Draw a Christmas Tree Step by Step

Starting the Christmas Tree

H South, licensed to About.com, Inc.

To begin drawing your Christmas tree, first lightly draw a triangle in pencil. This is a guideline to help you shape your tree. Now draw a star on the top. It's often a tradition to put the star or angel on the Christmas tree last, but for the drawing, we'll do it first! Leave enough room underneath to add the pot later. For best results with this drawing, use a nice large-nibbed felt pen or permanent marker, to give a heavy, cartoony line. Don't be a perfectionist - keep the drawing relaxed and your lines smooth and confident. Trying to fix wobbles just draws attention to them!

Drawing The Top Of The Tree

H South, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Now draw the top of the tree, making three pointy branches as shown. Don't try to be too perfect - wonky lines can look funky! It doesn't matter if you overlap the triangle. If you are using a computer, make sure the ends of your lines join up to the star, so that you can use fill to color it later, without the whole page filling up.

Drawing the Last Branches

H. South, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Next add another row of branches halfway between the first row and the bottom of the triangle, making four points - one finishing on each side of the triangle, two in between. Then add the bottom row, making five points. Remember to keep your lines relaxed and fun! Don't be a perfectionist.

Add the Trunk and Pot

H. South, Licensed to About.com, Inc.

Just below the tree, draw a box shape and join it to the tree with two lines, not too wide, not too close - use this example to guide you. Add two lines across the pot for a ribbon, and make the center of the bow with two more lines as shown. Erase your triangle guidelines (or leave it and trace your finished tree onto a fresh page later)

This is a great drawing to use for a simple Christmas card design. A piece of heavy watercolor paper makes a great card, just folded in half. Draw lightly with a pencil, and color with watercolor paint. Then, go over your outlines with a thick sharpie marker.

Finish the Bow and Add Baubles

H South, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Now to finish decorating the Christmas tree. Add two triangles to make your bow, erasing the lines from the ribbon inside the triangles. The simple round shapes of baubles make a great contrast to the spiky tree branch shapes, but you could also draw stars if you prefer. Give your start some sparkle with dashed lines, and you're done!

To use this tree for a kid's craft activity, try drawing a large outline with a Sharpie marker, and letting your child color-in the tree and decorate it with stickers.

Coloring on the Computer

H South, licensed to About.com, Inc.

Adding color to a line drawing like this is quick and easy in most computer graphics programs. You just select your color, select "Fill" (the paint bucket) and click in each part of the picture. The important thing is to make sure your polygons are closed. This means that every area that you are filling is completely surrounded by a line - any gaps and the paint spills into the next part of the picture. Go through and tidy up any gaps before you start.