• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Volcano Art Ideas

A volcano to draw, paint or cut from paper, one idea at a time.

Volcano Art Ideas

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  1. A tall torn-paper cone with a cotton ball ash cloudTear a steep cone from gray paper. Pull cotton balls apart and glue them above the crater as the plume.

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Shield volcanoes 15

  • A curtain of lava fountains along a fissure, in chalk pastel A fissure is a long crack that erupts lava. Draw a row of fountains side by side and blend the glow upward.
  • A lava field in torn paper, black plates over red Glue red and orange paper down first. Tear black paper into plates and leave gaps so the hot color shows.
  • A lava fountain in cotton-swab dots on black paper Yellow, orange, red. A fountain is a jet of lava sprayed into the air. Dot yellow up the middle, red at the tips.
  • A lava lake seen from above, in paint Black, orange, yellow, gray. Molten lava pooled in a crater: dark plates of crust with bright seams between.
  • A lava river crusting over, in oil pastel Lava tubes form when a channel crusts over. Draw dark plates of crust closing in on a bright orange stream.
  • A lava tube in cross-section, in layered paper A tube carries lava under the crust of a flow. Layer black over gray, cut a tunnel and back it with orange.
  • A row of spatter cones along a crack, in cut paper Spatter cones are small and steep and often form in a line along a fissure. Cut five and glue them in a row.
  • A shield volcano as one long, low hill in pencil Named for a shield lying on the ground: far wider than tall. Keep both slopes gentle all the way down.
  • A shield volcano built from stacked paper strips A shield grows as one thin lava flow covers another. Stack long gray strips, each a little shorter than the last.
  • A shield volcano in torn black paper on an orange sheet Tear, do not cut: the rough edge reads as rock. One strip, long and low, glued along the bottom.
  • A shield volcano island at dawn, in watercolor Pale yellow, rose, blue-gray. One low hump on the horizon in a single wash, softened at the base for mist.
  • A shield volcano silhouette against a sunset, in paint Yellow, orange, magenta, black. Blend the sky wet, let it dry, then paint one long, low hill in flat black.
  • Pillow lava on the sea floor in soft pencil Lava that oozes out underwater cools into rounded pillows. Pile up lobes and shade the underside of each.
  • Ropy pahoehoe lava in black crayon Pahoehoe lava has a smooth, ropy skin. Draw rows of curved lines that bunch up like folds in a pushed rug.
  • Rough aa lava beside smooth pahoehoe, in paint Black, gray, brown. Aa is rubbly broken blocks and pahoehoe is smooth. Sponge one half, brush the other.

Cinder cones 15

  • A bread-crust bomb, cracked like a loaf, in paint Gray, black, cream. Its skin cools and cracks as the inside swells. Paint a net of dark cracks with pale edges.
  • A cinder cone and its long shadow at low sun, in paint Ochre, rust, violet, blue. Warm light on one side, violet shade on the other and a long shadow on the ground.
  • A cinder cone erupting at night, in chalk on black paper Bits of lava fall around the vent and pile up. Draw them as arcs of orange dots fading to red.
  • A cinder cone heaped from paper-punch dots A cinder cone is a pile of loose fragments. Glue punched dots in a heap, widest at the bottom, until it is a cone.
  • A cinder cone in magazine scraps sorted dark to light Sort the scraps by tone first. Dark on the shaded side and light on the lit side make a flat cone look round.
  • A cinder cone in pencil, steep sides and a bowl on top A steep cone on a nearly round base. Cinder cones mostly have a bowl-like crater, so dip the top.
  • A cinder cone in torn brown paper with a bite out of the top Tear a triangle, then tear a small bite from the point for the crater. Rough edges suit a pile of cinders.
  • A cinder cone on its pad of lava, in cut paper When the eruption ends, the cone stands on a pad of lava. Cut a black blob for the pad and glue the cone on it.
  • A cinder cone with lava leaving at its base, in colored pencil Loose cinders are too weak to hold lava up, so it comes out low. Draw the flow spreading from the cone's foot.
  • A dark cinder cone dabbed with a sponge, in paint Black, dark brown, gray. Dab, do not brush: the sponge leaves a rough surface like a heap of loose cinders.
  • A field of cinder cones fading to the horizon, in paint Brown, ochre, pale blue. Paint the same cone again and again, smaller and paler each time it steps back.
  • Arcs of red paper cinders over a black cone Draw three arcs from the crater in pencil. Glue small torn scraps of red and orange along each one.
  • Looking down into a cinder cone's crater, in paint Brown, black, ochre. From the rim the round crater flattens to an ellipse. Darken the bowl toward the bottom.
  • One cinder up close, a rock full of bubbles, in pen Scoria is lava frothed up by escaping gas. Draw a lumpy outline and fill it with holes of different sizes.
  • Three lava bombs in pencil: a ball, an almond and a ribbon A bomb is a lump of lava thrown out while still soft and shaped as it flies. Shade each so it looks solid.

