26 Christmas Day Drawing Ideas From Pajama Mornings to Evening Board Games

Christmas day drawing is really just a way of holding onto the morning before it rushes past: the pajamas, the torn wrapping paper, the smell of something in the oven. Every idea below is a small, real moment from that one day, drawn simply enough that you can start it after breakfast and have it framed by dinner.

You will find kids tearing into stockings, a dog that has clearly found the ribbon, grandparents on the doorstep, and the quiet board game hour once the plates are cleared. Grab your markers and warm reds and golds, and work through them in any order you like.

Before You Start

• Sketch every scene first in light pencil so you can fix proportions and poses before any marker touches the page.
• Work alcohol markers from the lightest color to the darkest, laying flat color first and saving deep shadows for the last pass.
• Test every new marker color on a scrap corner of the same paper, since alcohol ink reads differently on cheap versus marker-friendly stock.
• Keep faces simple: two dot eyes, a curved line mouth and round pink cheeks read as friendly from across a room.
• Blend marker edges while the ink is still wet, using a second lighter marker or a blending pen to soften the line between colors.
• Save your white gel pen for the very last step, since it is what makes string lights, snow and golden highlights actually glow.

Start simple with the stockings themselves, lined up along a mantel before anyone else is even awake. Pencil four or five stocking shapes of slightly different heights, overlapping the mantel edge just enough to feel hung rather than floating.

Color each one a different warm tone: deep red, forest green, a soft cream, then add a cuff of white gel pen fur trim once the marker has dried. Letter a initial on one if you like, kept small and simple.

The place this goes wrong is spacing: stockings bunched too close together read as one blob, so leave a visible gap of mantel between each. If you do not have a mantel reference handy, hang them from a plain shelf edge instead.

Finish with a dab of gold marker where the firelight would catch the top of each stocking.

You Will Need

• smooth marker paper
• red and green alcohol markers
• cream or tan marker
• white gel pen
• fine black liner

Palette: Cherry Red,Forest Green,Warm Cream,Gold

Look at real stocking photos for the gentle curve at the heel, it is what separates a stocking shape from a plain sock outline.

Move from the empty stockings to the moment a child finally gets to open one. Draw a kneeling child in footie pajamas, one hand buried deep in a stocking, the other clutching a small toy already pulled free.

Block in the pajama pattern first in flat red or green before adding the face, since fiddly print details are easier to place on a clean shape. Keep the face simple: wide round eyes, open mouth, a single curved eyebrow line for surprise.

Hands are the part that usually goes wrong here, so simplify them to soft mitten shapes rather than drawing individual fingers. If your pajama pattern marker bleeds, switch to a dry brush texture instead of a wet blend for the print.

Add one warm highlight of gold marker along the child’s cheek to suggest early morning light.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• red or green patterned pajama colors
• skin tone marker
• black fine liner
• white gel pen

Palette: Poppy Red,Soft Peach,Pine Green,Golden Yellow

Draw the stocking slightly larger than feels right, an oversized stocking against a small child reads as more exciting on paper.

Once you have one child down, try the whole sibling group at once, piled on the stairs in matching pajama sets waiting for the signal to come down. Sketch the staircase at a slight downward angle first, then slot three or four kids into it at different steps so they overlap naturally.

Keep the pajama pattern identical across every child, plaid or small stars work well in alcohol marker, and color them all before faces so the matching set reads clearly. Vary only hair color and pose: one stretching to peek down, one rubbing sleepy eyes, one already halfway standing.

Overlapping limbs is where this scene usually tangles, so leave a thin white gap of paper between each child’s outline even when they touch. Swap the staircase for a simple hallway doorway if stairs feel like too much perspective.

Finish with pencil shading only under the stair lip for depth, no marker needed there.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• two matching pajama colors
• skin tone markers for different hair shades
• fine liner
• kneaded eraser

Palette: Cranberry Red,Cream White,Chestnut Brown,Soft Gold

Photograph your own stairs from a low angle for the banister perspective, it is the one part worth copying exactly.

Give the family dog a starring moment, sitting proudly in a pile of torn wrapping paper with a bow stuck crooked on its head. Draw the dog’s body first as a simple rounded triangle shape sitting down, then add the head tilted slightly for personality.

