Santa Face Drawing Step By Step

Think of all the fun DIY Christmas crafts you can make when you learn how to draw a Santa Claus face. This santa has a full fluffy beard, a cheery smile on his face and his unmistakable bright red hat.

This beginner drawing project is adapted from my video on how to draw Santa Claus.

If you want to know how to draw a complete version of Santa, then I suggest you watch that video and tutorial.

I get commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this post. There is no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

The instructions below will guide you through the steps to draw the face using digital drawing techniques. But you can also use these steps if you want to draw with a pencil and paper.

You can make a Winter scene drawing by adding other characters that represent the season.

If you have a Cricut or Silhouette, you'll be able to transfer the digital drawing to your cutting machine then apply the vinyl cut out to make Christmas decorations. I have a post on how to upload svg files to Cricut that explains how to do it.

This tutorial gives you instructions to make the Santa face as a pencil drawing or as a digital drawing. You can find the printable instructions and the template below.

The digital method, allows you to make a whole set of drawings very quickly. After you draw your first Santa Claus face, you can make more by copying and pasting or just by duplicating the first one.

If you want to learn how to make more digital drawings, you'll love my So Simple SVG course.

In the meantime, you can follow along with this tutorial to learn how to draw a santa claus face.

Drawing Supplies

drawing pencils

Amazon Basics Sketch and Drawing Art Pencil Kit - 17-Piece Set

Mix media paper pad

Canson XL Series Mix Media Paper Pad

Art markers

Tombow 56185 Dual Brush Pen Art Markers

Light table for tracing

LED Light Box 9x12 Inch Light Pad

Digital Art Supplies

Graphic tablet (optional)

Huion H610 Pro Graphic Drawing Tablet 8192 Pen Pressure Sensitivity with Carrying Bag and Glove

What You Need to Draw a Santa Face

The first thing to do is to set up your drawing materials. I'll be using Inkscape, an open-source graphic software program. If you like to draw on your tablet, you can see my post on how to use an online drawing app for Inkscape.

I like to use the calligraphy and brush strokes tool. The settings that I use are in the instruction sheet at the bottom of the post.

If you want to make the digital version, make sure that your settings on the calligraphy tool look like mine before you start drawing.

Pro Tip: If you need help there is also a template at the end of this post.

I suggest that you watch the video and follow the step by step instructions. I find it easier to do things when I can see a visual example.

Draw a Santa Claus Face

I like to first draw a nose for my Santa face. Why a nose and not the head? Because the nose is in the middle of the face and we're going to draw the face around the nose.

Make a sideways "C" shape for the nose. The curved part of the "C" should be at the bottom and the open part of the "C" should be at the top.

Let's give him some eyes. Draw two circles. Inside each circle, we'll draw a semi-circle for the pupils.

Just above his eyes, draw eyebrows. We'll use the number "3" as a base to make the eyebrows. Draw a sideways "3". Pretend that there is a rectangle here and continue making the "3" forms all around the rectangle. Do this over each eye.

Now that we've drawn Santa's face, let's give him a beard. We'll draw in the mouth later.

Draw Santa's Beard

Once we've drawn the face, we can move on to the beard. We'll use the number "3" as a base to make the beard. Starting from the right side of the nose, draw a sideways "3".

The curved part of the "3" should be at the top and the open part should be at the bottom. Draw two more of these "3" forms going diagonally up and towards the right.

Do this same set of steps with the "3" form on the left side of the nose.

Now we'll connect the two sides. To do this, draw a series of "3" forms from the left side, down passed the nose and back up to the right side.

Make sure to leave more space in the middle than on the sides.

Now we'll draw a small half circle shape for his smile in the middle of his beard.

Steps to Draw Santa's Hat

Imagine that there is a rectangle in the lower middle section of your paper or screen. Draw a sideways "3" on the outside border of this imaginary rectangle.

Continue making the "3" forms all around the rectangle.

This will serve as the brim of Santa's hat.

The next step is to draw a diagonal line going up from the left side and then coming down.

After you've made the left side of his hat, you'll do the same to make the right side.

Draw a similar line on the right side starting at the brim. This time, you want this line to be wider and higher up.

The next step is to connect those two lines.

To do this, we'll draw a curly pom-pom at the point.

