Winter drawing does not need a sweeping snowy landscape to feel like winter. The smallest moments carry the season just as well: a mitten on a radiator, a frosted window, a dog that refuses to step outside into the cold. This list gives you 36 of those moments, each one a single person or pet doing something ordinary on a winter day.
Every idea below is built for colored pencil on plain white paper, with enough bare paper left showing to keep the page feeling bright and cold rather than heavy. Scroll until one stops you, then pull out your pencils and spend the next while finishing it.
Using these images: free for personal projects such as printing, coloring, cards, journals and gifts. Handmade items that include them may be sold up to 30 pieces per design. More than that is commercial use and is not permitted, and neither is selling or sharing the images themselves or passing them off as your own. Please ask before any other use.
Start with the easiest scene on the list: a girl in mittens scraping frost off a car windshield. Block her in first as simple shapes, a rounded puffy coat and a bent arm reaching up, before you touch any detail on the glass behind her.
Lay the windshield frost with white gel pen over a pale icy blue base, scratching short crossing strokes to suggest the scraper’s path. Work the coat next in cherry red with visible hatching strokes left showing rather than blended smooth, then add the mittens and hat last so they sit forward of everything else.
If the frost pattern turns muddy, it almost always means too much blue went down first. Keep the base layer light and let the white gel pen do the heavy lifting on top.
No gel pen on hand, a white colored pencil pressed hard works almost as well on bright paper. Keep the car itself small and loosely suggested so the girl stays the largest shape on the page.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White,Chocolate Brown
Keep the momentum going with a woman pulling a grocery sled home, leeks poking out the top of a cloth bag. Measure the sled first against her leg length, it should sit roughly knee height, so the whole scene reads as true to scale before you add a single leaf of green.
Sketch her in a walking stride, one foot forward, the sled rope taut in her mitten. Color her coat in chocolate brown with long hatching strokes that follow the fabric’s fall, then bring the leeks forward in sage green with pale icy blue shadow underneath to seat them in the bag.
The rope is where this one tends to go wrong, too thick and it reads as a stick rather than a line pulled tight. Keep it a single confident pencil line, slightly curved with the pull of her arm.
No sled to reference, a simple rectangle with small round wheels or runners reads fine at this size.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Sage Green,Icy Blue,Cherry Red
Bring the scene indoors with a girl hanging wet mittens on a radiator after sledding, still in her snow boots. Draw the radiator first as a simple grid of vertical ribs, it anchors the whole composition and everything else leans against it.
Work her in cherry red snowsuit with the hood still half up, kneeling or reaching toward the radiator bars. Color the mittens a soft icy blue, damp and a little limp over the metal, with short choppy hatching to suggest the wet sheen rather than a hard outline.
If the radiator starts looking like a ladder, narrow the gaps between ribs and round their top edges slightly, metal radiators are never perfectly straight-edged. Leave the floor around her bare white, just a few loose pencil lines for melting snow tracked in.
No radiator in your reference, a row of pipes or a simple heater grille works just as well, the mittens are the real subject here.
Palette: Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Chocolate Brown,White
Shift to an animal subject with a dog in a knit sweater waiting outside a corner shop in snow. Eye level matters here, drop your view down close to the dog’s height rather than looking down on it, and the whole drawing reads as more companionable straight away.
Sketch the dog seated, leash looped loosely around a post or door handle, ears alert toward the shop door. Lay the sweater in sage green with a simple knit pattern of short diagonal strokes, then build the shop front behind in loose chocolate brown lines, just enough to say doorway without drawing every brick.
Dogs often go wrong at the legs, too long and thin. Keep them short and slightly thick at this size, a seated dog reads better chunky than elegant.
If you enjoy animals like this one, the cat illustration ideas page has more pets in cozy winter settings worth trying next.
Palette: Sage Green,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Add two figures at once with a man shoveling the front walk while a small kid helps with a toy shovel. Draw the adult first, full size, then place the child at roughly half his height standing just behind or beside the cleared path, that size difference is what sells the scene.
Color his coat in chocolate brown with heavy confident hatching for warmth, and dress the kid in cherry red so your eye jumps straight to the smaller figure. Build the snow pile in icy blue shadow along one side of the shovel’s path, leaving the cleared walk bright white paper.
