How to Draw a Christmas Present
Draw a Christmas present with ribbon and bow, adding patterns, shading, and highlights to practice proportions and symmetry. Finish by coloring neatly.
About this tutorial
Draw a Christmas present with ribbon and bow, adding patterns, shading, and highlights to practice proportions and symmetry. Finish by coloring neatly.
What you need
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Clear a flat workspace and lay out your materials where you can reach them easily.
- 2
Step 2
Draw a neat rectangle in the middle of the paper using your ruler to make the sides straight.
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Step 3
Lightly draw a vertical and a horizontal centerline across the rectangle to help keep things symmetrical.
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Step 4
Draw a ribbon across the box by tracing two straight lines along the centerlines from one edge of the rectangle to the other.
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Step 5
Draw a bow where the ribbons cross by sketching a knot and two loops on either side at the ribbon intersection.
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Step 6
Add repeating patterns on the wrapping paper like stripes dots or small stars keeping the designs balanced on both sides.
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Step 7
Pick where the light is coming from by pointing to a corner of the paper so you know where highlights and shadows will go.
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Step 8
Shade the side of the box and the underside of the ribbon that is away from the light using your pencil and blend with the tissue to make it smooth.
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Step 9
Gently lift small highlights on the ribbon and bow with your eraser to make them look shiny.
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Step 10
Trace the final outlines of the box ribbon bow and patterns with your black pen or fineliner to make everything crisp.
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Step 11
Erase the faint centerlines and any extra pencil marks so your drawing looks clean.
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Step 12
Color the wrapping paper carefully staying inside the lines and keeping your strokes neat and even.
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Step 13
Color the ribbon and bow neatly using brighter colors and add tiny darker strokes where you shaded to keep depth.
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Step 14
Draw a soft shadow beneath the box with pencil and blend it to make the present sit on the page.
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Step 15
Take a photo or upload a scan and share your finished Christmas present drawing on DIY.org
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Fun facts
How do you draw a Christmas present with ribbon and bow, adding patterns, shading, and highlights?
Start with a light pencil sketch: draw a rectangle for the box and a straight cross to place the ribbon centered. Sketch a bow on top with two mirrored loops and tails. Add patterns (stripes, dots, stars) by repeating shapes on both sides to practice symmetry. Pick a light source, shade away from it and under the bow for depth, and add small highlights on the edges. Finish by coloring neatly with pencils or markers and refine outlines with a fine pen.
What materials do I need to draw and color a Christmas present with ribbon and bow?
Materials you'll need: plain drawing paper or cardstock, a pencil (HB and a softer 2B if available), eraser, ruler for straight ribbon lines, colored pencils or washable markers/crayons for neat coloring, a fine-tip black pen for final outlines, and a white gel pen or small eraser for highlights. Optional: blending stump or cotton swab for smooth shading, and a sharpener. Choose non-toxic, child-safe supplies and a protective surface to keep the table clean.
What ages is this Christmas present drawing activity suitable for?
This activity suits ages 4–12 with adjustments: preschoolers (4–6) can draw a simple box, add big ribbon shapes and color within broad areas with supervision. Ages 7–9 can work on symmetry, simple patterns, and basic shading. Older children (10–12+) can practice proportional measurements, more detailed bows, advanced shading, and highlights. Always adapt complexity, provide guidance for scissors or sharp tools, and let children work at their own pace to build confidence.
What are the benefits of drawing a Christmas present with patterns, shading, and highlights?
Drawing a wrapped present builds fine motor skills, hand–eye coordination, and spatial awareness through proportion and symmetry practice. Shading and highlighting teach light-source observation and basic value control, while adding patterns boosts pattern recognition and creativity. Coloring neatly encourages focus and patience. It's a low-cost, screen-free holiday activity that supports confidence and art technique development. Supervise use of sharp pencils or tools, and let children choose f
Watch & Learn
Need help?
What can I use if I don't have a fineliner, ruler, or blending tissue?
Use a well-sharpened dark pencil or thin permanent marker to trace the final outlines instead of the fineliner, a straight edge like a credit card in place of the ruler for drawing the rectangle and ribbon lines, and a cotton ball or your fingertip to blend the pencil shading if you don't have tissue.
My ribbon looks uneven and my shading is blotchy—how can I fix this?
Redraw the vertical and horizontal centerlines lightly with your ruler to realign the ribbon before inking, then build shading in light layers and blend each layer with tissue as the instructions say to avoid patchy tones.
How can I adapt this drawing for younger or older kids?
For younger children, print a rectangle to trace and let them color the wrapping paper with crayons while skipping the shading and eraser-highlight steps, and for older kids, challenge them to add perspective, detailed repeating patterns, and use fineliner plus blending tissue to refine the ribbon, bow, and shadows.
How can we make the present drawing more special or advanced?
Personalize the gift by drawing a name tag and adding metallic gel-pen highlights on the bow after inking, or extend the activity by making several stacked boxes with different patterned wrapping papers, ribbon colors, and deeper blended shadows to create a scene.