Draw a series of "3" forms in between the two lines to connect and close the lines.

Once you finish the pom-pom, you should be able to see a complete outline of Santa's face.

How to draw a Santa Claus Face Drawing Easy Tutorial (1)

How to Color Santa's Face

You're ready to color your drawing.

For digital artists, you can do this by using the fill bucket tool (fill bounded areas tool).

Click the fill bucket tool and then click on a color from the color menu bar at the bottom of the screen. Next, click on a section of the face to fill it with color.

Repeat this process to color in every section.

Remember to drop the color behind the outline if you opted to go the digital route.

Of course, you can skip this if you're coloring with a traditional method using markers or colored pencils.

Your Santa Claus face drawing is done once you've colored every section.

If you liked this lesson, you'll love my So Simple SVG Files course. You'll get step by step instructions to make digital drawings using simple shapes. You'll also learn how to transfer your drawings to your craft projects so that you can get better use from your cutting machine.

Look for more ideas for creative craft projects that you can make easily from home.

Make sure to save this to your favorite drawing board on Pinterest. Click the link below to save it for later.

What Can I Draw for Christmas?

When trying to come up with a list of what to draw for Christmas, think of who the drawing is for. Are you making drawings just for yourself? Have you been commissioned to make a holiday drawing? Commissions are drawings that have been requested by customers? Are you going to turn the drawings into crafts?

If you're just drawing for yourself, then think about the things that you like and draw that.

The subject of the commissioned drawings will obviously be what the client has asked for.

Christmas drawings for crafts can be a mix of the above. It's also a good idea to research current trends and classic holiday themes.

Some ideas of what you can draw are a snowman with a top hat, a wreath, Santa Claus, a Christmas tree, reindeer, candy canes, ornaments, gifts or a santa hat drawing.

Here are video tutorials for some of those Christmas drawing ideas.

A Christmas tree perfect for your holiday craft projects. Watch me draw this in Inkscape and use the template to make your own.

This is such an easy tutorial to draw a Christmas wreath. We'll use Inkscape to create a bit of holiday magic that you can use to decorate every crafty corner of the house.

Learn how to draw a snowman. This method can be used to make a digital drawing or a drawing on a sheet of paper.

Learn how to draw a santa claus hat with this step-by-step tutorial and video. The steps are easy enough for anyone to follow. The instructions can be used to make a santa hat drawing with a pencil and paper or with a digital drawing tablet.

Learn how to draw santa claus with this step-by-step tutorial and video. The steps are easy enough for anyone to follow. The instructions can be used to make a santa claus drawing with a pencil and paper or with a digital drawing tablet.

Crafts to Make with a Santa Claus Face

So why do I keep talking about digital drawings? Because you can use them in so many ways! The nice thing about digital drawings is that they can be easily transformed into physical templates and used for lots of craft projects.

Here are some crafts that you can make with your Santa Claus face drawing:

Santa and cookies plate
Santa gift tags
Personalized Christmas Eve box
Christmas Santa wreath
Printable Christmas wish list

Get the printable from TPC Partyware

Those are just a few ideas to get you started. Check out my other beginner crafting tips.

If you have a cutting machine and a heat press, you can use it to make iron-on templates for your family's stocking stuffers. This is a neat way to personalize Secret Santa gifts.

How easy would it be to make DIY crafts from home with this drawing?! Try using heat transfer vinyl or adhesive vinyl on hard and soft surfaces.

As you can see, you can take your drawing and transfer it to lots of physical crafts!

When you're ready to draw as more than just a hobby, find out how you can use your hobby to start a craft business that makes money.

If you like this tutorial, pin it to your drawing board on Pinterest. Just click the link below to save it directly.

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Materials

Digital Drawing Supplies
Paper Drawing Supplies

Notes

Calligraphy tool settings

No preset

Width: 3

Thinning: 10

Angle: 90

Fixation: 30

Caps: 0.75

Tremor: 0

Wiggle: 0

Mass:2

If you are making a digital drawing, make sure to close any gaps. This will make it easier to color the drawing using the fill bucket tool.

Put the outline in front of the color by using the Raise selection to top button

Pro Tip:

Print the template to help you make the base of Santa Claus.

How to draw a Santa Claus Face Drawing Easy Tutorial