31 Christmas Penguin Drawing Ideas for Penguins With a Very Busy Holiday Schedule

A christmas penguin drawing is the fastest way to get a whole holiday scene out of a round black and white body, two stubby feet, and whatever silly prop you hand it. These characters forgive wobbly lines because the charm is in the attitude, not the anatomy, so every idea below gets a full page and a job to do: skating, baking, sledding, or just hugging a polar bear. Pull up one that makes you smile and you can have it finished before the kettle boils.

Below are 31 scenes, ordered from the simplest poses up to the busier ones with extra props and a second character. Each one lists what to draw with, the order to build it in, where it usually goes sideways, and a fix. Pick whichever penguin matches your mood tonight and let the markers do the rest.

Start with the easiest pose in the whole set: a penguin gliding on one foot, wings out for balance, on a sheet of pale blue ice. Pencil the body as a rounded egg leaning slightly forward, then add the skate as a simple curved blade under one foot, with the other leg kicked back.

Go over the outline in a soft grey or black marker, fill the body in two blues (a pale icy blue and a slightly deeper one for shadow under the wings), and leave the belly white. The pink scarf gets its own light layer first, then a darker pink line for the folds, so it does not turn muddy.

Most skating poses go wrong when the leaning angle is too upright and the penguin looks like it is just standing still. Tilt the whole body a good ten degrees forward from the hips and add a few speed lines behind the skate blade to sell the motion.

If you do not have pink on hand, a warm coral or light red reads just as well against the icy blue.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue and deep blue alcohol markers
• pink alcohol marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Cherry Pink,Mustard Yellow,Charcoal Grey

Add three short curved lines behind the skate blade in pale blue to suggest a spray of ice, it is a tiny detail that makes the whole pose feel fast.

Move from motion to a quieter scene: a penguin on tiptoe, reaching up to hang a little fish-shaped ornament on a tree made of ice rather than pine. Sketch a tall triangle tree first, faceted like a cut gem, then add the penguin standing beside it with one wing raised.

Color the tree in two or three blues from pale at the center to deeper at the faceted edges, almost like a cold crystal. The fish ornaments are small ovals in mustard and pink, dotted around the tree at different heights, each with a single white gel pen highlight for shine.

The scene reads oddly if the tree and penguin are the same height, so make the tree at least twice as tall as the character to keep the scale readable. If icy facets feel fussy, draw the tree as a plain soft triangle outline instead and let the fish ornaments carry the color.

Finish with a white gel pen star at the very top of the tree.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale and deep blue markers
• mustard and pink markers
• white gel pen
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Glacier Blue,Mustard Yellow,Cherry Pink,White

Try this scene again later with the fish ornaments replaced by tiny mittens or bells, the same ice tree works for a whole set of variations.

Here is the first group scene, so give yourself a little more room on the page. Draw a wide flat iceberg shape low on the page, then three penguins on it at different sizes: a tall parent and two smaller chicks, each one just a rounder, shorter version of the same egg body.

Sketch torn wrapping paper and a few open boxes between them before you ink anything, so the composition balances before you commit to marker. Color the iceberg in pale blue with a deeper blue shadow line along its base, then give each present a different accent color (cherry red, mustard, pink) so the pile reads as several gifts rather than one blob.

Family scenes often get crowded if every penguin faces forward, so turn one chick sideways and have it looking up at the parent instead. If three figures feels like too much today, drop to one parent and one chick and keep the same iceberg.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale and deep blue markers
• cherry red, mustard and pink markers
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Cherry Pink

Scatter a few torn scraps of wrapping paper around the iceberg in the leftover accent colors, it fills empty space without adding more characters to draw.

Bring the energy back up with a penguin flat on its belly, sledding headfirst down a snowy slope. Pencil a simple curved hill shape first, then lay the penguin diagonally across it, wings tucked back like airplane wings and feet trailing behind.