Color the fur in two tones, a base coat and a darker shadow tone blended while wet along the belly and legs, and save the bow for last in bright red so it pops against the fur. Keep the dog’s face to a few simple marks: round eyes, a black triangle nose, tongue out if you want a happier mood.

Ears are the easy place to get a breed wrong, so look at one reference photo of your own dog’s ear shape before committing to floppy or pointed. If you want this quicker, skip the torn paper pile entirely and let the dog sit on plain white.

One concrete tip: drop a tiny fleck of white gel pen on the nose for a wet shine.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• two brown or gray fur tones
• bright red marker for the bow
• black fine liner
• white gel pen

Palette: Warm Chestnut,Deep Umber,Bright Red,Snow White

Try this same pose with a cat instead for a second quick card, the torn paper pile and crooked bow work for either pet.

Step outside the house now for the moment grandparents arrive, arms full of presents, caught just as the door swings open. Pencil the doorway frame first, slightly off center, then place the grandparents standing just outside it with warm coats and a stack of wrapped boxes between them.

Light here comes from two places at once, the cool blue of outside dusk and the warm gold spilling out through the open door, so block the outside in soft blue-gray and the door glow in bright gold before adding the figures. That contrast is what sells the whole scene, so do not skip the blue shadow side of their coats.

Faces smiling mid-greeting are easy to overdo, so keep the smile as one simple upward curve rather than visible teeth. Swap the front door for a porch step if full architecture feels like too much to draw today.

Finish with a scatter of white gel pen dots for falling snow between them and the door.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• blue-gray marker for dusk
• gold marker for doorway light
• coat colors of choice
• white gel pen

Palette: Dusk Blue,Golden Glow,Burgundy Coat,Soft White

Push the gold doorway light almost too bright compared to the blue outside, that exaggeration is what makes the warmth read instantly.

After the arrival scene, try the quieter aftermath: a pile of coats, scarves and snowy boots dropped by the entryway once everyone is inside. This is a still life rather than a figure scene, so it is a good one to slow down on and get the folds right.

Draw the boot shapes first since they anchor the pile, then build coats and scarves draped over and around them, letting at least one scarf trail onto the floor for movement. Color the heaviest, darkest coat first so lighter scarves and mittens can overlap it convincingly.

Melted snow puddles under the boots are a nice touch but easy to overdo, so use just a thin gray-blue wash rather than a full puddle shape. If boots feel tricky, swap them for a simple pile of shoes instead.

Add one bright red mitten peeking out to give the pile a single pop of warm color.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• dark coat colors
• gray-blue marker for snow melt
• bright red marker
• fine liner

Palette: Charcoal Coat,Forest Scarf,Bright Mitten Red,Puddle Gray

Crumple a real scarf on your desk and glance at it while you draw the folds, fabric logic is hard to invent from memory.

Back inside, give one child the biggest box under the tree, caught mid-tear with paper flying. Sketch the box first as a simple cube shape, then angle the child’s whole body leaning into it, one arm pulling a flap of paper up and away.

Color the wrapping paper in a bold pattern, stripes or large dots, and let a few torn pieces fly off to the side already colored so the page feels mid-motion rather than posed. The child’s face should show pure open-mouthed delight: wide eyes, round open smile, eyebrows pushed up.

Flying paper pieces are where beginners often flatten the energy by keeping them too neat, so vary their size and angle so some look closer to the viewer and some further. If a full body pose feels hard, crop the scene tighter to just hands and box.

Finish by scribbling a few quick gold marker lines radiating from the box for excitement.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• two bold wrapping paper colors
• skin tone marker
• black fine liner
• gold marker

Palette: Candy Red,Bright Gold,Evergreen,Peach Skin

Draw the torn paper flaps with sharp jagged edges rather than smooth curves, the jaggedness is what reads as real tearing.

Keep the gift energy going with one specific present revealed: a new bike leaning beside the tree, ribbon still looped around the handlebars. This one is good proportion practice since a bike’s wheels have to match in size and sit level on the same ground line.

