Snow drawing is the best kind of winter project because the whole family just lived it an hour ago, whether that was a real backyard battle or the one you wish you were having right now. Grab colored pencils and white paper and you can put rosy cheeks, flying snowballs and crash landings on the page without any fuss over perfect faces or perspective.
Below are 27 scenes of sledding, snow forts, snow angels and snowball fights, ordered from a quick single figure to busier group moments. Each one works for a child drawing alone or for a grown-up sitting right beside them, with a simple version and a small extra step to add together.
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Start with two kids ducking behind a low snow wall, since this is the scene most people picture first when they hear the words snow drawing. Block in two simple ovals for heads and rounded jacket shapes peeking over a curved wall, then draw the wall as a few stacked lumpy blocks rather than one straight brick.
Work light pencil first for the wall and jacket outlines, then add icy blue shading on the wall’s shadow side and cherry red or mint for the jackets. Faces are tiny, just two dot eyes and a round open mouth for a laugh, so do not worry about getting features exact.
If this is your first time drawing two figures together, make one kid taller than the other and overlap their shoulders slightly so they read as a pair rather than two separate drawings. A kid can keep the wall plain white with blue shadow lines, while an adult can add a few packed snowball shapes lined up on top ready to throw.
Leave plenty of white paper showing on the wall and in the sky behind them, that bare white is what makes the snow look bright.
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,Mint,Payne’s Grey
Lying flat on her back is one of the easiest poses in the whole set, which makes a girl making a snow angel a good second drawing once the fight scene warms you up. Draw her body as a simple rounded shape lying horizontal across the page, arms and legs spread out wide like a star, with her head tilted to one side smiling at the sky.
Sketch the angel shape first in light pencil, following her arms and legs, then go over it with a soft lilac or icy blue to show where she has swept the snow aside. Her hat and mittens in cherry red give the eye somewhere bright to land against all that white.
The common mistake here is making the arm and leg sweeps too stiff and straight. Curve them instead, like gentle fan shapes, and the motion reads instantly as someone moving her limbs through snow rather than just lying still.
A younger artist can keep the angel shape simple and flat, while an older one can add a light shadow under her body in pale grey to settle her into the snow. Try this scene again later as part of a wider winter sketchbook page with several small moments on one sheet.
Palette: Lilac,Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White
Once you are comfortable with one or two figures, a family racing down a hill on a long toboggan is the natural next step because it adds a line of people instead of just a pair. Draw the toboggan first as a long curved rectangle angled downhill, then stack three or four rounded figures sitting one behind the other along its length.
Keep the hill as one sweeping diagonal line across the page rather than drawing every bump of snow, and let the sled sit right on top of that line. Color the toboggan a warm brown or red, then give each rider a different jacket color so the group reads clearly instead of blurring together.
Eye level matters a lot in this scene: draw the horizon line fairly high on the page and look slightly down the hill, which makes the sled feel like it is speeding toward the viewer rather than floating sideways. Snow spray behind the sled, drawn as short upward flicks of white pencil or a white gel pen, sells the speed.
A simpler version for a child skips the spray and just colors the riders, while an adult can add one figure mid air with arms up for extra energy. Keep one concrete habit today: always draw the hill line before the sled, never after.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Cherry Red,Mint,Icy Blue,Burnt Sienna
Friends building a snow fort with buckets and shovels gives you a chance to draw tools and teamwork rather than just motion. Lay out two or three kids in different poses, one patting a snow block into place, one holding a bucket upside down, one leaning on a small shovel, so the scene feels busy without being crowded.
Build the fort wall first as a row of rounded brick shapes, slightly uneven like real packed snow, then add the kids around it afterward so they overlap the wall naturally. A plastic bucket turned upside down becomes a perfect little dome shape if you trace around a real cup or bottle cap for the curve.
Bright primary colors on the buckets and shovels against all that white paper is what makes this picture pop, so keep jackets a bit more muted and let the tools carry the color. If you do not have a bucket to trace, just draw a trapezoid with a rounded top, it reads the same from a few feet away.
For a quicker ten minute version, draw just one kid and the wall. The fuller forty minute version adds the second and third kid plus small details like mitten texture with short pencil strokes.