Work the hill in pale blue-white shadow tones, keeping the top of the slope almost pure white paper and the base a touch darker where the snow bunches up. The penguin’s body gets the usual icy blue and white treatment, with a scarf or hat in cherry red to give the composition one strong warm note.

The pose falls apart if the diagonal is too gentle, so angle the whole body a full forty-five degrees down the page and add three or four motion lines trailing off the back. If a solid hill feels flat, break its edge into two or three soft bumps instead of one smooth curve.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue and white-grey markers
• cherry red marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Soft Grey Blue,Cherry Red,Charcoal Grey,White

Add a small spray of snow flicking up behind the trailing feet in white gel pen, it does more for the feeling of speed than extra motion lines.

Give the penguin a task that needs both wings: patting the top ball of a snowman into place. Stack three circles of decreasing size in pencil first, checking they sit centered on top of each other, then draw the penguin standing to one side reaching up.

Leave the snowman almost entirely white paper, with only a thin pale blue shadow line along the lower curve of each ball to give it form. Add the usual mustard beak and feet on the penguin, plus a cherry red scarf wrapped around the snowman’s middle ball to tie the two characters together in color.

Snowmen often look lopsided if the three circles are not centered on the same vertical line, so sketch a faint straight guideline up through the middle before you draw any of the balls. For a ten-minute version, skip the coal eyes and carrot nose and just suggest them with a few dots.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• cherry red marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Charcoal Grey,White

Use a kneaded eraser to lift a few soft pencil smudges along the snowman’s shadow side before inking, it keeps the shading gentle instead of a hard grey block.

After two active scenes, slow down with a close-up: a penguin sitting, both wings curled around a steaming mug, wearing a knitted hat with a pompom. Draw the penguin a little larger than usual here, since this is a portrait rather than a full scene, filling most of the page.

Build the knitted hat in mustard and cherry red stripes, then let the mug be the one pink object in the drawing so it stands out against all that blue. A few curved white gel pen lines rising from the mug suggest steam without needing any real shading.

Close-up faces can look stiff if the eyes sit too far apart, so keep them close together near the top of the head with the beak centered just below. If knitted stripes feel fiddly, a single solid mustard hat with one cherry red pompom reads just as cozy.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• mustard and cherry red markers
• pink marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Mustard Yellow,Cherry Red,Cherry Pink,Pale Ice Blue,White

Look at a real knitted beanie for the pompom shape, a few short jagged lines around the edge reads as fluffy yarn far better than a smooth circle.

Try a penguin that has gotten a little too enthusiastic with the decorations, wound head to foot in a string of fairy lights. Draw the body first as usual, then add the light string as one continuous wavy line looping around the shape three or four times before ending in a tangle at the feet.

Color the string itself in a dark grey or black line, then dot small circles of cherry red, mustard and pink along its length for the bulbs, each with a tiny white gel pen center to make them glow. Keep the penguin’s own coloring simple so the lights are clearly the star of the drawing.

The lights read as a flat pattern if every bulb is evenly spaced, so bunch a few closer together near the tangle at the feet and space others further apart along the loops. Swap the three bulb colors for just one color repeated if you want a calmer, more uniform string.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• dark grey marker for the string
• cherry red mustard and pink markers
• white gel pen
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Charcoal Grey,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Cherry Pink

Add one bulb resting right on the beak like a tiny clown nose, it is a small joke that makes this one of the funniest poses in the set.

Give the penguin a job: gliding along on skis with a mailbag slung over one wing and a letter held out in the other. Sketch the body leaning forward in a ski stance, knees slightly bent, with two long thin skis underneath replacing the usual flat feet.

Build the mailbag as a simple pouch shape in cherry red with a mustard strap, and let a few pale blue lines trail behind the skis to suggest fresh tracks in the snow. The letter in the outstretched wing can be left plain white with just a thin black border.

Skis are easy to get wrong if they are too short, so draw each one at least as long as the penguin’s whole body for a convincing glide. If ski poles feel like one prop too many, leave them out entirely and let the forward lean carry the motion instead.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• cherry red and mustard markers
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Charcoal Grey,White

Curl the ski tips up slightly at the front, a flat straight ski reads as a plank rather than winter sports equipment.