Draw both wheels first as perfect circles using a small lid or coin to trace, then connect the frame between them before adding the seat, handlebars and a dangling ribbon bow. Color the frame in one bold color and let the chrome parts stay white paper with just a gray marker shadow line.

Mismatched wheel sizes are the classic mistake here, so hold your pencil at arm’s length and compare the two circles before inking either one. Swap the bike for a wrapped guitar case leaning the same way if bikes feel too technical today.

Add a child’s small gasp-face peeking from behind the tree for scale and story.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• a coin or lid to trace wheels
• bright bike color marker
• gray marker for chrome
• red marker for the ribbon

Palette: Sky Blue,Ribbon Red,Chrome Gray,Tree Green

Trace both wheels from the same lid so they are identical, a mismatched wheel size is the fastest way to make a bike look wrong.

Slow the pace down with a quieter subject: a baby in a small santa-print onesie, propped up against a mountain of pillows surrounded by gift bows stuck to its hands and feet. Babies are mostly soft rounded shapes, so build the whole figure from circles and ovals before any detail goes in.

Keep the face especially simple here, since too much detail on a baby face reads as older instantly: two dot eyes, a tiny curved mouth, round rosy cheeks in a soft pink marker blended at the edges. Color the onesie in bright red last so it stays the brightest point on the page.

Proportion is the trap with babies, so measure the head against the body: a baby’s head is close to a quarter of its total height, far bigger in proportion than an adult’s. If a full baby feels fiddly, crop in tight to just the face and one bow-covered hand.

Finish with a single bow stuck to the baby’s hair for a laugh.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pink blush marker
• bright red marker for the onesie
• black fine liner
• white gel pen

Palette: Soft Blush,Santa Red,Cream Pillow,Gold Bow

Keep the whole baby under a quarter of the page height, a smaller figure surrounded by big pillows reads as more tender.

Turn the camera around and draw the person usually missing from every photo: mom crouched behind a phone, trying to wrangle everyone into frame. Sketch her kneeling with the phone held up at eye level first, since her arm angle anchors the whole pose.

Behind her, keep the family loose and slightly blurred in pencil only, a suggestion of shapes rather than finished figures, so she stays the clear focus of the piece. Color her outfit and face in full detail while the background family stays mostly linework with just a wash of flat color.

The arm holding the phone is the part most likely to look stiff, so bend the elbow more than feels natural and check it against your own arm in a mirror. If phones feel fussy to draw small, swap it for an old-style camera instead.

Add one exasperated half-smile, her own version of herding cats.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• skin tone marker
• hair color marker
• gray marker for background figures
• fine liner

Palette: Warm Skin Tone,Soft Sweater Red,Background Gray,Gold Light

Pose yourself holding your own phone up in a mirror and sketch from that, the arm angle is nearly impossible to invent accurately.

Bring the cat into the chaos too, curled up asleep in a nest of crumpled gift wrap rather than any proper bed. Draw the paper nest first as a loose rounded shape of overlapping curves, then tuck the cat’s body into the center as one soft comma shape.

Color the paper in two or three different wrap patterns peeking out from under the cat, keeping the cat itself in a single flat fur tone so it reads clearly against the busier paper. Closed crescent eyes and tiny whisker lines are enough for a sleeping cat face, nothing more is needed.

Whiskers are the one detail that ruins a drawing if overdone, so add no more than three thin lines per side in white gel pen last. Swap the gift wrap nest for a simple blanket if patterned paper feels like too much to juggle.

Finish with a faint pencil shadow under the cat to settle it into the paper.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• two patterned wrap colors
• cat fur tone marker
• white gel pen
• fine liner

Palette: Tabby Gray,Wrap Red,Wrap Gold,Soft Cream

Let one ear flop slightly to the side rather than drawing both perfectly symmetrical, it makes the sleeping pose feel more relaxed.

Move toward the dinner table now with two people setting it side by side, a nice change of pace from the gift-opening energy so far. Sketch the table itself first at a gentle three-quarter angle so plates and glasses can sit convincingly on its surface rather than floating flat.