If the two figures end up floating with no connection, overlap them slightly, let the child’s shoulder just touch the edge of the man’s coat. That small overlap reads as togetherness instantly.
No second figure if you want a faster version, the man alone shoveling still tells the whole story.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,White
Give the figure a working subject with a mail carrier trudging through snow, a heavy bag pulling one shoulder down. Light source decides this drawing, put the low winter sun behind her so one side of the bag and coat catches a pale icy blue rim while the rest sits in warm brown shadow.
Sketch her leaning slightly against the bag’s weight, one foot sunk deeper in a snowdrift than the other. Color the uniform coat in a deep cherry red or navy if you prefer, with the bag itself in chocolate brown, heavy hatching along its strap to show the pull of weight.
The lean is where beginners pull back too soon, a figure carrying real weight tilts more than feels natural to draw. Exaggerate the tilt slightly and it reads as effort rather than a mistake.
No mailbag reference handy, any oversized satchel slung across the body carries the same story.
Palette: Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Slow the pace with a woman sipping coffee at a frosty kitchen window at sunrise, a quiet moment rather than an errand. Place the light source low and warm just outside the glass, a pale orange or cherry red glow along the frost pattern, while the room behind her stays in cool icy blue shadow.
Draw her in profile or three-quarter view, mug held in both hands close to her face. Build the window frost with white gel pen scratched over a thin icy blue wash, denser at the corners and thinning toward the middle where she has likely wiped a small clear patch to see out.
If the sunrise glow looks flat, warm just the frost nearest the glass edge and let it cool quickly moving inward, sunlight through frost never stays even across a whole pane.
No gel pen, leave small patches of bare white paper for the brightest frost instead.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,White
Keep the window theme going with a girl drawing a smiley face on a frosted window from the inside, finger pressed flat against the glass. Work the frost first as a full icy blue layer with white gel pen texture, then lift a clean curved line through it with a kneaded eraser to show her finger’s path.
Draw her close to the glass, nose almost touching, breath still faintly visible as a soft grey smudge near her mouth. Color her in cherry red pajamas or a cardigan, warm against the cold blue of the window.
The lifted line is the trick of this one, press the kneaded eraser and pull rather than rub, a rubbing motion smears the frost instead of clearing it. Practice the pull on scrap paper first if you have not tried it.
No kneaded eraser, a white gel pen line drawn over the frost reads almost the same.
You Will Need
- kneaded eraser
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White,Chocolate Brown
Move back outdoors with a kid waiting at a snowy bus stop, a backpack almost as big as he is. Compare the backpack’s width against his shoulders before you draw it in, it should read as roughly his own torso width to feel properly oversized and kid sized.
Sketch him standing with both straps pulled tight, breath showing in a small grey puff near his face. Color the backpack in cherry red, the brightest shape on the page, with his coat in a quieter chocolate brown so the bag stays the focal point.
If the backpack looks like it belongs to an adult, round its corners more and shrink the straps slightly, an oversized kid’s bag is soft and puffy rather than structured.
No bus stop sign needed, a simple post with a small sign shape in the background is enough context.
Palette: Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Try a trickier pose next with a neighbor knocking icicles off a porch roof with a broom, arm fully extended overhead. Draw the icicles first, a cluster of tapering triangles in icy blue with white gel pen highlights down one edge, before placing the figure reaching up toward them.
Sketch him on tiptoe or a small step stool, broom angled up against the porch edge. Color his coat in chocolate brown and the broom handle in a worn warm tan, keeping the icicles the coolest, brightest shapes in the whole scene for contrast.
Reaching figures often end up stiff, loosen the pose by curving the spine slightly and dropping the opposite shoulder, nobody reaches straight up without some lean in the body.
No porch roof line handy, a simple straight eave with icicles hanging below reads clearly enough.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,Chocolate Brown,White,Cherry Red
Bring in a quieter animal moment with a cat pawing at snowflakes landing on the window glass from inside. Draw the cat’s body as two simple ovals, one for the chest and one for the haunches, before adding the raised paw pressed flat against the pane.