Bring the scene indoors with a penguin standing at an imaginary counter, wearing a little apron and holding a tray of cookies fresh from the oven. Draw the apron first as a simple bib shape tied at the back, in mustard with a cherry red trim, sitting over the plain white belly.

The cookie tray can be left mostly white with small round cookies drawn in a warm tan tone, each with a tiny dot of cherry red icing. Keep the penguin’s pose simple: both wings holding the tray out in front, head tilted slightly down to look at it.

Aprons tend to look pasted on if they sit perfectly flat against the round belly, so let the bottom edge curve slightly outward to follow the body’s roundness. For a faster version, swap the full tray of cookies for just one single cookie held up in one wing.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• mustard and cherry red markers
• warm tan marker for cookies
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Mustard Yellow,Cherry Red,Warm Tan,Pale Ice Blue,White

Add a thin wisp of steam rising from the tray in white gel pen, the same trick as the cocoa mug earlier, and it ties the two kitchen scenes together.

For the first real duo, draw two penguins standing close together, one long striped scarf wrapped around both of their necks and tying them together in the middle. Sketch both bodies first at a slight lean toward each other, then add the single scarf weaving behind one neck and in front of the other.

Color the scarf in alternating cherry red and mustard stripes, keeping the stripes consistent in width so it reads as one continuous piece rather than two scarves. Give the two penguins slightly different heights so the pair does not look like a mirrored copy of the same shape.

Pairs often go flat if both characters face the same direction, so turn their heads slightly toward each other instead of straight out at the viewer. If stripes feel like too much detail today, a solid cherry red scarf with a mustard fringe at each end works just as well.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• cherry red and mustard markers
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,White

Overlap the two bodies slightly at the shoulder rather than leaving a gap between them, it makes the pair read as close friends rather than two strangers standing nearby.

Give the page a bit of a frame this time: a brick chimney top with a penguin poking out of it, waving one wing, wearing a classic Santa hat. Draw the chimney as a simple rectangle with a few brick lines, then have the penguin’s body emerge from the opening at the top, torso only, with the lower half hidden inside.

The Santa hat gets the cherry red and white treatment, pompom included, and can sit slightly tilted for a more playful feel than a perfectly straight hat. A light dusting of snow along the top edge of the chimney in white gel pen finishes the setting without needing a whole rooftop drawn in.

The pose loses its charm if the chimney swallows too much of the body, so keep at least the shoulders and both wings visible above the opening. For a simpler brick texture, draw just three or four horizontal lines across the chimney instead of a full brick grid.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry red and white markers
• brick red or brown marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Cherry Red,White,Brick Brown,Pale Ice Blue,Charcoal Grey

Check a photo of a real Santa hat for how the pompom sits slightly off to one side, it reads as more relaxed than a pompom balanced dead center.

Keep the mood relaxed with a penguin standing still, eyes closed, big fuzzy earmuffs on, clearly somewhere else entirely in its head. Draw the earmuffs as two soft circles connected by a thin band arcing over the top of the head, slightly bigger than feels natural so they read as plush rather than plastic.

Color the earmuffs in cherry pink with a mustard band, and keep the rest of the penguin in the usual pale blue and white. A few small curved lines floating near one earmuff in white gel pen suggest musical notes without needing to draw actual notation.

Earmuffs tend to flatten out if drawn as perfect circles pressed against the head, so let each one overlap the head’s outline slightly, like a real pair of muffs resting on top of it. If musical notes feel too cute for your taste, swap them for a single raised wing tapping along to the beat instead.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry pink and mustard markers
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Cherry Pink,Mustard Yellow,Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,White

Draw the eyes as two closed curved lines instead of open dots, it instantly reads as a penguin lost in the music rather than one staring blankly ahead.