Palette: Mint,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Goldenrod
Trace a small lid or bottle cap for the bucket’s curved rim if freehand circles feel wobbly, it keeps the fort’s turrets looking tidy.
For pure comedy, draw a dad hit by a snowball while the kids giggle in the background. Give him a wide stance with arms flung slightly out and his head tilted back in surprise, then place the snowball itself as a simple white circle frozen mid splat against his shoulder or chest.
Draw his body first in a loose, slightly off balance pose, since a stiff standing figure will not read as funny. The splat marks radiating out from the impact point in short white or icy blue lines do a lot of the comic work, so take your time on those even though they are quick to draw.
The easiest way to keep proportions right on an adult figure next to kids is to measure heads: make the dad about four and a half of his own head heights tall, and the kids around three and a half, which instantly separates the generations without needing detailed faces.
Younger artists can keep this to one simple splat mark, while an older sibling or parent might add tiny snow specks flying off in several directions for more energy. No special materials needed, just your usual pencils and a white pencil or gel pen for the splat lines.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,Payne’s Grey,White
Switch the pace with grandpa pulling a toddler on a little plastic sled, a quieter moment after all that chaos. Draw grandpa walking with one arm reaching back to hold a rope, his body leaning slightly forward with effort, and the small plastic sled low to the ground behind him with a bundled up toddler riding inside.
Start with grandpa’s walking pose since it sets the angle of the whole drawing, then add the rope as one curved line connecting his hand to the sled. Keep the toddler very round and bundled, basically one big snowsuit shape with just a small face peeking out, which also makes this an easier figure for a young artist to practice on.
Warm colors work well here, a cherry red scarf or hat on grandpa against a mint green plastic sled, with the toddler’s snowsuit in a soft lilac or icy blue. If the rope line looks too stiff, add a slight sag in the middle so it reads as soft plastic cord rather than a straight stick.
A child drawing this alone can simplify grandpa’s coat to one flat color, while an adult can add light hatching for texture on his coat and scarf. One tip for today: always draw the connecting rope before you finish grandpa’s hand, so the hand wraps around it naturally.
Palette: Cherry Red,Mint,Lilac,Payne’s Grey
A teen on a saucer sled spinning down a slope is one of the more dynamic poses in this list, perfect once you are ready for some motion blur. Draw the saucer as a simple circle tilted at an angle, with the teen’s body curved around inside it, knees pulled up and one arm braced against the rim.
Sketch the circle and the slope line first, then fit the figure inside the saucer rather than drawing the person separately and trying to force the sled around them afterward. Spiral motion lines in icy blue or white, curving around the saucer’s edge, suggest the spin without needing any extra detail.
Eye level and light matter a lot for a spinning subject: put the light source coming from one side so you can shade one half of the saucer and one side of the teen’s jacket darker, which makes the whole shape feel like it is tipping rather than sitting flat on the page.
For speed, a ten minute version just needs the saucer, figure and a few spiral lines. The longer version adds flying snow specks around the rim and a slightly blurred, doubled outline on the trailing edge for extra motion. Swap a white gel pen for white colored pencil on the spiral lines if that is what you have.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Mint,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Payne’s Grey
Give the scenes a bit of height next with a kid tunneling into a giant snowbank, only legs and boots sticking out. Draw the snowbank first as one large soft mound filling most of the page, then add just two legs and boots poking out of a dark round opening near its base, the rest of the kid disappeared inside.
The trick that saves this drawing is the dark tunnel opening: shade it with Payne’s grey or a deep blue rather than black, so it reads as shadow and not a hole punched in the paper. Everything else around it stays bright white or lightly shaded, which makes that opening pop by contrast alone.
Boots sticking out at a slightly bent angle, rather than straight, make it look like the kid is actively wriggling forward instead of just lying still. A kneaded eraser is handy here, you can press it into pencil shading on the snowbank to lift soft highlights that suggest its lumpy, packed texture.
Kids can keep the snowbank one smooth shape, while an adult might add a few packed snow lines radiating from the tunnel mouth where it has been dug out by hand.
You Will Need
- kneaded eraser
Palette: Payne’s Grey,Icy Blue,Burnt Sienna,White
Keep the teamwork theme going with two sisters rolling a huge snowball across the yard, a scene built almost entirely around one giant circle. Draw the snowball first, slightly larger than either girl, with a visible trail of flattened snow behind it where it has rolled across the yard.
