• 60 ideas

Pirate Drawing Ideas

One pirate thing to draw per press: a ship, a map, a flag or one of the crew.

Pirate Drawing Ideas

More filters
Show all 60
  1. A ship side on with three masts and square sailsName the masts from the front: foremast, mainmast, mizzen. The mizzen is usually the shortest.

Next step Ships and harbors to paint

All 60 ideas

Ships and rigging 16

  • A carved figurehead that fits the ship's name A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration at the bow. Name the ship first, then carve the name a face.
  • A crow's nest at the top of the mainmast It sits in the upper part of the main mast, where a lookout gets the widest view of the sea.
  • A galleon with a tall stern Galleons were large sailing ships with several decks, first built in the early 1500s.
  • A longboat pulled up on a beach The longboat was usually the largest boat a ship carried. Lay two oars inside it.
  • A row of hammocks slung below deck Sailors slept in hammocks on board because they saved space. Draw each one as a sagging smile.
  • A ship cut open from end to end Show the galley, where the food is cooked, the hammocks, the hold full of barrels and the cabin at the stern.
  • A ship in a bottle with its masts still folded flat The trick: the masts lie flat on hinges while the ship goes in through the neck, then a string pulls them up.
  • A ship laid over on a beach to have its hull scraped Called careening. The ship was grounded side on at high tide so the lower hull could be cleaned.
  • A ship side on with three masts and square sails Name the masts from the front: foremast, mainmast, mizzen. The mizzen is usually the shortest.
  • A sloop with one mast and two sails A sloop has a single mast, usually with one sail in front of it and one behind.
  • The bowsprit with a triangular jib The bowsprit is a spar pointing forward from the prow. A jib is a triangular sail set ahead of the foremast.
  • The deck from above: forecastle, main deck, quarterdeck The forecastle is the deck at the front. The quarterdeck is the raised deck behind the main mast.
  • The helm: a big wooden wheel with two hands on it A ship's wheel usually has eight wooden spokes, though some have six, ten or twelve.
  • Rope ladders running up to the mast top Ratlines are thin lines tied across the shrouds to make a ladder. The crew climbs them to reach the sails.
  • The ship's bell being rung at the end of a watch Eight bells, one for each half hour of a four-hour watch. The bell itself is usually brass or bronze.
  • Square sails full of wind, seen from behind the ship Square sails hang from horizontal spars. Draw each sail bellied out like a pillow.

Maps and treasure 15

  • A chest half buried in sand In real life pirates hardly ever buried treasure. In stories they always do, so let one corner show.
  • A gold doubloon of your own design A doubloon was a Spanish gold coin worth two escudos, about four silver dollars. Invent the crest.
  • A map that only shows its X when it is folded Draw half an X on each of two corners. Fold the paper so the halves meet, then draw the fold lines.
  • A map torn in two halves that fit together Make the tear a zigzag. Put the X on one half and the start of the route on the other.
  • A message in a bottle on the tide line A rolled note sealed in a bottle and left to drift. Cork it and lay it at a tilt in the wet sand.
  • A page of the ship's log with a doodle in the margin A log is the ship's written record. Rule the lines, write the weather, then let the writer get bored.
  • A palm island seen from the ship One hump of sand, two palms leaning the same way and nothing else. Keep the horizon dead level.
  • A piece of eight, front and back A piece of eight was a Spanish silver dollar worth eight reales. Mark one face with a big 8.
  • A rolled map tied with string beside an open one Curl both ends of the open map. Hold one corner down with a shell and one with a candle stub.
  • A sea cave with a rowboat inside and something shining Black for the cave walls, one patch of light on the water and a few gold strokes at the back.
  • A treasure map whose landmarks are named for their shapes Crab Claw Bay, Two Finger Point, Sleeping Whale Hill. Draw each one so the name explains itself.
  • An island map with a dotted route to an X Leave sea all around the island. Space the dots evenly and make the X the boldest mark on the sheet.
  • An open chest seen from straight above Draw ten coins properly and the rest as overlapping curves. One cup and one string of beads are enough.
  • The navigator's table: a chart, a compass and a candle A compass needle is magnetized and swings to point at magnetic north. Rule faint lines across the chart.
  • One island drawn twice: on the map and from the sea The map shows the outline from above. The view shows the same bays and the same hill from the side.