Composite volcanoes 15

  • A chain of three composite volcanoes on the horizon, in pencil Composite volcanoes often stand in chains. Draw three steep cones, the far ones smaller and lighter.
  • A composite volcano in cross-section, in striped paper layers Glue dark and light strips in turn for lava and ash. Run a red vent up the middle from the magma chamber.
  • A composite volcano in painted stripes, dark lava and pale ash Black, gray, cream. It is built of layers of lava and ash. Paint bands that follow the slope, dark then pale.
  • A composite volcano mirrored in a still lake, in graphite Draw the steep cone, then its mirror image under a level shoreline, a little darker and broken by ripples.
  • A composite volcano mosaic in paper squares Cut gray, brown and red paper into small squares. Fill a tall cone outline and keep red for the crater only.
  • A composite volcano through morning mist, in three blue-grays Blue, gray, white. Mix one blue-gray and thin it twice: palest for the far cone, darkest for the near trees.
  • A night eruption with lightning in the ash, in paint Black, violet, orange, white. Paint the cloud dark on dark and save the lightning for last, with a thin brush.
  • A steep gray cone with a white plume leaning in the wind, in paint Blue, gray, white. Paint the sky first. Dab the plume with a sponge and lean it all to one side.
  • A tall torn-paper cone with a cotton ball ash cloud Tear a steep cone from gray paper. Pull cotton balls apart and glue them above the crater as the plume.
  • A volcano landscape in five layers of paper, front to back Cut five ridgelines from dark to pale paper. Stack them with the palest, a steep cone, at the very back.
  • An ash column at dusk lit orange from below, in paint Indigo, gray, orange, yellow. Paint the column gray, then glaze orange on its underside near the crater.
  • An ash column spreading into an umbrella cloud, in charcoal High in the air the column spreads sideways. Draw a narrow stem, then a wide flat cap, and smudge the edges.
  • An eruption column in charcoal, a tall pillar of ash The column rises straight up from the vent. Build it from stacked cloud shapes and smudge the shaded side.
  • Cone and plume cut from one folded black sheet Fold the sheet. Draw half the cone and half the plume on the fold, cut once and open it for two matching sides.
  • Lightning in an ash cloud, white chalk on gray paper Colliding ash builds static, so lightning forks through the plume. Smudge the cloud, then add sharp white forks.

Calderas and craters 15

  • A breached crater with one side of the rim missing, in paint Brown, gray, ochre. A breached crater has one much lower side. Paint a horseshoe rim with shadow inside it.
  • A caldera in cross-section with a sunken block, in cut paper Cut the block above the chamber as its own piece and glue it lower than the rim on each side.
  • A caldera seen from its rim, in pencil A caldera is a basin far wider than any vent inside it. Draw the far wall small and pale across a wide floor.
  • A contour map of a caldera in stacked paper rings Cut rings in steps of color, darkest for the high rim and palest for the floor. Stack them like contour lines.
  • A crater lake from above in crayon, a blue circle in a rock ring Rain and melted snow can fill a crater. Draw a ring of rock and color the water darkest in the middle.
  • A crater lake in three torn paper circles Tear three rough circles, biggest first: green land, gray rim, blue lake. Glue one on top of another.
  • A lava dome in crumpled gray paper inside a torn crater ring Crumple gray paper, flatten it and tear it into blocks. Pile them into a steep mound in the ring.
  • A lava dome steaming in a crater, in paint Gray, black, white. A dome is a steep mound of thick, blocky lava. Paint piled blocks with steam at the cracks.
  • A maar lake in pencil, round as a coin in flat fields A maar is a broad, low crater that often fills with water. Draw a near circle with only a low rim around it.
  • A maar lake reflecting clouds, in paint Blue, white, green. Paint a round lake in a green field, then drag white across the water for the clouds.
  • A small cone island inside a crater lake, in paint Blue, green, gray. A caldera may hold a lake, and cones too. Paint flat blue water and one cone off center.
  • A wide caldera at dusk with a lake and a far rim, in watercolor Indigo, violet, peach. Wash the sky, lift out a pale band for the far rim, then lay the lake in darker.
  • How a caldera forms, in three pencil panels One: a full magma chamber. Two: it empties in an eruption. Three: the ground above sinks into the space.
  • Steam rising from fumaroles on a crater floor, in chalk A fumarole is a vent that lets out steam and gas. Smudge thin white columns that all lean the same way.
  • Steam vents in white tissue on a gray paper crater floor Twist thin strips of white tissue into wisps. Glue only the bottom end so the steam lifts off the page.

How it works

Sixty volcano art ideas, sorted by the kind of volcano: shield volcanoes, cinder cones, composite volcanoes, and calderas and craters. Twenty are drawings, twenty are paintings with the colors named, and twenty are made flat from cut or torn paper.

Read the full guide

Three shapes to tell apart

A shield volcano is broad and low, built by runny lava that flows a long way. A cinder cone is a small, steep hill of loose lava fragments with a bowl on top. A composite volcano is tall and steep, built of layers of lava and ash. Its other name is stratovolcano.

Easy volcano painting ideas

Eight of the twenty volcano painting ideas are easy: choose Paint, then Easy under More filters. The shield volcano silhouette against a sunset is a blended sky and one flat black hill. The lava fountain in cotton-swab dots on black paper needs no brush at all, and the sponge-dabbed cinder cone needs no drawing first.

  • Paint lava from light to dark: yellow first, then orange, then red at the edges, so the brightest color stays clean.
  • Cut the cross-sections and tear everything else. A cut edge reads as a diagram, a torn one as rock, ash or steam.

Questions and answers

How do you draw a volcano?

Draw a cone, cut off the top and dip it for the crater. Add lava as streams that run downhill from the crater, then an ash column straight up from the vent. Shade one side of the cone darker so it looks round.

What are the types of volcanoes?

There are four major kinds: shield volcanoes, cinder cones, composite volcanoes and lava domes. A lava dome is a steep mound of thick, blocky lava. On this list the two domes sit with the calderas and craters.

What colors do you use to paint a volcano?

Black, gray and brown for the rock, since basalt, a lava rock, is dark: gray to black. Yellow, orange and red for lava, and blue or indigo for the sky.

What is the difference between a crater and a caldera?

A crater is a bowl-shaped hollow around a vent. A caldera is far wider: it forms when a magma chamber empties in an eruption and the ground above sinks into it. One hard idea on the list draws that in three pencil panels.

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