Return to a full scene with a penguin trudging forward, pulling a small sled loaded with an undersized Christmas tree behind it. Sketch the penguin leaning into the pull with a rope over one shoulder, then the sled as a simple flat rectangle on two curved runners, tree perched on top looking slightly too big for its ride.

Keep the tree a plain green-blue, almost a soft teal, so it reads as pine without pulling warm color away from the penguin’s own cherry red scarf. The rope connecting penguin to sled should be a single clean line, slightly slack, not taut and straight.

This scene depends on the lean to tell the story, so if the penguin stands upright it just looks like it is standing next to a sled rather than pulling it. Angle the whole body forward from the ankles and plant the feet wide for a convincing pull.

This same pulling pose works well if you have tried a painted tree before and want to borrow that shape for the sled’s cargo.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• teal or pine green marker
• cherry red marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Pine Teal,Cherry Red,Charcoal Grey,White

Add one ornament or a tiny gold star on the small tree, it gives the eye a reason to travel all the way to the back of the sled instead of stopping at the penguin.

Dress the penguin up for once: a neat little bow tie at the neck, standing a bit formally, maybe holding a tiny drink in one wing. Draw the bow tie as two triangles meeting at a small center knot, sitting right where the neck meets the chest.

Color the bow tie in cherry red or pink, whichever feels more festive, and keep everything else simple so the accessory stands out as the one dressed-up detail. A single straight line for a raised wing holding a small glass finishes the pose without adding much extra drawing.

Bow ties disappear visually if they are too small relative to the head, so draw it wider than you think it should be, close to half the width of the face. If a drink feels like one prop too many, have the free wing simply resting on a hip instead.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry red or pink marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Cherry Red,Cherry Pink,Pale Ice Blue,Mustard Yellow,White

Give the eyes a slightly raised brow line, a small detail that reads as a confident, party-ready expression rather than a neutral stare.

Keep the pose plain and let the clothing do the talking: a penguin standing front-on in a simple knitted sweater, one small heart stitched into the chest. Draw the sweater as a rounded shape over the body, following the belly’s curve but sitting slightly looser at the hem.

Color the sweater a solid cherry red, then add the heart in mustard or white right in the center of the chest, outlined in a thin black line so it reads clearly against the red. Leave a narrow strip of the white belly showing below the sweater’s hem to keep the penguin shape readable underneath the clothing.

Sweaters look stiff if the hem is drawn as a perfectly straight line, so give it a gentle wave to suggest soft knitted fabric. If a heart motif is not your style, a simple mustard stripe across the chest works as a quick substitute.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry red marker
• mustard marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Pale Ice Blue,White,Charcoal Grey

Try this one again later with the heart swapped for a small snowflake or star, the same simple sweater shape takes almost any motif without redrawing the body.

Settle the penguin down beside a hole cut in the ice, fishing line dropped in, a candy cane stuck upright in the snow beside it like a makeshift signpost. Draw the ice hole as a simple dark oval, then the penguin sitting close to its edge with a thin line running from one wing down into the hole.

Color the candy cane in the classic cherry red and white spiral stripes, angled slightly so it leans like it was just pushed into soft snow. Keep the surrounding ice in pale blue with the hole itself a much darker blue-black to give real depth against the lighter surface.

The scene flattens out if the fishing line is perfectly straight, so give it one gentle curve as it dips into the water for a more natural hang. If spiral stripes on the candy cane feel fiddly, three or four simple diagonal bands give the same effect.

If you enjoy this quieter, snow-bound mood, the slower pacing in Christmas watercolor ideas leans the same direction with paint instead of marker.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• dark blue or black marker for the hole
• pale blue marker
• cherry red marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Water Blue,Cherry Red,White,Charcoal Grey

Add one small ripple ring around the fishing line where it enters the water, a tiny detail that makes the dark hole read as liquid rather than a flat black shape.

Give the penguin a long unrolled scroll of paper, trailing almost to the ground, clearly a wish list that got a little out of hand. Draw the scroll first as a long curling rectangle held up in both wings, with a slightly ragged bottom edge where it drapes onto the snow.

