are the only light, and they light the beak.

Drawing the light 18

A cave mouth lit by a lantern left inside From outside, the opening is the only light shape. The rocks at its rim are edged with glow.
A face lit by a lantern held at chest height Light from below: bright under the chin, the nose and the brow, and dark above each of them.
A hand shielding a lantern flame from the wind The palm is lit and the back of the hand is dark. The flame leans away from the wind toward the hand.
A lantern carried down a long corridor The walls near the lantern are light and the far end is black. Doorways are darker rectangles on the way.
A lantern drawn with no outline, only its glow Shade the background up to where the lantern would be and stop. The shape appears by itself.
A lantern going out: the last glow and a thread of smoke A dull point at the wick and one thin line of smoke that rises straight, then wavers.
A lantern held up in fog Fog turns the light into a soft ball with no edge. The holder is a gray shape, darkest near the lantern.
A lantern in a rowboat, its light broken into ripples The reflection is a ladder of short bright bars that get wider and fainter toward you.
A lantern in white chalk on black paper Draw only what is lit: the flame, the edges of the frame that face it, a ring of glow.
A lantern on a table and the shadows of the things around it Every shadow points straight away from the flame. Tall things cast the longest ones.
A lantern reflected in a window at night Two lanterns: the real one sharp, the reflection paler, with the dark garden showing through it.
A lantern seen through tree branches The branches are black lines across the glow. Twigs near the light get a thin bright edge.
A lantern's glow on a dark page Shade the whole page dark, then lift a soft circle with an eraser. The lantern sits at its center.
A lantern's light through falling snow Flakes near the lantern are bright dots. Farther out they turn into dark dots against the glow.
Lantern light on wet cobblestones Each stone has one small highlight on the side facing the lantern. The gaps between stay black.
One figure with two shadows, from two lanterns Each shadow points away from its own lantern. Where the two shadows overlap is the darkest shape.
The pool of light a lantern makes on the ground An oval, bright in the middle with a soft edge. The base of the lantern casts a dark spot at its center.
The shadow of a lantern's frame thrown across the floor The bars of the frame become long dark stripes that spread out like the spokes of a wheel.

How it works

A lantern is a light with a wall around it, and the wall is what you draw: paper, glass, pierced metal or stone. These lantern drawing ideas go from the object to the glow it throws on a dark page.

Read the full guide

Paper lantern drawing ideas

The simplest paper lantern is a paper bag with a candle in it. The next is a frame of hoops under tough paper, which folds flat: draw the hoops as flattened ovals, closer together near the top and the bottom.

Draw the light before the lamp

Shade the page first and lift the glow out with an eraser, then add the shadows: each one points straight away from the flame.

Leave the flame as bare paper. Nothing you add will be brighter.
Thin paper glows across its whole surface. Glass stays dark and shows the flame through it.

Questions and answers

What makes a lantern different from a lamp?

A lantern has a protective enclosure around its light and is often portable, made to be carried or hung up. The enclosure keeps wind and rain from putting out the flame.

What are easy lantern drawing ideas?

A paper bag lantern, a candle lantern with four glass panes, a lantern full of fireflies, or the pool of light a lantern makes on the ground. The Easy level, under More filters, holds 24.

How do you draw a glowing lantern?

Make the surroundings dark and keep the lantern light. Let the dark fade toward the lantern in a soft ring, and put light on whatever stands close: a hand, a face, the ground.

What is a dark lantern?

A candle lantern whose sliding shutter hid the light without putting the candle out.