Place both figures leaning in from opposite sides, one placing a candle, one folding a napkin, and color the tablecloth first in a warm red or cream base before either figure so the cloth’s folds stay visible underneath them. Keep hands simple and soft rather than detailed, since fiddly fingers around small objects are the hardest part of any table scene.

Perspective is the trap here: check that every plate drawn further from you sits slightly higher on the page and slightly smaller, or the table will look like it is sliding off the edge. If a full table feels like too much, crop to just the corner being set.

Finish with one lit candle glowing warm gold at the table’s center.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cream or red tablecloth marker
• gold marker for candle glow
• skin tone markers
• fine liner

Palette: Tablecloth Cream,Candle Gold,Deep Red Accent,Soft Green

Check our christmas aesthetic drawing ideas for more warm table and candlelight setups to study.

Keep building the dinner scene with its centerpiece: the turkey being carved at the head of the table while everyone leans in to watch. Draw the turkey itself first as a rounded oval with small drumstick shapes at the base, since getting that silhouette right before anything else sets the whole page’s believability.

Color the turkey skin in warm golden brown with a darker shadow blended along its underside, then bring in the carver’s hands and knife, kept simple with just a glint of white gel pen along the blade. The platter underneath should stay a lighter color so the turkey remains the warmest, darkest shape on the page.

Steam lines are easy to overdo and end up looking like smoke, so use no more than two or three short curved white gel pen lines rising from the top. Swap the turkey for a glazed ham shape if that is closer to your own table.

Add one small child’s hand reaching in from the side for a laugh.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• golden brown markers for turkey skin
• white gel pen for steam and knife glint
• silver or gray marker for the knife
• fine liner

Palette: Roasted Gold,Deep Brown Shadow,Platter White,Steam White

Study one real roast turkey photo for the leg and wing placement, the shape is more specific than memory usually gets it.

Add some mischief to the dinner table with two kids caught sneaking a bite of pie before anyone says it is time. Pose them leaning toward a pie dish at the table’s edge, one finger already in the crust, glancing sideways to check if they have been spotted.

Draw the pie first as a simple circle with a scalloped edge and a lattice top in thin marker lines, then build the kids’ sneaking poses around it with shoulders hunched and eyes wide. Color the pie filling in warm red or orange before the lattice crust lines go over it in a darker brown.

Guilty glances are easy to overdo into a scowl, so keep the eyebrows only slightly raised rather than furrowed. If pie feels fussy to draw, swap it for a simple plate of cookies instead.

Finish with one small smear of filling on a chin for the punchline.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• red or orange marker for pie filling
• brown marker for crust
• skin tone markers
• fine liner

Palette: Pie Filling Red,Golden Crust,Crust Brown,Soft Skin Tone

Give both kids slightly different sneaking poses rather than mirrored twins, varied body language sells the mischief better.

After the big meal, slow right down with grandpa dozing off in the armchair, paper crown slightly crooked, mouth open mid-snore. This is a good chance to practice a relaxed, heavy pose rather than an upright active one.

Draw the armchair first as a soft rounded shape, then let his whole body sink into it: shoulders slumped, head tipped back, hands resting loose on the armrests. Color the chair in a deep warm tone first so his lighter sweater and skin tone stand out clearly against it.

A sleeping face is easy to get wrong by drawing open eyes out of habit, so deliberately close them with just a single curved line each and let the mouth hang slightly open. Swap the paper crown for reading glasses pushed up on his forehead if your own family does not do crowns.

Add a few small white gel pen zzz marks above his head for the finishing joke.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• deep chair color marker
• sweater color marker
• skin tone marker
• white gel pen

Palette: Deep Burgundy Chair,Warm Sweater Green,Soft Skin Tone,Paper Crown Gold

Let one hand hang slightly open off the armrest rather than clenched, loose open hands read as truly asleep rather than just resting.

Bring some comic tension back in with dad tangled in a string of lights, halfway up a step stool, trying to even out a lopsided tree. Sketch the tree first as a simple cone shape, then wrap the light string around it in one continuous wavy line before adding dad caught mid-stretch.

Color the tree in flat green first, then let the light string sit on top in alternating bright colors, since layering it over finished green keeps the string reading as separate rather than blended in. His pose should show real effort: one arm stretched high, the other gripping the stool, shoulders twisted.