Place the two girls on either side pushing with both hands, bodies leaning into the push at an angle rather than standing straight up, since that lean is what makes the heavy rolling motion believable. Give the snowball a rough, bumpy outline rather than a perfectly smooth circle, and shade one side slightly darker to show it is round and solid.
Comparing sizes is the key proportion trick here: make the snowball roughly as tall as each girl’s torso, from waist to shoulder, so it reads as genuinely heavy rather than like a beach ball they could lift with one hand.
A simpler version for a younger artist uses one flat color on the snowball with a single shadow line, while an older artist can add the flattened rolled track behind it in light grey hatching. If you want a related scene afterward, a bundled up dog bounding nearby fits nicely, or look at the fort and cocoa ideas further down this list.
Palette: White,Payne’s Grey,Cherry Red,Mint
Slow things down with a boy sticking out his tongue at falling snow on the porch, a quiet single figure scene that is easy to finish quickly. Draw him standing on a porch step with his head tilted back, mouth open and tongue out, arms loose at his sides, then scatter a handful of simple snowflake shapes falling around him.
Start with his head tilt and open mouth since that expression carries the whole drawing, then build the rest of his body and the porch railing around it. Keep the falling snowflakes simple, small six pointed stars or even plain dots, and do not draw too many of them, a handful scattered loosely looks more natural than rows of identical flakes.
Lighting makes a real difference in a quiet scene like this: imagine the porch light glowing warm just behind him, so you can add a soft yellow glow around the doorway while the snowflakes themselves stay cool white and icy blue, which creates a nice contrast between warm indoors and cold outdoors.
A child can keep this to one flat colored jacket and a few dot flakes, while an older artist might add a light pencil texture on the porch railing wood grain. This is also a nice companion scene to pair with a hot chocolate drawing waiting for him just inside the door.
Palette: Icy Blue,Goldenrod,Mint,Payne’s Grey
Move on to a proud builder beside a snow castle with bucket turrets, a chance to draw something more architectural without it getting complicated. Draw the castle body first as a wide rectangle base, then add two or three rounded dome turrets along the top, each one drawn from the same bucket shaped curve you used in the fort scene earlier in this list.
Place the kid standing proudly beside it with hands on hips or arms crossed, chest slightly puffed out, which instantly reads as pride even with a simple round head and basic facial dots. Keep the castle mostly white with blue shadow lines in the grooves between blocks, so the turrets and any flag on top can carry the brighter color.
A tiny paper or fabric flag on a stick pushed into the top turret is an easy, satisfying detail to add last, drawn as a small triangle in cherry red or mint. If you do not have a real bucket around to study for the turret curves, any round cup or small bowl works just as well for reference.
Kids can keep the castle to one simple block shape with one turret, while an adult can add a second row of blocks and a small snow path leading up to the door.
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,Mint,White
Bring in a dog leaping to catch a snowball in midair for a burst of pure energy. Draw the dog’s body stretched long and low with front paws reaching forward and back legs trailing behind, ears flopped up from the jump, then place the small white snowball just ahead of its open mouth.
Sketch the leap pose first using a simple curved spine line to get the stretch right, then build legs and head around that line rather than starting with the head and hoping the body follows. A dog mid leap almost always has its tail either straight out behind or curled up, never hanging down, so check that detail before you color.
For fur texture, use short quick pencil strokes going in the direction the fur grows rather than one flat block of color, especially along the back and tail, and keep the edges of the dog looser and rougher than the smooth snowball shape for contrast. A golden or russet colored dog against white snow and an icy blue sky reads especially clean.
A simpler version skips fur strokes entirely and uses flat color, while a more detailed pass adds that directional hatching plus a shadow patch under the dog to anchor the leap to the ground.
Palette: Burnt Sienna,White,Icy Blue,Payne’s Grey
Look at a photo of a dog mid jump if you have one handy, the stretched spine and tucked back legs are the hardest part to get right from memory.
Multiply the earlier angel pose into friends lying in a row of snow angels across a field, a wide group scene that works nicely as a bigger project once simpler ideas feel easy. Draw three or four figures lying side by side, each with arms and legs spread, but vary the angle of each one’s limbs slightly so they do not look like identical copies stamped across the page.