Build the snowflakes outside as small white gel pen dots and crosses scattered loosely, denser near the top of the window and thinning lower down. Color the cat in chocolate brown and white patches, or any coat color you like, with short hatching strokes following the direction the fur grows.
The paw against glass is easy to overwork, keep it a simple flattened shape with toes just suggested, too much detail here and it stops reading as pressed against something solid.
No white gel pen, leave the snowflakes as tiny bare white dots on the icy blue window instead.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Chocolate Brown,White,Icy Blue,Cherry Red
If you like drawing pets in domestic winter scenes, the cat illustration list has more window and radiator poses worth a look.
Add a splash of unexpected color with a woman buying clementines at a snowy market stall. Clementines are the whole point here, cluster them in a simple wooden crate and color them in a warm orange red rather than true cherry red, the single warmest shape against all the surrounding blue and white.
Sketch her reaching toward the crate, a stallholder’s hand just visible offering one. Build the stall itself loosely in chocolate brown planks, with a light dusting of icy blue shadow along the snow piled at its base.
If the oranges look flat, leave a small crescent of bare white paper on each one for a highlight before you color around it, that single untouched sliver does most of the work of making them look round.
No crate reference, a simple basket or open box holds the clementines just as well.
Palette: Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Pick up the pace with a jogger in a red hat on a snowy riverside path, mid stride against a cold background. Place her eye level low, close to the path itself, so the river behind her reads as a wide pale icy blue band rather than a small distant strip.
Sketch the stride first, one leg forward and bent, arms pumping, before adding any clothing detail. Color the hat and jacket in cherry red, the single warm note against the icy blue river and bare white snow on the path.
Running figures tip over easily on paper if the back leg trails too straight, bend it slightly at the knee even mid push off, a dead straight back leg reads as standing still rather than moving.
No river in your view, a simple snowy path lined with a few bare trees carries the same feeling.
Palette: Cherry Red,Icy Blue,White,Chocolate Brown
Try two figures moving together with a couple carrying a new houseplant home, wrapped in brown paper, through falling snow. Draw the plant first, its leaves poking up out of the paper wrap in sage green, then build the two figures around it holding the wrapped pot between them.
Overlap their shoulders slightly as they walk side by side, that overlap is what makes two separate figures read as a pair rather than two strangers who happen to be near each other. Color their coats in contrasting chocolate brown and cherry red so each figure stays distinct.
If the plant looks stiff, vary the leaf sizes and let one or two droop slightly outside the paper wrap, real plant leaves are never perfectly even.
No specific plant in mind, a few long simple leaf shapes read as a houseplant at this size without needing a particular species.
Palette: Sage Green,Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red,Icy Blue
Settle into a doorway scene with a girl pulling on boots at the door, a loose pile of scarves beside her on a bench or the floor. Draw the scarves first as a soft tangled heap in two or three colors, icy blue, sage green and cherry red woven through each other, before adding the figure.
Sketch her seated or crouched, one boot already on, the other held in both hands. Keep her coat simple and let the scarf pile carry most of the color interest, hatching each scarf in a slightly different direction so they read as distinct pieces of fabric rather than one solid shape.
If the scarves blur into one mass, outline each one faintly before coloring, even a light pencil line between them keeps the pile readable once color goes down.
No pile needed for a quicker version, a single scarf draped over her shoulder tells the same story in less time.
Palette: Icy Blue,Sage Green,Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown
Bring a gentler rhythm with a grandmother scattering seeds for birds from her snowy back step, a small flock already gathering. Place the birds low to the ground near her feet, two or three small rounded shapes rather than one, scattered loosely to suggest motion toward the seed.
Sketch her mid scatter, one hand out flung, a bowl of seed held in the other. Color her cardigan in sage green with chocolate brown birds pecking at her feet, keeping the snow around them bright bare white to let the small dark shapes stand out clearly.
If the birds disappear into the snow, give each one a tiny warm highlight, a touch of cherry red or brown on the head, so they separate from the white ground rather than blending into it.
No specific bird in mind, simple round bodied sparrows or robins both suit this scene well.
Palette: Sage Green,Chocolate Brown,White,Cherry Red
Take the scene onto a bus with a girl reading on a bus beside a frosty window, the glass fogged along its lower edge. Ten minutes is enough for a quick version: block in her seated shape, the book held close, and a loose icy blue haze along the window, done.