Keep the list itself mostly plain white or a very pale cream, with a few simple wavy lines suggesting handwriting rather than actual legible words. The penguin’s expression carries the joke here, so give it raised eyebrows or wide eyes as it reads down the impossibly long list.

A scroll reads as stiff cardboard if it has no curl to it at all, so let the top edge roll slightly inward like real paper does under its own weight. For a quicker version, shorten the list to a single small note card instead of a full unrolled scroll.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale cream marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Cream,Pale Ice Blue,Charcoal Grey,Mustard Yellow,White

Widen the eyes slightly more than feels natural, exaggerated surprise is what makes a reading pose funny instead of just quiet.

Here is the one where the penguin is almost completely hidden behind an enormous wrapped present. Draw the gift box first as a tall rectangle easily twice the penguin’s own height, then tuck the character behind or beside it with just the head, one wing, and the feet peeking out.

Wrap the box in a bold cherry red paper with a wide mustard ribbon crossing it in both directions, finished with a large bow on top sized to match the oversized box. Keep the penguin’s visible parts simple so all the color weight sits on the gift itself.

The joke only lands if the scale gap is obvious, so resist the urge to shrink the box down for an easier drawing, it needs to genuinely tower over the character. If a full bow feels tricky, two simple loops crossed in the middle reads as a bow without the fuss.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry red marker
• mustard marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Pale Ice Blue,White,Charcoal Grey

Peek just one foot out from behind the box at an awkward angle, it is a small staging choice that reads as funnier than showing the whole body.

Pair the penguin with a much larger friend this time: a polar bear bent down low, wrapping both arms around the penguin in a full hug. Sketch the bear first as a big rounded shape sitting or kneeling, then tuck the penguin into the curve of its arms, nearly swallowed by the hug.

Keep the bear almost entirely white with just a thin pale blue shadow line along its underside and limbs to give it form against the white page. The penguin stays in its usual icy blue palette so the two characters read as clearly different species even in a close hug.

Size difference is what sells this pairing, so keep the bear at least twice the height of the penguin even when both are sitting. If a full bear body feels like a lot to draw, show just the head and arms wrapping around from one side of the page.

The size play here pairs nicely with the friendly animal pairs explored in dog pencil drawing ideas if you want more practice with big and small characters together.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker for shadow
• deep blue marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: White,Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Charcoal Grey,Cherry Pink

Give the bear a soft rounded nose and small eyes set close together, it keeps a big white shape reading as friendly instead of blank.

Loosen up with a penguin caught mid-spin, one foot lifted, wings flung wide, snow kicked up around its feet. Sketch the body at a dynamic diagonal lean, arms (wings) stretched in opposite directions rather than both tucked in close, which is what makes this pose feel different from the standing ones earlier in the list.

Keep the color palette simple here so the pose itself carries the energy: usual icy blue body, one cherry red accessory like a small bow or scarf flying loose from the motion. A scatter of small white gel pen dots around the feet suggests kicked-up snow without needing any extra linework.

Dance poses flatten out if both feet stay planted, so lift one foot clearly off the ground and tilt the whole torso to counterbalance it. For a simpler version, keep both feet down but spread the wings wide and tilt just the head back instead.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• cherry red marker
• white gel pen
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Cherry Red,White,Charcoal Grey

Draw the raised foot at an angle rather than straight up, a slight kick to the side reads as more joyful and less like a static pose.

Flip the usual cold setting on its head with a penguin relaxing in a steaming hot tub, mug of cocoa balanced on the rim. Draw the tub as a simple rounded barrel shape with a wavy top edge to suggest water, the penguin’s head and upper body poking out above the rim, totally at ease.

Color the tub itself in a warm wood brown or a soft teal if you prefer a more modern look, with the water a pale foamy blue-white and a few curved white gel pen lines for bubbles. The cocoa mug sits balanced right on the rim in the usual cherry pink, with steam rising same as the earlier cocoa scene.