Work left to right across the paper, finishing each full figure before starting the next, rather than drawing four heads first and then going back for bodies, which tends to throw off your spacing. Give each kid a different jacket color so the row reads as a group of individuals rather than one repeated shape.
The biggest risk in a row like this is the figures ending up too evenly spaced and stiff, so stagger them slightly, some a little higher or lower on the page, like real kids flopping down at slightly different moments. Light angel sweep marks under each pair of arms and legs, in pale icy blue, tie the whole row together.
Younger artists can manage two figures instead of four, while an older artist might add one small figure still mid flop, arms not yet spread, to catch the group in action rather than all posed and still.
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,Mint,Lilac
After all that downhill speed, a kid trudging up the sled hill dragging a red sled gives you a slower, more effortful pose to practice. Draw the body leaning forward at a noticeable angle, head down, one arm reaching back to drag the sled’s rope along the snow behind, legs mid stride up a diagonal hill line.
Get the hill’s diagonal drawn in lightly first so you know exactly how steep the climb is, then angle the whole figure to match that slope rather than drawing them upright and trying to force the hill underneath them afterward. The forward lean is what sells tiredness, so exaggerate it a little more than feels natural.
Footprints trailing behind in the snow, drawn as simple oval dents with a touch of blue shadow, add a nice sense of distance already traveled without much extra work. A kneaded eraser can lift small highlights in the snow around the footprints to make them sit into the surface rather than float on top.
A quick version skips the footprints and just focuses on the figure and sled, while a fuller version adds the trail plus a distant tiny figure at the top of the hill waiting. For another trudging or climbing figure to compare poses with, the people studies in the girl pencil drawing ideas are worth a look.
You Will Need
- kneaded eraser
Palette: Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Payne’s Grey,White
Bring the fun indoors to the yard with a mom and daughter having a snowball fight in pajamas, caught in that first excited rush before anyone has even put on a real coat. Draw both figures in loose pajama patterns, slightly oversized sleeves and pant legs, mid throw with one arm pulled back and the other reaching to protect her face from an incoming snowball.
Start with mom’s throwing pose since it anchors the whole scene, then add the daughter reacting to it, leaning back slightly with a surprised open mouth. Pajama patterns are a fun place to add personality, small polka dots or thin stripes in soft lilac or mint keep them looking cozy rather than like regular outdoor clothes.
Bare feet or slipper boots poking out below pajama pants are a nice detail that instantly tells the story of two people who ran outside on impulse, so do not skip drawing at least one bare ankle. If pattern drawing feels fiddly, swap busy polka dots for simple plain pajamas in a single soft color instead.
A child drawing this with a parent can take the daughter’s figure while an adult handles mom’s pose, then trade feedback on the throwing arm angles together.
Palette: Lilac,Mint,Cherry Red,White
For more chaos, draw a sledding crash with kids tumbling into fresh powder, several limbs and one overturned sled all at once. Place the sled upside down or sideways near the center of the scene, then scatter two or three kids around it in tumbled poses, arms and legs at odd angles, some half buried in loose snow.
Work out each figure’s main tumble pose in light pencil before adding any color, moving from one kid to the next so you can check that none of them overlap in a confusing way. Loose snow flying up around the crash, drawn as short scattered white and icy blue flicks, helps tie the scattered figures together into one single moment rather than looking like separate drawings glued side by side.
The quickest way to save a crash scene that looks static instead of chaotic is to make sure at least one limb or the sled itself crosses outside the group’s general oval shape, breaking the symmetry that reads as too calm and posed.
A simpler version uses just two kids and the sled, finishable quickly, while the fuller version adds a third figure and more flying snow flicks around the edges for extra drama.
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,Payne’s Grey,White
Return to the fort theme with something quieter, a kid peeking out of a snow fort window, just a round face and two hands gripping the opening’s edge. Draw the fort wall first as a thick curved block shape, then cut a simple round or arched opening into it near the top, with the kid’s head and shoulders filling most of that opening.
