The Christmas season is full of drawing inspiration! From twinkling lights to jolly Santas, there’s always something festive to sketch. One of the most classic and heartwarming images of the holidays is a beautifully wrappedChristmas gift box topped with a perfect bow.
Whether you’re decorating a handmade Christmas card, illustrating a holiday scene or just looking for a simple fun drawing project, this tutorial is for you. We’ll show you exactlyhow to draw a Christmas gift and its ribbon, making it supereasy for beginners of all ages.
Get your pencil and paper ready—let’s get started!
Supplies You’ll Need
Before we start drawing our festive present, gather these basic art supplies:
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Pencil:A regular pencil (HB or 2B) for sketching.
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Eraser: To clean up your guide lines.
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Paper:Any standard drawing or printer paper.
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Inking Pen (Optional):A fine-tip black pen to go over your finished lines.
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Coloring Supplies (Optional): Markers, colored pencils or crayons for a bright finish!
The Step-by-Step Drawing Tutorial
We’ll break this down into three simple stages: theBox, theRibbon and theFinal Details.
Step 1: Drawing the Christmas Gift Box
Any present starts with a simple 3D box.
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Draw the Front Square: Start by drawing a simplesquare or rectangle in the center of your paper. This will be the front of your gift.
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Add Depth (The Top): From the top corners of your first square, draw two short, diagonal lines up and to the right (or left). These lines should be parallel to each other. Connect the ends of these lines with a horizontal line. This is the top of yourgift box.
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Add Depth (The Side): From the bottom right corner of your first square, draw a short, diagonal line parallel to the lines you drew for the top. Now, draw a vertical line from the end of this line to the back of the top panel.
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Drawing the Cross: Draw two straight lines that intersect in the centre of the front of the box to represent the wrapping ribbon. One line should be perfectly vertical, the other perfectly horizontal. Think of it as connecting the two lines at right angles to create the wrap.
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Adding Some Dimension to the Ribbons: Now, thicken these lines by drawing a parallel line on both sides - one either side of your initial cross lines. This will help your ribbons look like they're actually wrapping around the box & carrying on down the sides.
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Sketching the Bow Loops: In the centre where the ribbons cross, draw a simple curved shape on the left and right sides of the box. These are the main loops of the bow, and they should just overlap the box slightly.
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Adding the Knot & Ribbon Tails: Draw a small circle or square in the very centre to represent the knot that holds everything together. Then draw two curved flowing lines dropping down from the knot to create the dangling ribbon tails. Add a little 'V' notch at the end of each tail for that classic look you get on a bow.
Step 3 - Bringing it all to life with Final Touches & Colour
This is where your drawing really starts to get into the holiday spirit!
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Erase Any Hidden Guide Lines: Take a bit of care and erase the box lines that are underneath the ribbon and the bow now. This helps give your gift a clean, nicely wrapped look.
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Inking It Up (Optional): If you want a really crisp finish, go over all your final pencil lines with a black inking pen. Once that ink has dried, you can then erase any remaining pencil marks.
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Now It's Time To Colour! And this is the fun part
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The Box: Choose a festive colour for your gift - maybe deep red, emerald green or a nice snowy blue.
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The Ribbon: Then choose a contrasting colour, like gold or silver - or bright red if your box is green.
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Add a Touch of Shimmer: To give a nice shiny effect, just leave a tiny sliver of white space along the edge of the bow loops & the ribbon - this acts as a light reflection
Ideas to get You Started Decorating Your Drawn Christmas Gift
Now that you know how to draw a gift box, why stop there? Take your holiday drawing to the next level with these ideas:
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Patterned Paper: Instead of a solid colour, have a go at drawing stripes, polka dots, snowflakes or tiny holly leaves on the box for a really unique wrapping paper design.
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Different Shapes: Try drawing a taller, thinner present, or a wide flat one. The more variety you can get in the way of different sizes helps add some real dimension to your holiday scene.
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Grouping: Draw a pile of gifts! Stack your boxes one on top of the other, mixing up the colours & ribbon designs to keep things interesting.\
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Under the Tree: Then place your drawn present under a sketch of a Christmas tree for a complete, cozy holiday picture.
Final Thoughts for your users
Did you give this tutorial a go? We'd love to see your lovely Christmas drawing in the comments below!