Spend closer to forty minutes and you can build the frost properly, white gel pen scratched in short overlapping strokes thickest at the window’s edges and corners, thinning toward a small clear patch where warmth from the bus has melted it. Add the book’s pages in warm cream against her cherry red coat for contrast.
If the frost looks too uniform, vary the stroke direction in patches rather than one steady sweep, real condensation never forms in neat even rows.
No gel pen, a pale icy blue wash alone still reads as a foggy window.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White,Chocolate Brown
Give yourself a funnier moment with a woman thawing a frozen car lock with a hairdryer, cord trailing back toward an open door. Draw the car door and lock first as the fixed point of the scene, then angle her arm and the hairdryer toward it at roughly the same height, that alignment is what sells the action.
Sketch her leaning in slightly, hairdryer held close to the handle, a thin trail of warm air suggested in a few loose white gel pen or bare paper lines. Color her coat in chocolate brown, the car itself in a muted icy blue, cold and glossy with frost still clinging to its edges.
If the warm air trail looks like smoke, keep the lines few and wavy rather than dense and curling, three or four loose strokes read as warm air better than a solid cloud does.
No hairdryer reference, a simple appliance shape with a cord is enough, the pose carries the joke either way.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White,Cherry Red
Keep the humor going with a man carrying firewood from the shed in his slippers, clearly not dressed for the weather. Stack the firewood logs first as simple overlapping circles cradled in both arms, varying their sizes slightly so the stack feels loosely balanced rather than perfectly even.
Sketch him hunched slightly against the cold, bathrobe or coat thrown on over pajamas, slippers sinking into a thin layer of snow. Color the logs in chocolate brown with darker bark marks, his robe in cherry red, the warmest and largest shape in the scene.
If the slippers disappear into the snow, give them a slightly darker outline than the surrounding white, a thin contour line is often all that is needed to separate a pale object from pale ground.
No shed needed in frame, the logs and his hurried posture tell the whole story without it.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red,White,Icy Blue
Shift to pure comedy with a toddler in a snowsuit so puffy she cannot put her arms down, standing stiff as a little barrel. Exaggerate the proportions here on purpose, the snowsuit body should be nearly as wide as it is tall, with the arms sticking out at a fixed awkward angle rather than hanging naturally.
Sketch her round shape first, then add a small round hood and two tiny boots peeking out at the bottom. Color the suit in cherry red or icy blue, whichever feels brighter against your paper, with simple quilted lines in a slightly darker shade to suggest the padding.
If she ends up looking like a plain circle rather than a toddler, keep the head proportionally larger than an adult’s and round her cheeks slightly, that alone reads as a small child even in a simplified shape.
No particular suit color in mind, any bright single color works, the stiffness of the pose is what makes this one funny.
Palette: Cherry Red,Icy Blue,White,Chocolate Brown
Settle back into a quiet errand with a woman dropping library books in a return box in the snow, arms full of titles. Stack the books first as a simple uneven pile held against her chest, varying their thickness and tilting a couple at slightly different angles so the stack feels real rather than squared off.
Sketch her reaching toward the return slot with the top book already halfway in. Color her coat in icy blue or sage green and the books in warm chocolate brown and cherry red covers, a small bright contrast against the metal box’s cooler tone.
If the return box looks flat, add a simple dark slot shape and a slightly curved top edge, most book drop boxes have a rounded or angled lid rather than a flat one.
No box reference handy, any simple metal container with a slot reads clearly enough at this size.
For more cozy indoor and window scenes in this same everyday style, the winter morning drawing ideas page is worth a browse too.
Palette: Icy Blue,Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red,Sage Green
Move outside again with a girl walking her dog at dawn, both their breaths showing as small clouds in the cold air. Place the light source low on the horizon behind them, a pale cherry red or orange glow along the tops of their heads and shoulders while the rest of the scene stays in cool icy blue dawn shadow.
Sketch the two of them mid stride together, leash held loosely, the dog slightly ahead and sniffing forward. Keep the breath clouds small and soft, just a light grey or pale icy blue puff near each mouth, not large or cartoonish.