Shade the inside edge of the window opening a touch darker than the outer wall, using Payne’s grey or a deep blue, which gives the opening real depth rather than looking like a flat circle drawn on top of the wall. The kid’s hands gripping the lower edge of the opening, fingers just curling over the rim, sell the idea of someone leaning up to look out from inside.
Keep the face simple and bright, wide eyes and a big grin, since that expression is doing most of the storytelling in a scene with very little else happening. If an arched opening feels tricky to draw symmetrically, trace around a small plate or bowl for a clean round window instead.
A younger artist can keep the fort as one plain block with a round hole, while an older one can add icicle shapes dripping from the window’s upper edge.
Palette: Payne’s Grey,Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White
Give an older family member a turn with a grandma throwing her first snowball in years, caught mid wind up with a huge grin. Draw her stance a little wider and sturdier than a kid’s, one arm cocked back with the snowball, the other reaching forward for balance, coat and scarf swinging slightly with the motion.
Her face carries most of the fun in this one, so spend extra time on a wide open mouth grin and crinkled eyes before worrying about the rest of the pose. A patterned scarf in cherry red or lilac, drawn with a few simple zigzag or plaid lines, adds warmth and personality without much extra effort.
Comparing her proportions to a nearby kid, if you include one watching off to the side, keeps her reading clearly as an adult: her head to shoulder ratio should be noticeably smaller relative to her total height than a child’s. Glasses, if you give her a pair, are just two simple ovals connected by a thin bridge line, easy to add last once the face is already working.
A simple version keeps her coat one flat color, while an adult artist drawing this scene might add the plaid scarf pattern and a light crease pattern in her coat sleeves.
Palette: Cherry Red,Lilac,Payne’s Grey,White
Step up the structure with kids carving an igloo out of packed snow blocks, a scene that leans on repeated curved rectangles stacked into a dome. Draw the igloo’s dome shape first as one large rounded form, then divide it into rows of slightly curved block outlines that wrap around the surface, getting smaller toward the top.
Place one or two kids beside it holding small saws or trowels, mid cut into a fresh block, with the half finished entrance opening on the near side showing the dark interior shadow. Getting the dome’s perspective right just means keeping the horizontal block lines curving more sharply near the top and flatter near the base, which is where a real igloo’s blocks actually sit.
Light coming from one side lets you shade half the dome with pale blue shadow while leaving the lit side nearly white, and that single contrast does more to make the dome look three dimensional than careful block by block detail ever will. If carving tools feel fussy to draw, give the kids simple mittened hands pressing a block into place instead.
A quicker version uses fewer, larger blocks and no tools, while a more detailed pass adds the dark entrance shadow and a kid handing a block up to another on top.
Palette: Icy Blue,Payne’s Grey,White,Mint
Match the earlier family toboggan scene with something smaller and wilder, two friends on one sled screaming down a steep hill. Draw the sled tilted at a steeper angle than before, nose pointed down, with both kids leaning forward and gripping the front edge, mouths wide open mid scream.
Start with the sled’s steep diagonal since it sets the whole mood of the drawing, then fit both bodies tightly along its length, front kid leaning lower than the back one to show the speed pulling them forward. Hair or hat pompoms flying straight back, drawn with a few quick curved lines, instantly reads as fast motion even before you add any snow spray.
Quick ten minute version: just the sled, two figures and a steep hill line. The forty minute version adds a flying snow spray trail behind the runners plus small motion lines streaking off their flapping scarves or jacket edges.
A child drawing this can keep both kids’ expressions simple round open mouths, while an older artist might vary each kid’s expression, one thrilled and one a little nervous, for extra character. Keep the hill line steep and the sled close to the bottom edge of the page so the whole scene feels like it is rushing straight at the viewer.
Palette: Cherry Red,Mint,Icy Blue,Payne’s Grey
Keep the laughs going with a little brother buried up to his chest in snow, laughing, a scene that is mostly one happy face poking out of a big white mound. Draw the snow mound first as a large soft shape taking up most of the lower half of the page, then add his head, shoulders and arms sticking out of the top, arms either waving or tucked in close to his sides.
His expression is doing almost all the work here, so give him a wide open laughing mouth and squeezed shut eyes before anything else, since a flat or neutral face will make the whole joke fall flat. Pack the snow around his shoulders slightly uneven and lumpy rather than perfectly smooth, which helps sell the idea that it was piled on by hand rather than being a clean drift.