A ladder or step stool is the part most likely to look unstable on paper, so widen its base slightly more than looks correct and it will read as sturdy. Swap the step stool for him just reaching up on tiptoe if ladders feel tricky.

Finish with a few tiny gold dots along the string for already-lit bulbs.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• green marker for the tree
• bright multicolor markers for lights
• skin tone marker
• white or gold gel pen

Palette: Tree Green,Light String Red,Light String Gold,Light String Blue

Draw the light string as one single wavy line first before adding any bulb dots, a messy overlapping string looks more real than a neat one.

Shift the gift-opening energy to the afternoon now, with one person sitting by a window unwrapping a smaller, quieter gift in natural daylight rather than tree light. This is a good perspective exercise since the light source completely changes where shadows fall compared to earlier golden scenes.

Place the window to one side of the figure and let that side stay brighter and cooler in tone, a pale blue-white, while the opposite side of the face and gift falls into a soft warm shadow. Color the gift box last in one bright accent color so it stands out against the softer window light around it.

Cool daylight is easy to accidentally warm up out of habit, so hold back on gold tones here and lean into pale blues and grays instead. If a window view feels like too much background, crop tight to just the figure and a plain curtain edge.

Finish with a thin white gel pen line along the window frame for a crisp edge.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue-gray marker for daylight
• warm shadow tone marker
• bright accent marker for the gift box
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Daylight Blue,Soft Warm Shadow,Gift Box Red,Curtain Cream

Check our christmas scene drawing ideas for more examples of window light against warm interiors.

Add some gentle humor with a teenager holding up a new sweater at arm’s length, expression somewhere between tolerant and mortified. Pose the figure standing with the sweater stretched out in front at chest height, head tilted slightly, one eyebrow raised.

Draw the sweater’s pattern first, something loud like reindeer or snowflakes, fully colored before the teenager’s own more neutral outfit goes in around it, so the sweater stays the visual joke of the page. Keep the face expression subtle: a flat mouth line and one raised eyebrow says more than an exaggerated grimace would.

Overdoing the eye-roll into a full cartoon face is the common mistake, so keep every other feature calm and let just the eyebrows carry the humor. Swap the sweater for a pair of novelty socks held up instead if that fits your family better.

Finish with a small gift tag still dangling from one sleeve.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• bright loud sweater pattern colors
• neutral marker for the teenager’s own clothes
• skin tone marker
• fine liner

Palette: Loud Red,Reindeer Brown,Neutral Denim,Soft Skin Tone

Keep the sweater pattern busier than feels comfortable, the more chaotic the print the funnier the deadpan face reads beside it.

Step back outside for a burst of action: siblings mid-snowball fight in the yard, one throw already in the air. This is a good one for practicing a dynamic pose, since a figure caught mid-throw leans its whole weight into one direction.

Sketch the throwing figure first with one arm fully extended back and the opposite leg forward for balance, then add a second figure ducking or shielding their face nearby. Color the snow-covered yard in a cool pale blue-white base before either figure, so footprints and a scattering of past snowballs can be added in light gray on top.

Flat, static poses are the usual failure here, so exaggerate the lean and twist of the throwing body more than feels natural, it will still read correctly. Swap the snowball fight for sledding down a small slope if yard space is tight in your own memory.

Finish with a cluster of white gel pen dots for snow still falling.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue-white marker for snow
• winter coat color markers
• gray marker for shadows
• white gel pen

Palette: Snow Blue-White,Coat Red,Coat Navy,Shadow Gray

Lean the throwing figure further forward than feels balanced, an exaggerated lean is what makes a thrown snowball look like it is really flying.

Drift back a little in time with a small bedtime ritual scene: a child in pajamas placing a plate of cookies and a glass of milk on a side table near the tree. Keep this one quiet and small in scale, a good contrast to the busier daytime scenes around it.

Draw the plate and glass first as simple ellipses and ovals, since getting those basic shapes level on the table matters more than any detail on the cookies themselves. Color the milk glass with just a thin white gel pen rim and a pale gray shadow rather than full shading, so it reads as translucent.