The joke depends on contrast, so keep snow or icicles visible just outside the tub to make clear this is a cold place with one very warm exception. If a wooden barrel tub feels complicated, a simple rounded tin tub shape works just as well.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• warm brown or teal marker
• pale blue and white markers
• cherry pink marker
• white gel pen

Palette: Warm Wood Brown,Pale Ice Blue,Cherry Pink,White,Charcoal Grey

Add one icicle hanging just outside the tub’s rim, it is the single detail that makes the warm scene read as a joke rather than a mismatched setting.

Come back outdoors with a penguin fully kitted out for downhill skiing, both poles planted, knees bent low in a racing crouch. Sketch the body in a deep forward lean this time, lower than the earlier sledding pose, with two thin ski poles angled back from each wing.

Keep the skis themselves a plain pale grey or white so they do not compete with the icy blue body, and add one cherry red detail, like a knit cap or goggles, to keep the color balance consistent with the rest of the set. A short burst of pale blue speed lines behind the skis finishes the motion.

Poles tend to look like they are floating if they do not actually touch the snow, so make sure each pole tip has a small dark dot or dash right where it meets the ground. If poles feel like one extra element too many, drop them and let the crouch alone carry the speed.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale grey or white marker
• cherry red marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Pale Grey,Cherry Red,Charcoal Grey,White

Angle the two poles so they point slightly outward rather than parallel, it reads as an active push rather than two sticks just hanging along the sides.

Give the penguin a moment of quiet royalty: a simple ring of holly leaves and berries sitting on its head like a small crown. Draw the holly crown as a loose circle of pointed leaf shapes, each one a simple two-curve shape rather than a detailed leaf, with small round berries tucked between them.

Color the leaves a deep green and the berries cherry red, keeping both small enough that the crown reads as delicate rather than heavy on the head. The rest of the penguin stays in its usual simple icy blue, letting the crown be the one point of interest on an otherwise plain pose.

Holly leaves look messy if every point is drawn too sharp, so round the tips slightly for a softer, more stylized leaf that suits this character style. If green feels like an odd note against all that blue, a plain cherry red ribbon crown works as a simpler substitute.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• deep green marker
• cherry red marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Holly Green,Cherry Red,Pale Ice Blue,White,Charcoal Grey

Keep the crown sitting slightly tilted rather than perfectly level, a small tilt reads as more playful and less like a formal portrait.

Pair the penguin with a reindeer for a scene with real height contrast, penguin perched up on the reindeer’s back, both wings gripping the antlers like reins. Draw the reindeer first as a simple standing shape with slim legs and a pair of curved antlers, then add the penguin sitting just behind the shoulders, small against the larger animal.

Keep the reindeer in a soft warm brown with a cherry red collar or bell at the neck, while the penguin stays in its usual palette on top. The antlers can stay a plain outline with no fill, which keeps them from competing visually with the rest of the scene.

The pairing reads oddly if the penguin sits too far back toward the tail, so place it right behind the front shoulders where a real rider would sit. If a full standing reindeer feels like a lot of drawing, show it mid-trot with front legs lifted for a livelier pose instead.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• warm brown marker
• cherry red marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Warm Brown,Cherry Red,Pale Ice Blue,White,Charcoal Grey

Add a small bell on the collar in mustard with a single white gel pen dot of shine, a tiny detail that makes the reindeer feel dressed for the season.

Slow right down with a penguin curled up fast asleep inside an oversized stocking hung on a mantel, just the head poking out over the top edge. Draw the stocking first as a tall soft shape with a wide cuff folded over at the top, then tuck the sleeping penguin’s head and one wing over that folded edge.

Color the stocking body in cherry red with a white or mustard cuff, and keep the penguin’s visible head simple with closed eyes and a small content smile. A tiny mustard star or snowflake pattern on the stocking’s cuff adds detail without much extra work.