Flags and signs 14

  • A black flag with a smiling skull over two crossed bones The skull and crossbones on black became the usual pirate flag in the 1720s. Other designs flew too.
  • A flag and its reflection in still harbor water Draw the reflection upside down, a little darker, and break it with three flat ripples.
  • A flag for a crew of bakers Swap the bones for two crossed rolling pins and the skull for a bun. One joke, drawn large.
  • A flag patched together from old shirts Stripes, checks and one sleeve still attached. Sew the emblem on in big uneven stitches.
  • A flag seen through a spyglass Draw a circle and fill everything outside it with black. Inside: the mast top and the flag, nothing else.
  • A fleet of six small ships, each with its own flag Keep the six ships the same so the flags do the work. Six emblems, none of them repeated.
  • A parrot on a signpost with three arms To the Ship, To the Treasure, To Lunch. The parrot is looking the way of lunch.
  • A parrot with a speech bubble of picture words Some parrots can imitate human speech. Fill the bubble with small drawings of what this one overheard.
  • A pirate flag of your own design Pick one emblem that says who the crew is and draw it big on a plain field, so it reads from far away.
  • A torn flag with the sun shining through it Leave the cloth pale where the light comes through and darken only the emblem and the folds.
  • A trail sign cut into a palm trunk An arrow and three notches. Draw the bark as rings up the trunk and cut the sign across them.
  • One flag in no wind, in a breeze and in a gale Hanging in folds, lifting in one wave, then stretched flat with the edge fraying.
  • The ship's name painted across the stern Invent the name first. Letter it on a curved band under the stern windows and add scrolls at both ends.
  • The ship's rules written on a scroll Share the biscuits. Feed the cat first. No singing before breakfast. Letter five rules of your own.

The crew 15

  • A cabin boy carrying a tray up a ladder A cabin boy waited on the officers and ran errands. Tilt the tray and let one cup slide.
  • A lookout shading their eyes Lookouts watched for other ships, for land and for danger. One hand on the mast, one over the eyes.
  • A navigator with a spyglass Draw the spyglass as a tube that widens toward the far end, held up to one eye with both hands.
  • A pirate with an eyepatch, face on The eyepatch is a storybook touch: nothing shows pirates wore them before novels of the 1800s said so.
  • A sailmaker mending a sail with a needle Sails were sewn from canvas. Spread the cloth over the knees and on across the whole deck.
  • A sailor climbing the rope ladder, seen from the deck Feet biggest, head smallest, and the mast narrowing to a point high above.
  • A sailor trying to bite a ship's biscuit Ship's biscuit, or hardtack, is a dense cracker of flour and water made to keep. Draw the effort.
  • A three-cornered captain's hat, close up A tricorne has three sides of its brim turned up and fastened, which makes the triangle.
  • The cook stirring a pot in the galley The galley is the ship's kitchen. Give the cook a ladle, a very big pot and a stack of ship's biscuit.
  • Five sailors hauling one rope and singing A shanty was a work song sung to keep time on a job. Lean all five back at the same angle.
  • The helmsman at the wheel in the rain The helmsman steers. Lean the figure into the wheel and slant every raindrop the same way.
  • The ship's carpenter fixing a plank The carpenter kept the wooden parts of the ship in repair. Tools: a mallet, a saw, a box of pegs.
  • The ship's cat on watch at the bow Cats have sailed on ships since ancient times, mostly to keep rodents away from the ropes and stores.
  • Two sailors scrubbing the deck Decks were once scrubbed white with a soft sandstone called holystone. Put a bucket between them.
  • The whole crew lined up, tallest to shortest Give each one thing to hold: a ladle, a spyglass, a needle, a mallet, a mop, a cat.

How it works

A pirate picture needs a ship, a map, a flag or somebody to sail under it. These pirate drawing ideas hold all four, storybook style: nobody is hurt, and the ship's cat gets as many pictures as the captain.

Read the full guide

Draw the ship in five steps

Draw the hull as a long banana shape, higher at the back. Stand three masts on it, the middle one tallest. Hang two or three square sails on each mast, smaller toward the top. Add a spar pointing forward from the front with a triangular sail. Finish with a flag on the tallest mast and a crow's nest under it.

Questions and answers

What is an easy pirate thing to draw?

A chest half buried in sand, a three-cornered hat, a message in a bottle or a flag of your own design. Each is one main shape with a few details. Easy, under More filters, holds 22.

How do you draw a treasure map?

Draw the island's outline first, wobbly on purpose. Add three landmarks, a dotted route that passes each one, and an X at the end. Crumple the paper and flatten it again before you start.

Did pirates really bury treasure?

Hardly ever. Buried treasure and the map that leads to it are far more common in stories than they were in life. That is why the chest and the X belong in a pirate drawing all the same.

What did a pirate flag look like?

The best known is a skull over two crossed bones on a black field, which became the usual pirate flag in the 1720s. Other designs were flown too, so a flag you invent is fair.

More tools

Show 5 more

Browse Drawing Ideas