Overworking the cookies with too much icing detail is the common trap, so keep each cookie as a simple circle with one or two simple icing dashes. Swap cookies for carrots left for reindeer if that is the family tradition instead.

Finish with the tree lights softly blurred in the background behind the child.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cookie brown and icing white markers
• pale gray marker for the glass
• skin tone marker
• white gel pen

Palette: Cookie Brown,Icing White,Milk Gray,Tree Light Gold

Keep the milk glass mostly white paper with just a thin gray shadow line, overcoloring it is what makes glass stop looking like glass.

Move the whole family onto the floor now for the evening’s board game, boxes and pieces spread out across a rug in front of the tree. This is a nice change of pace, a wide scene with several people instead of one or two, so block out rough seated shapes for everyone before detailing any single figure.

Draw the game board itself first as a simple square laid flat in the center, then arrange three or four seated figures around it at different angles, leaning in or sitting back. Color the rug underneath in a warm pattern first, then layer the figures and game pieces over it once that base is dry.

A scene with this many figures often goes flat if everyone sits upright and facing forward, so vary the lean of each person’s shoulders and the tilt of each head. If a full family feels like too much, crop it down to just two players.

Finish with a scatter of small gold dice shapes across the board for texture.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• warm rug pattern markers
• neutral board color marker
• several clothing color markers
• fine liner

Palette: Rug Red,Board Cream,Sweater Green,Gold Dice

Vary the tilt of every head and shoulder around the board, a group that all sits perfectly straight reads as stiff rather than relaxed.

Pull one small moment out of that same evening: a little brother sneaking an extra checkers piece back onto the board when he thinks no one is looking. Pose him with one hand hovering low over the board, eyes darting sideways, shoulders hunched in classic guilty posture.

Draw the checkerboard first as a simple grid of alternating squares, then place the pieces as flat circles before the sneaking hand goes in on top, since the hand needs to read as clearly separate from the board pattern. Color the board in two contrasting flat tones, keeping the pattern simple rather than perfectly even.

A checkerboard grid drawn freehand often drifts uneven, so lightly rule faint pencil guidelines first and erase them once the squares are colored in. Swap checkers for a simple deck of cards if that is an easier shape to manage.

Finish with one older sibling’s suspicious side-eye glance in from the edge of the frame.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• two contrasting board square markers
• skin tone marker
• fine liner
• kneaded eraser

Palette: Board Red,Board Cream,Checker Black,Skin Tone

Rule the checkerboard grid lightly in pencil before any marker, an uneven freehand grid is the fastest way to make this scene look off.

Bring the energy right down again with a toddler who has worn themselves out completely, asleep in a little heap of wrapping paper right under the tree’s lowest branches. Keep this pose soft and rounded, limbs curled in rather than sprawled, since a tightly curled pose reads as more peacefully asleep.

Draw the toddler’s body first as one soft comma shape, then nestle a few crumpled paper scraps and one dropped toy around them before adding the tree branches draped just above. Color the pajamas in one warm solid tone first so the busier paper scraps around don’t compete with the figure itself for attention.

Faces on sleeping toddlers can accidentally look older if you add too much detail, so keep cheeks extra round and features clustered close together low on the face. Swap the tree branches above for a simple blanket corner if drawing overhanging branches feels fiddly.

Finish with one string of tree lights blurred softly above for a dreamy glow.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• soft pajama color marker
• paper scrap colors
• skin tone marker
• white gel pen

Palette: Soft Pajama Blue,Wrap Scrap Red,Wrap Scrap Gold,Skin Tone

Keep every limb curled inward rather than stretched out, a tightly curled pose is what reads instantly as deep, peaceful sleep.

Bring everyone together for one full group portrait, the kind usually taken on a timer with everyone squeezed in close by the tree. Block out the whole composition first in loose pencil circles for heads, arranged in a gentle triangle shape so the tallest figures sit toward the back.

Work from back to front in marker, coloring the furthest figures first so nearer ones can overlap them along clean edges rather than the reverse. Keep clothing colors varied but all warm-toned, so the group reads as a unified, cozy palette rather than a scatter of unrelated colors.