If the dawn light looks too even across the whole scene, concentrate the warm glow only along the topmost edges of figures and let everything below stay cool, that contrast is what makes early light read convincingly.
No specific dog breed in mind, a simple medium build with floppy ears suits most casual walking poses.
Palette: Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White,Chocolate Brown
Return to something small and quick with a woman in pajamas grabbing the newspaper from a snowy front step. Ten minutes covers the basics: her crouched reach, the paper half buried in a thin dusting of snow, done in loose outline and minimal color.
Spend closer to forty minutes and add the chill properly, goosebump shiver in her shoulders, a cardigan pulled tight with one hand, breath showing faintly. Color the pajamas in sage green or cherry red with a soft pattern of small dots or stripes, and the newspaper in plain chocolate brown with a few loose lines suggesting print.
If the crouch looks awkward, bend the knees more than feels natural and drop one shoulder toward the ground, nobody reaches for something low while standing fully upright.
No pattern needed on the pajamas for a faster version, a plain solid color still tells the story just as well.
Palette: Sage Green,Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,White
Warm the mood with a friend arriving with a pot of soup on a snowy doorstep, held carefully in both hands. Draw the pot first with a small wisp of steam rising from under its lid, white gel pen or a few loose bare paper lines against the cold air, before building the figure around it.
Sketch her mid knock or mid step, pot held steady and slightly forward of her body as if minding the warmth inside. Color her coat in chocolate brown or cherry red and the pot in a plain icy blue or cream, letting the small steam lines be the brightest, warmest detail on the page.
If the steam disappears against the white paper, give it the faintest grey or pale blue tint rather than leaving it pure white, steam needs just enough value to separate from bare paper.
No pot lid detail needed, a simple round pot shape with a handle reads clearly at this size.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,White
Pick up speed with a teenager sledding down the driveway on a baking tray, arms flung out for balance. Angle the driveway as a clear diagonal line across the page, that single sloped line does most of the work of showing motion before you add anything else.
Sketch him seated low on the tray, knees bent, both arms out wide for balance, hair or hood flying slightly backward. Color the tray in a simple metallic grey or icy blue with a thin white gel pen highlight along its curved edge, and his jacket in cherry red to keep him the brightest shape sliding down the slope.
If the motion looks stiff, tilt his whole body slightly backward against the slope’s angle rather than straight up and down, a sledding figure leans into the speed.
No baking tray in mind, any flat improvised sled, a lid or a flattened box, carries the same joke.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Cherry Red,Icy Blue,White,Chocolate Brown
Settle into a calm interior with a woman knitting a scarf by a frosty window, a cat curled into the yarn basket beside her. Build the yarn basket first, loose overlapping skeins in icy blue and sage green with the cat tucked in among them, before placing the woman in her chair nearby.
Sketch her hands mid stitch, needles crossed, the half finished scarf trailing down into her lap. Color her cardigan in chocolate brown and the window frost behind in pale icy blue, keeping the cat’s fur a contrasting warm tone so it stands out against the cool yarn around it.
If the yarn basket turns into a tangled mess, outline two or three distinct skein shapes before adding loose thread lines, structure first keeps the tangle readable rather than chaotic.
No cat in your version, the yarn basket and scarf alone still make a full quiet scene.
Palette: Icy Blue,Sage Green,Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red
Return to a little comedy with a man filling a bird feeder in his bathrobe, clearly stepping out just for a moment. Draw the feeder first, hanging from a simple post or branch, a thin stream of seed falling from the bag he tips into it, before adding his figure beneath.
Sketch him on tiptoe slightly to reach the feeder, robe pulled tight against the cold with one hand, the seed bag held in the other. Color the robe in cherry red or chocolate brown, the feeder in a simple warm wood tone, with a scattering of tiny seed dots falling through the cold air.
If his bare ankles above the boots look awkward, that gap is actually the joke, lean into it rather than covering it, it is exactly what sells a man who ran outside without dressing properly.
No feeder style in mind, a simple tube or platform shape works fine at this size.
Palette: Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Try a different accessory with a girl in earmuffs carrying ice skates over her shoulder, laces tied together and dangling. Measure the skates against her arm length before drawing, the blades should hang well past her hip if the laces are long enough to carry them that way, keeping the proportion believable.