Sleeping poses lose their charm if the eyes are left open, so make sure they are drawn as simple closed curves, and add one small “z” shape floating above the head if you want to spell out the nap clearly. If a full stocking feels fiddly, a simple sock shape without the folded cuff still reads clearly.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry red marker
• mustard marker
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,White,Pale Ice Blue,Charcoal Grey

Keep the folded cuff drawn with a soft wavy edge rather than a straight line, it reads as thick knitted fabric instead of stiff cardboard.

Give the page a quiet night sky moment: a penguin standing small against a wide dark background, holding a little camera up toward ribbons of color overhead. Draw the penguin low and small in the frame first, then build the sky above it large, since this is one scene where the background actually matters.

Layer the aurora in soft sweeps of pale blue, pink and a touch of mustard-green blended loosely with the marker’s broad edge, letting the colors overlap and feather into each other rather than staying in hard bands. The camera itself can stay a simple black rectangle with one small white gel pen dot for the lens shine.

The sky reads as too busy if every color band is the same width, so vary the sweeps, wide and loose in places, thin and bright in others. For a quicker version, use just two colors in the sky instead of three and let the penguin and camera do more of the work.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue pink and mustard-green markers
• black marker for the camera
• white gel pen
• black fineliner

Palette: Deep Night Blue,Pale Ice Blue,Cherry Pink,Mustard Green,White

Lay the dark night sky down first and let it dry before adding the aurora sweeps on top, which keeps the light colors from turning muddy against wet dark ink.

Put the penguin on two wheels, pedaling along with a basket of wrapped gifts balanced on the handlebars. Sketch a simple bicycle shape first, keeping both wheels the same size and the frame low enough for the penguin to sit comfortably on the seat with feet reaching the pedals.

Fill the front basket with two or three small wrapped boxes in cherry red, mustard and pink, overlapping slightly so they read as a full load rather than scattered items. Keep the bike frame itself a simple pale blue or grey outline so it does not pull attention from the penguin and the gifts.

Bikes often look like they are standing still if both wheels are drawn as perfect flat circles, so add a few short curved lines through each wheel to suggest motion and spokes. If a full bicycle feels like a lot of linework, a simple scooter with one basket in front works as an easier substitute.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue or grey marker
• cherry red mustard and pink markers
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Pale Grey,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Cherry Pink

Tilt the whole bike slightly forward on its wheels rather than drawing it perfectly upright, a small forward lean reads as movement even before you add any motion lines.

Bring the holiday decorating home with a penguin reaching up to hang a wreath on the round doorway of an igloo. Draw the igloo first as a simple dome shape with a curved doorway cut into the front, built from a few soft overlapping brick-like lines rather than hard straight ones.

Keep the igloo in pale blue-white with a slightly deeper blue shadow along its lower curve, then add the wreath in deep green with a cherry red bow at the bottom, sized to sit neatly within the curved doorway. The penguin reaches up on tiptoe to one side, one wing holding the wreath in place.

Igloos look flat if the brick lines are all the same length and perfectly straight, so vary their curve and length slightly as they wrap around the dome. If a full igloo feels like too much background to draw, a simple round doorway arch on its own still carries the scene.

If you like building a whole snowy setting like this one, there is a lot more scenery practice in Christmas scene drawing ideas.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• deep green marker
• cherry red marker
• black fineliner

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Holly Green,Cherry Red,White

Add a small icicle or two hanging from the igloo’s doorway arch, it is a tiny detail that grounds the whole scene firmly in winter.

Gather a small group for this one: three or four penguins lined up in a row, beaks open, each holding a little songbook, clearly mid-carol. Sketch the row first with each penguin at a slightly different height and angle so the line does not read as identical copies pasted side by side.

Give each songbook a different accent color (one cherry red, one mustard, one pink) so the row has some color variety beyond just the icy blue bodies. Open beaks and slightly raised heads across the group sell the singing far more than any detail in the books themselves.