If you want to add a sibling doing the burying, place them kneeling just beside the mound patting more snow into place, which also gives you a second, taller figure to balance the composition. For a simple swap, give him a bright knit hat instead of bare hair, it is quicker to draw and adds a nice spot of color near his laughing face.
A younger artist can keep the mound plain and smooth, while an older one can add a few lumpy pack marks and a stray mitten lying on top of the snow nearby.
Palette: White,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Mint
For something a little different, draw a girl stamping a giant snowflake pattern into a field with her boots, seen from above or at a slight angle so the pattern reads clearly. Draw the snowflake’s six pointed branching pattern first as light guide lines across the lower half of the page, then place her small figure at one end, mid step, pressing a fresh boot print into the next branch.
Working out the pattern before the figure matters a lot here, since a wobbly, uneven snowflake will pull focus away from her entirely. A light ruler guide or even just folding a scrap of paper into sixths to check the angles keeps the branches evenly spaced before you commit to pencil.
Boot prints along the finished branches, drawn as small overlapping oval shapes in pale blue shadow, show her progress around the pattern so far, with fresher, darker prints near her feet and fainter ones further along where the first cold air has already softened the edges.
A simpler version uses a plain six branch snowflake with no boot prints yet, just her walking the first line, while a fuller version shows several branches already stamped out behind her. Try the whole scene again later from a bird’s eye view for a different feel.
Palette: Icy Blue,White,Cherry Red,Payne’s Grey
Bring some city or schoolyard flavor in with a kid zooming down a snowy playground slide, arms up and a big grin as snow sprays off the sides. Draw the slide first as a long curved tube or ramp shape, angled steeply, with the kid positioned partway down, body leaning back slightly with arms thrown up overhead.
Get the slide’s curve drawn and shaded before adding the figure, since the curve’s lean determines how far back the kid’s body should tilt to look like they are actually sliding rather than standing still on a ramp. A metal or plastic slide covered in a light dusting of snow can be shown with a few patchy white streaks over a base color of grey or faded red rather than solid white, which reads as snow sitting on a surface rather than snow replacing the surface.
Snow kicked up at the slide’s base, in short white flicks, marks the spot where other kids have already landed before her, adding a sense that this is one slide in a busy, well used playground rather than an empty one.
A quick version skips the snow spray at the base, while a fuller version adds a second kid waiting their turn at the top of the ladder. If playground equipment feels hard to invent from memory, a quick look at any local playground photo helps nail the slide’s curve.
Palette: Payne’s Grey,Cherry Red,White,Icy Blue
Bring the whole cast together with a family lined up making snowballs for a backyard battle, several figures of different sizes all working at once. Draw a loose row of three or four family members, each bent slightly forward packing a snowball between two hands, varying each person’s height and jacket color so the group reads as a real mixed family rather than identical copies.
Build this one person at a time from left to right, finishing each figure’s pose and basic color before starting the next, which keeps the spacing even across a group this size. A small pile of finished snowballs near each person’s feet, just a cluster of simple white circles, shows how long they have already been working.
Varying each family member’s bent over angle slightly, some more hunched than others, some kneeling instead of standing, keeps the row from feeling like a line of paper dolls. Next time you draw this scene, try it from behind instead, looking at the backs of the family lined up facing an empty yard waiting for their targets to appear.
Kids can manage two family members with simple poses, while an adult might take on the full line of four with varied bending angles and a scattering of finished snowballs at everyone’s feet.
Palette: Cherry Red,Mint,Icy Blue,Lilac
Slow the pace again with a boy pulling his sister on a sled through a snowy park, a gentler cousin to the earlier trudging and grandpa scenes. Draw him walking with a steady forward lean, one hand holding the sled rope over his shoulder, while his sister sits bundled up on the sled behind him, legs tucked in and hands gripping the sides.
Place a simple path of bare trees or a park bench in the background to establish this as a public park rather than a backyard, keeping the background loose and sketchy so the two figures stay the clear focus of the page. Footprints and sled tracks trailing behind them, a pair of parallel lines with light pencil shading between, show exactly where they have come from across the park.