Sketch her walking pose first, one hand steadying the laces at her shoulder. Color the earmuffs in cherry red, a small bright accent near her face, and the skate boots in chocolate brown with icy blue blades catching a thin white gel pen highlight along their edge.
If the blades disappear against a pale background, give them a thin dark outline before adding the highlight, a blade needs contrast on both sides to read as metal rather than a flat grey shape.
No gel pen, a sharp white colored pencil line pressed firmly works nearly as well for the blade highlight.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Bring the scene back indoors with a mom wiping melted snow off a toddler’s boots at the door, both figures close together at ground level. Draw the toddler’s boots first, small and round, puddled slightly where the snow has melted, before placing the mom kneeling in front of them with a cloth in hand.
Sketch her hunched low, toddler standing steady with one hand braced against the wall or her shoulder. Color the mom’s sweater in sage green and the toddler’s snowsuit in cherry red, keeping the small puddle beneath the boots in a pale icy blue wash.
If the kneeling pose looks stiff, round her back more than feels natural and let one knee touch the floor, a genuine kneeling figure folds rather than bends in a straight line.
No wall or doorway needed in frame, the two figures and the puddle alone carry the whole moment.
Palette: Sage Green,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,Chocolate Brown
Return outdoors with a woman choosing winter squash at a snowy farmers market, a few knobby shapes lined up on a wooden table. Draw the squash first, varying their shapes deliberately, one long and curved, one round and ribbed, so the pile feels like real produce rather than identical repeated shapes.
Color them in warm chocolate brown and a muted sage green, the warmest colors in the whole scene against the surrounding icy blue snow and white stall covering. Sketch her reaching toward one squash, picking it up to check its weight, a simple hand shape curled around its widest point.
If the squash all look the same size, scale two or three noticeably smaller than the rest, a market table always has uneven produce rather than a uniform row.
No wooden table reference, a simple crate or basket holds the squash just as well.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Sage Green,Icy Blue,White
Slow right down with a lost red mitten placed on a fence post by a kind passerby, no figure in the scene at all this time. Draw the fence post first, a simple weathered wood shape dusted with snow along its top, before adding the single mitten perched on its peak.
Color the mitten in bright cherry red, the one warm note in an otherwise cool icy blue and white scene. Hatch the wood grain on the post in loose chocolate brown strokes, letting a thin cap of bare white paper sit along its very top edge where snow has settled.
If the mitten looks pasted on rather than resting there, add a small soft shadow beneath it curving slightly with the post’s rounded top, that shadow is what grounds an object onto a surface rather than floating above it.
No fence post in your setting, a mailbox or low wall works just as well for this quiet little scene.
Palette: Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White
Bring the warmth back with a girl warming her hands on a paper cup of cocoa outside a shop, both palms wrapped around it. Draw the cup first, a simple paper cup shape with a small wisp of steam rising, before wrapping her mittened or bare hands around its sides.
Sketch her shoulders hunched slightly inward toward the cup’s warmth, face tilted down toward the steam. Color the cup in chocolate brown with a cherry red logo band or sleeve, and keep the steam as a few loose pale icy blue or grey lines rising softly rather than a thick solid cloud.
If her hands look stiff around the cup, curve the fingers more than feels natural, hands wrapped around something warm relax and curl rather than staying flat.
No shop window needed behind her, a plain background keeps the focus entirely on the cup and her hands.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Cherry Red,Icy Blue,White
For more cocoa and warm drink scenes to pair with this one, the hot chocolate drawing ideas page has plenty of related cozy moments.
Widen the scene slightly with a man walking to work across a frosty park, briefcase in hand, a thin path of footprints behind him. Place the horizon low and the sky high in this one, the opposite of most of the list so far, to give the small figure room to feel surrounded by open cold space.
Sketch him walking briskly, coat buttoned, briefcase swinging slightly with his stride. Color the grass beneath the frost in a muted sage green showing faintly through a thin icy blue frost layer, with his coat in chocolate brown as the one solid dark shape crossing the pale open park.
If the footprints behind him disappear into the white ground, give each one the faintest grey shadow on its near edge, a footprint is really just a small shadow shape pressed into snow.