Groups like this flatten out if every beak and eye sits at the exact same height, so stagger the heads up and down slightly as if some notes are higher than others. For a quicker version, cut the group down to two singers instead of four and give them one shared songbook held between them.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• cherry red mustard and pink markers
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,Cherry Pink

Draw a few short curved lines rising from the open beaks to suggest visible singing breath in the cold air, a small touch that ties the scene to winter.

End the active scenes with something simple and joyful: a penguin standing still, head tipped back, tongue out, catching snowflakes as they fall. Draw the body upright with the head tilted fully back rather than just slightly, since the extreme angle is what sells the gesture.

Scatter a handful of simple six-point snowflakes around the page in white gel pen or a very pale blue, varying their size so some sit closer to the penguin and others drift further into the background. Keep the penguin itself in the plain usual palette so the falling snow has room to be the visual interest.

The pose looks stiff if the head tilt is too small, so exaggerate it further back than feels natural and widen the open beak slightly to match. If drawing a tongue feels too fiddly at this scale, a simple open beak alone still reads as catching snow.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• pale blue marker
• white gel pen
• black fineliner
• pink marker for cheeks

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Deep Sky Blue,White,Cherry Pink,Charcoal Grey

Add a small blush of pink on the cheeks just below the eyes, it warms up the face and makes the joyful expression read even more clearly.

Close the set with a quiet, satisfying moment: a penguin sitting with torn wrapping paper in its lap, holding up one small ice skate it has just unwrapped, clearly delighted. Draw the skate itself small and simple, a curved blade under a boot shape, held up at eye level in one wing.

Scatter a few scraps of torn wrapping paper in cherry red and mustard around the penguin’s feet, left mostly as flat color shapes rather than detailed folds. Keep the penguin’s expression wide-eyed and pleased, looking straight at the little skate rather than out at the viewer.

This scene can feel empty if the torn paper is too sparse, so add at least three or four separate scraps of different sizes scattered around the sitting pose. For a simpler version, show just the hands (wings) and the skate close up, without drawing the whole seated body.

You Will Need

• marker paper
• cherry red and mustard markers
• pale blue marker
• black fineliner
• white gel pen

Palette: Pale Ice Blue,Cherry Red,Mustard Yellow,White,Charcoal Grey

Give the little skate blade one bright white gel pen highlight along its curve, it is the small shine that makes a tiny prop feel like the center of the whole picture.

What to Do Next

Pick whichever penguin matches the mood you are in tonight, maybe the sleepy stocking nap if you want something quick, or the full iceberg family scene if you have a bit more time. Start with a light pencil sketch on a smooth sheet of marker paper, keep the belly and highlights unmarked from the first stroke, and let the markers go down light to dark.

Frequently Asked Questions

What paper works best for a christmas penguin drawing with alcohol markers?

A smooth marker pad made for alcohol-based ink works best, since it stops colors from bleeding through or feathering at the edges. Regular printer paper buckles and the ink spreads past your pencil lines, so a dedicated marker pad is worth the extra cost.

Do I need to be good at drawing animals to try a christmas penguin drawing?

No, because the penguin’s whole body breaks down into an egg shape, an oval belly and two simple feet. Once that basic shape feels comfortable, every idea on this list just adds a prop or a pose change on top of the same foundation.

How do I keep the white belly clean on a christmas penguin drawing?

Sketch the belly shape in pencil first and simply avoid coloring inside it with any marker, since white marker ink never fully covers dark tones underneath. Leaving the paper itself blank for the belly and highlights is the most reliable white you can get.

What is the easiest christmas penguin drawing to start with?

The ice skating penguin or the snowman-building penguin are the simplest poses in this list, since both use a mostly upright body with only one or two props. Start there to get comfortable with the basic shape before trying group scenes or trickier poses.

Can I draw these christmas penguin scenes with colored pencils instead of markers?

Yes, colored pencils work fine, just build color in several light layers rather than one heavy pass to keep the blues looking soft and icy. Blend white highlights by pressing harder with a white pencil on top rather than trying to erase color back out.