How to Draw a Elf Step by Step Easy

Below you'll find an easy step-by-step tutorial for how to draw an Elf and an Elf Coloring Page. He's made from some pretty simple shapes that are easy to draw.

Elf Drawing

A drawing of an elf, made with the help of an easy step by step tutorial.

Now your students can mix a little bit of body drawing practice with the holidays by learning how to draw an elf. This simple cartoon version has a basic human shape, but with an oversized head and pointy ears. And the great thing about drawing oversized heads is that it makes that cute face SO much easier to do.

This tutorial will walk students through drawing the symmetrical body and his colorful set of elf clothes. And those that wish to draw a girl elf can improvise on adding some more hair, or other accessories. This tutorial is not the one and only way to draw an elf, rather just a starting point for students to create their own.

Coloring tip: If coloring with crayons, try pressing extra hard on one side to create a little bit of a shadow. Or you are using markers, then an extra layer will do the trick too. The Stabilo® brand that I link to in my materials list do this shading trick really well.

Getting Started with Drawing Guides

The best way to get students off to a good start to any drawing lesson is to show them how to use guides as a reference point.

You may have noticed that all of the tutorials on this site have a dashed line running through the center of each step, in both horizontal and vertical directions. If students make theirown centered lines on theirown paper, before drawing, they will have an easy reference to follow.

Drawing skills are all about getting the size and placement of lines on paper, so having some visual reference point to get started, will always help anyone learn how to be a little more accurate.

So does that mean students need to get out a ruler to draw a big fat line down the center of their paper before they start? Goodness no, please don't! That will most likely be hard to erase and distract from any finished art. No, simply fold the sheet of paper in half both ways, make a crease, and unfold. The beauty is that by the time the drawing is done and colored in, the creases will disappear.

And now, on to the Elf drawing project.

Use the Button below to Download a PDF Tutorial

A step by step tutorial for how to draw an easy elf, also available as a free download.

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Elf Coloring Page

Materials for an Elf Drawing

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Drawing Paper. Don't substitute it with copy paper or construction paper. The surface will get fuzzy, erasing might cause holes, and the colors will generally not look as bright.

Pencil. The Ticonderoga brand are the most reliable, make nice dark lines when you need them, and are the easiest to erase.

Eraser. Large ones you can hold in your hand do a much better job than just the pencil tips. Stabilo Markers. They have the best colors, the best tips, and last the longest.

Black Sharpie Marker. These fine point permanent markers make nice black lines, have a good tip for coloring, and never bleed when they get wet. Use them in areas with good ventilation and add extra paper underneath for table protection.

Stabilo Markers. The large pack provides lots of fun color choices, several shades of each color, including a few choices for skin. The tips are perfect for coloring, and there's even a promise that they will work after being uncapped for 8 weeks!