While ghosts were the hot thing to add to thrift store art last fall, I say it’s time to bring in the winter version that is the snowman! Even if you’ve never drawn a simple snowman (snow person or snow woman!) before, it’s actually a very quick and easy DIY process to make, and it ends up looking so cute that even kids and beginners can draw it! If you don’t want to paint directly onto a thrift store canvas or your own artwork, you can grab the free printable below, cut it out, and use low adhesive to add it to your work just for the season. You can also use this easy snowman drawing tutorial to create unique artwork on your painted backgrounds, such as drawing your own landscapes on Canvas. As always, if you’re going to paint over old artwork, make sure it’s not of value or something you might want to display later without a snowman in it. If you are using this project for a painting party, it is easier and more economical to use blank canvas plates. Otherwise, have everyone bring their old artwork to paint on. There’s a quick instruction video with this post if you need more visual evidence.
Supplies you’ll need to draw an easy snowman
– Large flat paintbrush
– Small flat paint brush,
– Liner brush
– Craftsman white acrylic paint like titanium white
-Orange acrylic paint
– Black acrylic paint
– Brown acrylic paint like burnt brown
– Red or blue acrylic paint to color the scarf
Paint a background or use an old painting or print
If you are using your own fabric, paint your background first and let it dry. If you’re adding your snowman to an old painting or print from a thrift store, you’re good to go! We created the night sky background by painting dark blue on the top two-thirds of the canvas and white with a little gray paint on the bottom third.
Add the snowman base to the fabric surface
You can use the template below to transfer the snowman shape into your artwork, or you can just animate it by drawing a circle. Start by drawing three circles stacked on top of each other, making the larger circle at the bottom and the smaller circle at the top. Let this dry. You may need a second or third coat of paint. Let it dry between layers.
Brighten up the background with easy snowflakes
Use the back of a brush dipped in white paint to create dots of “snowflakes” on the canvas while the snowman base layer dries to paint a snowy night.
Draw snowman faces with eyes and details
Once you’ve drawn your initial snowman, you’ll be ready to create his character! Use the back of the brush handle to dip in black paint and create eyes and a mouth for the snowman. On one of my snow legs, I decided to draw a smile with the bristle end of the brush, but you can always just use the back end of the brush to create little dots for the charcoal lumps in the smile. Also use the back of the brush to create three blocks of hail in the front
Paint on the snowman’s arms
Use a thin liner, brush, and brown paint to paint the stick arms. This is as easy as drawing a straight line out from the body and then a small Y angle at the end of the stick to finish off the arm. You can add a little white paint along the top when it’s dry if you want to make it look like there’s snow resting on the arms.
Add the painted carrot nose
Once the eyes and mouth are painted, use a little orange to create a small side triangle to make a carrot nose. You can also make a black dot for the charcoal nose block.
Decorate and add small details
Add a hat and scarf with a small brush. We made a black hat and red scarf, but you can make any color you want.
Once you’ve drawn your adorable snowman, you’ll be ready to display your artwork! Here’s one we painted separately, cut out and then adhered to a vintage board with low profile double sided tape. You can also get this as a printable for personal use to decorate with!
Below you can also grab the free printable for personal use to either use as a template or print and cut out to add to your winter and Christmas decor!
We hope you liked this acrylic painting tutorial for making snowman art! Happy painting!
