Ho Ho Ho - How to Draw a
Cartoon Santa Step by Step

Cartoon Santa drawing might seem harder than it really is, but have no fear as soon as you finish this tutorial you'll know that there isn't really all that much to him.

As usual, we'll break him down to simple shapes and build on those shapes to create a very jolly, very fat cartoon Santa.

One last note - remember to draw lightly when making your first lines on the page. I know I say this with every lesson but some of my students don't seem to listen to this important steps and when it is time to finish the drawing they always have problems erasing because they drew too hard in the beginning.

Got your pencil and eraser handy? Let's do it!

Step 1:
Draw two overlapping circles. The smaller one will be the head, the larger one will be the main part of the body. Note that the larger circle is squashed a little so it is not a perfect circle. Looks strange right? Keep reading and we'll flesh him out.

Since this is an intermediate tutorial I'm going to cover quite a few things in each of the following steps. If your drawing isn't looking right go back and read over the step carefully.

Step 2:
Add another circle shape behind the first two circles that you made. This will be the cartoon Santa's giant sac of toys.

First add in the lines to create the bottom of the coat. Notice that there is a little space between the middle of the coat at the bottom.

Add in shapes for the legs and boots. The foot on the left side of the drawing (Santa's right) is facing forward. The foot on the other side of the drawing is facing to the side. Draw a line to separate where the pant leg and the boot meet.

Step 3:
Let's add some details to his face. I've included a version of the face with the old circle still there so you can have reference of where some of these new lines are being drawn.

Cut off the top of the head circle and create the white band at the bottom of the cartoon Santa's hat.

Draw lines down from the bottom of the hat to make the beard. It should be curved along the bottom in a similar shape to the original head circle - only bigger.

Draw in the nose with a simple 'U' shape, and then connect another line down from the hat to the nose to make the inside of the beard.

Draw a smile in the beard - it's just another 'U' shape with a line on top.

To make the eyes, make one line, and then, under the line make a little black circle. Add in some happy looking eyebrows. If you want your cartoon Santa to have a different expression the shape of the mouth and the eyebrows can be changed.

Next, draw in the curved lines for his belt. For now don't worry about the belt buckle - we'll add that in the next step. Just draw lightly so that you can erase these lines later.

Last part of this step, I promise! Add in the bottom white part of his coat. Notice how these parts connect with the bottom of the belt. That was a long one - I hope you're not getting discouraged! Let's keep going - we're almost finished the cartoon Santa.

Step 4:
Finish off the head by adding in the top of his hat and the little white pom-pom circle at the end.

Add in the belt buckle with two rectangular shapes one smaller than the other. Make the line on the very top of the belt a little longer to show that Santa's fat belly is trying to poke over his belt.

Add in the arms with simple curved shapes. His left arm is shown more from the side and will be holding his sac. His other arm is shown from the front and will be holding a cup of hot chocolate. Because he is wearing mittens these hand shapes are really simple to draw. If you are having problems drawing them, I suggest looking at your own hand.

Make a fist and notice the outline shape of your fist from the front and also from the side. Use this outline as a reference, but remember that if you were wearing mittens that the shape wouldn't be as clear as just looking at your hand. Make the outline shape a little softer and more curvy and you should have a pretty good looking hand to work with.

Step 5:
Let's finish off this cartoon Santa with a few last details.

Add in the little cup of hot chocolate, and some steam rising out from it. The cup is kind of like a square, but it has a rounded top and bottom to show that it's a cylinder shape. The steam is just a random bubbly shape. Draw it however you wish. If you think of it more simply, it's just a bunch of circles lumped together.

Add in the lines for the sac of toys going from just past his shoulder down to his hand. These lines should come together as they move toward his hand to show that the sac is being held tightly. Add a little shape to the bottom of the sac-holding hand to show the end of the sac.

I cut a little pointed shape out of the beard to make it more interesting. Feel free to do the same. Near the cut in the beard I also started the two lines that would make the center of this cartoon Santa's coat. These lines should travel down from the beard to where the belt buckle is.

The last details I added were on the feet. I added a little bulge to his right leg to make the area where the pants meet the boots a little more interesting. I also added a detail line to the foot here to indicate the toe of his boot. Notice the thin line along the bottom of the boot? This is the bottom of the boot. On his left leg, I cut out a little area to separate the heel and the toe of the boot.

This cartoon Santa is ready to head off and deliver presents to all the kids!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Don't forget to check out the Christmas Tree Drawing tutorial for another Christmas theme lesson.