A crowded group scene often goes stiff if every face points the same direction, so tilt a few heads toward each other or toward the camera at slightly different angles. If a full family feels like too many figures, start with just three and build up in future sittings.

Finish with the tree glowing softly gold behind everyone’s shoulders.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• several warm-toned clothing markers
• skin tone markers for different family members
• fine liner
• gold marker for tree glow

Palette: Warm Red Sweater,Deep Green Sweater,Golden Tree Glow,Soft Skin Tones

Explore our girl pencil drawing ideas first if faces and figures still feel shaky before tackling a full group.

Give yourself a calmer, object-only break with one slice of pie left on a plate, fork resting beside it, a candle still glowing faintly nearby. A still life like this is good proportion practice since the plate, fork and pie slice all have to sit convincingly at the same table level.

Draw the plate as a simple ellipse first, then fit the pie slice’s wedge shape onto it before adding the fork at an angle resting across one edge. Color the pie filling and crust before the plate itself, so the lighter plate reads clearly as the background surface rather than competing for attention.

Ellipses drawn too round or too narrow are the common slip with any plate viewed at an angle, so check the width-to-height ratio against a real plate before committing to ink. Swap pie for a half-eaten cookie plate if that is simpler to manage today.

Finish with one soft candle glow reflected faintly on the fork’s metal.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pie filling and crust markers
• gray marker for the fork
• cream marker for the plate
• white gel pen

Palette: Pie Filling Red,Golden Crust,Plate Cream,Fork Gray

Check a real plate’s width-to-height ratio at your own table before drawing the ellipse, it is almost always flatter than it feels.

Close the day the way it started, but in reverse: the tree lights still glowing while everything else in the room has gone dark and quiet. This is a good one for pushing contrast further than any earlier scene, since nearly the whole page can stay in shadow except the tree itself.

Block in the darkest background tones first with a deep navy or near-black marker, then add the tree glowing warm gold and red right in the middle, letting that light spill out gently onto whatever is closest to it, a chair arm, a dropped toy, a curled-up dog. Keep every other object in the room suggested rather than detailed, since detail outside the light pool breaks the mood.

Flattening the whole page to one brightness is the trap here, so commit to real darkness in the corners even when it feels risky. If full darkness feels like too much marker to commit to, start with a dusk blue background instead of full black.

Finish with the warmest, brightest gold saved for just the tree’s center, nowhere else.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• deep navy or black marker
• warm gold and red markers for the tree
• white gel pen
• fine liner

Palette: Deep Navy Dark,Tree Gold Glow,Warm Red Ornament,Soft White Highlight

See our merry christmas drawing ideas for more ways to play with glowing light against a dark room.

What to Do Next

Pick one moment that feels most like your own Christmas morning, grab marker paper and a pencil, and start there today. Once the first one is framed, come back for the next, there is a whole day’s worth of scenes still waiting to be drawn.

Frequently Asked Questions

What markers work best for warm christmas day drawing scenes?

Alcohol-based markers work best, since they blend smoothly into warm reds, golds and greens without streaking. Buy a set with at least two shades of red, green, brown and gold, plus a gray and a blue for shadows and dusk scenes.

How do you keep faces looking friendly and not stiff?

Keep faces simple: two dot eyes, round rosy cheeks and one curved line for the mouth read as warm and friendly instantly. Avoid adding too much detail like individual eyelashes or complex eyebrows, since simplicity is what keeps these scenes approachable.

Can you draw these christmas day drawing ideas without a reference photo?

Yes, but a quick reference for tricky parts like hands, pet ears or perspective on stairs saves real time. Use a family photo from a past Christmas or pose yourself in a mirror for arm and hand positions.

What paper should you use for alcohol marker christmas scenes?

Use smooth marker paper or bristol paper, since alcohol ink bleeds and feathers on regular printer paper. A marker pad made for blending also lets colors layer cleanly without pilling the paper surface.

How long does each christmas day drawing idea take to finish?

Most of these ideas take under an hour from pencil sketch to finished marker coloring at a beginner pace. Simpler still-life scenes like the pie slice finish faster, while full family group scenes take a bit longer to block out.