The easiest way to keep this pair looking connected rather than like two separate drawings is to make sure the rope line has the same gentle sag whether he is pulling hard or walking easy, since a perfectly straight taut rope looks stiff and unnatural even at a slow walking pace.
A simpler version drops the background trees entirely and just shows the two figures and sled on plain white paper, while a fuller version adds the park setting and tracks. For more winter scene ideas built around a wider setting, the scenery drawing for kids list is worth a look.
Palette: Cherry Red,Mint,Payne’s Grey,White
Bring a playful animal twist in with kids sculpting a snow cat and a snow dog side by side, two simple snow sculptures built from stacked rounded shapes just like a snowman. Draw the cat first as three decreasing circles with triangular ears and a long curved tail poking out to one side, then build the dog beside it from similar stacked circles but with floppy rounded ears and a shorter stub tail.
Give each sculpture small stick or stone details, little twig whiskers on the cat and a small stone nose on the dog, which instantly tells the two sculptures apart even though they are built from nearly the same shapes. Placing a kid kneeling between them, patting one final shape into place, ties both sculptures together into a single finished scene.
Comparing the two animals’ proportions side by side is the proportion trick here: keep the cat’s body slightly slimmer and its ears more pointed, while the dog stays a bit stockier with rounder ears, so even without color the two read as different animals at a glance.
A simple version for a younger artist uses two circles each for a smaller cat and dog, while an older artist can add a full three circle body to each plus the twig and stone details. Swap small pebbles for buttons or dried berries if that is what is lying around the yard.
Palette: White,Payne’s Grey,Burnt Sienna,Icy Blue
Finish the whole set on a calm note with a rosy cheeked kid drinking cocoa on the steps after sledding, the natural last scene once all the playing is done. Draw the kid sitting on a porch step, knees bent up, both hands wrapped around a mug, with a sled leaning against the railing just behind them as a quiet reminder of the day’s fun.
Spend extra time on the cheeks and nose here, a soft pink or cherry red blush blended lightly with short hatching strokes, since that warm color against the cool blues of the rest of the scene is really what makes this drawing feel cozy and finished rather than just tired.
Steam rising from the mug, drawn as two or three soft wavy lines curling upward, adds warmth without any extra color needed, and a kneaded eraser can lift tiny highlight dots on the mug’s rim to suggest it catching the light.
A quicker version skips the background sled and railing and just focuses on the kid and mug, while a fuller version adds the leaning sled, a scarf trailing loose, and a light dusting of snow still clinging to a boot. For more mug and steam practice afterward, the hot chocolate drawing ideas pair nicely with this one.
You Will Need
- kneaded eraser
Palette: Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Burnt Sienna,Payne’s Grey
What to Do Next
Pick whichever scene matches the mood you are in today, a quiet snow angel if you want something calm, a full on sled crash if you want energy, and start with a sheet of bright white paper so the snow has somewhere to stay bare. Sketch the pose lightly in pencil first, check the lean or the hill line before you color, then let the icy blue, cherry red and mint do the rest of the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What colored pencils work best for snow drawing?
A basic 24 to 36 color set covers everything in these scenes well, as long as it includes a few blues, a cherry red, mint and lilac. Leave the paper’s own white for snow instead of a white pencil wherever possible, and save a white gel pen just for bright highlights and splat marks.
How do you make snow look white instead of grey on colored paper?
Leave the paper bare for the brightest snow and only add icy blue or pale grey shading in the shadowed dips and folds. Shading every bit of snow flattens the brightness, so the contrast between bare white paper and a few blue shadow lines is what reads as snow.
How do you draw people moving without making them look stiff?
Lean the whole body in the direction of the action, forward for running or pulling, back for surprise, before worrying about any small details. A curved spine line sketched first, rather than a straight vertical body, makes almost any pose look more alive.
What is the easiest snow drawing idea to start with for a child?
The snow angel and the boy catching snowflakes are both good first choices since each uses just one simple figure and a few lines for the snow itself. Both finish quickly and still look complete with only three or four pencil colors.
How do you keep group scenes with several figures from getting messy?
Finish one figure fully, outline and color, before starting the next rather than sketching every head first. Vary each person’s height, pose angle and jacket color so the group reads as separate individuals instead of one blurred shape.