No briefcase on hand, a simple shoulder bag tells the same working morning story.
Palette: Sage Green,Icy Blue,Chocolate Brown,White
Return to a window one more time with a girl breathing on an icy window to peek outside, a small warm patch melting through the frost. Lay the full window in icy blue frost first, then clear a soft rounded patch in the middle where her breath has melted it, using a kneaded eraser pulled gently rather than scrubbed.
Sketch her face close to the glass within that cleared patch, one eye visible peeking through. Color the frost around the patch with white gel pen texture, thickest at the edges, and keep her visible features simple, just enough to read as a curious face peeking out.
If the melted patch looks too perfectly round, rough up its edge slightly with small irregular bumps, breath melts frost unevenly rather than in a clean circle.
No kneaded eraser for the lifted patch, leave a rough oval of bare white paper unfrosted from the start instead.
For more frosty window scenes in this same quiet register, the Christmas window drawing ideas page has a good range worth browsing.
You Will Need
- kneaded eraser
- white gel pen
Palette: Icy Blue,White,Cherry Red,Chocolate Brown
Give the list one more animal moment with a dog sniffing fresh snow at the front door and refusing to step out, front paws planted firmly on the mat. Draw the doorway threshold first as a clear line between warm indoors and cold outdoors, that single boundary is the whole joke of this pose.
Sketch the dog leaning forward to sniff with its back half still pulling backward, a classic reluctant stance. Color its fur in chocolate brown with the snow just beyond the threshold in icy blue shadow, keeping the warm doorway mat in a cozier cherry red or warm tan to contrast against the cold outside.
If the reluctant lean does not read clearly, exaggerate the front and back halves pulling in opposite directions more than feels natural, a subtle lean reads as neutral rather than hesitant.
No specific breed needed, any dog with floppy ears and a stocky build suits this stubborn little pose.
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,Cherry Red,White
Close the list with a woman in a burgundy coat waiting for a tram in light snow, a quiet standing figure to finish on. Vary this one next time by changing her coat color or swapping the tram for a bus stop bench, the same standing pose adapts easily to several different waiting scenes once you have drawn it once.
Sketch her standing still, hands in pockets, shoulders slightly raised against the cold, a few light snowflakes falling around her drawn as small scattered white gel pen dots. Color the coat in a deep burgundy red rather than bright cherry, a richer tone that reads as more formal than the playful reds used earlier in this list.
If the standing pose looks too rigid, shift her weight slightly onto one hip and tilt her head a touch, a figure standing and waiting rarely holds perfectly symmetrical posture.
No tram line in view, a simple signpost or bench behind her sets the same waiting scene.
You Will Need
- white gel pen
Palette: Chocolate Brown,Icy Blue,White,Cherry Red
What to Do Next
Pick whichever idea you noticed yourself smiling at first, that is usually the one worth starting on today. Grab plain white paper, block the main shape in loosely, then build up color from the warmest accent outward, and let the page stay mostly bare and bright around it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What colored pencils work best for winter drawing scenes like these?
Any artist grade wax or oil based colored pencil set works well, with at least one true icy blue, a warm red, sage green and chocolate brown. Softer cores blend frost and hatching more smoothly than cheap hard pencils.
How do you draw realistic frost on a window in colored pencil?
Lay a thin pale icy blue base first, then scratch short crossing strokes of white gel pen or a hard white pencil over it, denser near the edges. Leave a small clear patch for a breath mark or wiped area for realism.
How do you keep a winter drawing from looking flat and empty?
Leave generous bare white paper around the figure rather than filling every inch with background detail. The contrast between a detailed figure and open white space is what keeps a winter scene feeling cold and bright.
How long does one of these winter drawing ideas take to finish?
Most take between twenty and forty minutes depending on how much hatching and frost detail you add. Simpler poses like a mitten on a fence post finish faster than scenes with two figures or detailed frost texture.
Can beginners draw people convincingly in these winter scenes?
Yes, these poses use simple overlapping shapes and exaggerated gestures rather than precise anatomy. Focus on the lean of a body or the bend of a knee first, and the pose reads clearly even with loose, simple shapes.
Have any thoughts?
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