You Want to Draw a Clown, But Where Do You Start?
Maybe your child has a school project, or you’re looking for a fun, whimsical subject to practice your drawing skills. The classic clown, with its exaggerated features and colorful costume, seems like a perfect choice. Yet, the thought of capturing that playful expression, the big shoes, and the fluffy hair can feel overwhelming. It’s easy to end up with a lopsided face or a costume that looks more messy than merry.
The secret isn’t in being a master artist. It’s in breaking the clown down into simple, familiar shapes anyone can draw. By starting with basic circles, ovals, and lines, you build a solid foundation. From there, you add the signature details that bring your character to life, whether it’s a happy birthday clown, a sad circus mime, or a silly cartoon friend.
This guide provides a clear, step-by-step method. We’ll cover the classic smiling clown, discuss how to tweak the expression, and explore adding props and color. By the end, you’ll have a complete drawing and the confidence to create your own unique clown characters.
Gathering Your Simple Art Supplies
You don’t need fancy tools to begin. The best approach is to start with what you have on hand, which allows for easy corrections as you learn.
– A pencil: An ordinary HB or #2 pencil is perfect for sketching.
– An eraser: A kneaded eraser is gentle on paper, but any eraser will work.
– Paper: Printer paper, a sketchbook, or even the back of an envelope.
– For later: Colored pencils, crayons, or markers to bring your clown to life.
The key is to sketch lightly with your pencil. These initial guide lines are meant to be built upon and eventually erased, so keep the pressure soft. Think of them as the invisible skeleton of your drawing.
Building the Foundation with Basic Shapes
Every complex drawing begins with simple forms. For our clown, we’ll use a circle for the head and a pear-like shape for the body.
Start near the center of your paper. Draw a medium-sized circle. This doesn’t need to be a perfect compass circle; a hand-drawn one is full of character. Below this circle, draw a larger, rounded shape that is wider at the bottom, like a pear or a rounded triangle. This will be the clown’s torso and baggy pants. Leave a small gap between the head circle and the body shape.
Next, add a simple line down the center of both the head and body shapes. This vertical center line is crucial—it helps you keep the face and costume symmetrical. On the head circle, lightly draw a horizontal line across the middle. This will guide you where to place the eyes.
Sketching the Face and Iconic Expression
The face is the heart of your clown. Using your guide lines, place two large oval eyes on the horizontal line, one on each side of the vertical line. Clown eyes are often exaggerated, so don’t be shy about their size. Above each eye, draw a thick, curved line for the eyebrows. Arched eyebrows suggest happiness, while downward slopes can create a sad or thoughtful look.
For the nose, draw a small, round circle right on the vertical line, just below the horizontal guide. The classic red clown nose is usually a perfect sphere. Now for the famous smile. Draw a wide, curved line for the mouth, starting and ending well outside the width of the nose. To make it a big clown smile, turn the ends of the line upward sharply. Then, outline the lips by drawing a parallel curved line above and below your first line, connecting at the corners.
Finally, add the hair. Clown hair is wild and fluffy. Draw two big, puffy shapes on either side of the head, like clouds or cotton candy. You can also add a few tufts sticking up at the top. Don’t attach the hair directly to the head circle; let it extend outward for that voluminous effect.
Drawing the Baggy Costume and Limbs
With the face complete, move down to the body. Use your large pear shape as the boundary for the costume. Draw a ruffled collar around the “neck” area where the head and body connect. This can be a series of connected U-shapes or a wavy line.
For the arms, draw two tube-like shapes extending from the upper body. Clown sleeves are often puffy at the shoulder. You can show this by making the top of the arm shape wider. At the end of each arm, draw a simple circle for the hands, with three or four short lines on one side to suggest fingers.
The legs are simple. Extend two wide, straight lines down from the bottom of the body shape. At the end of each leg, draw the iconic big shoes. These are much larger than a normal foot. Think of them as long, rounded rectangles that curve upward at the tip, like a canoe or a banana. Add a simple line or circle on the side to indicate a pom-pom or decoration.
Adding Character with Details and Props
This is where your clown becomes unique. Look at your basic drawing and think about personality. Is this a birthday clown? Give him a party hat leaning to one side on top of his hair. Draw a simple present box in one hand.
Is he a circus performer? Sketch a few small circles he might be juggling above his free hand. A sad or classic mime clown might have a single tear drawn below one eye, thinner eyebrows, and a smaller, straight-line mouth. You could add buttons down the front of his costume—a row of three or four circles.
Consider patterns. Lightly sketch polka dots, stars, or stripes on his torso and legs. These guides will be helpful when you start to color. The goal isn’t to overcrowd the drawing, but to add one or two key details that tell a story.
Inking, Erasing, and Bringing It to Life with Color
Once you’re happy with your pencil sketch, it’s time to make the lines permanent. Using a pen, a darker pencil, or a fine-line marker, carefully trace over the final lines you want to keep. Trace the outline of the clown, the details of the face, and the main costume lines.
Let the ink dry for a moment if you used a marker. Then, take your eraser and gently remove all the remaining pencil guide lines. This includes the initial circle, the center lines, and any stray sketch marks. You’ll be left with a clean, crisp line drawing of your clown.
Now for the most fun part: color. Clowns are known for bright, bold colors, but you don’t have to use every color in the box. Choose a simple scheme.
– Hair: Bright blue, green, orange, or red.
– Face: Use a peach or light pink for the skin, leaving the eyes and mouth area white.
– Features: Color the nose a vibrant red. Outline the eyes and mouth in black, and fill the mouth with red or pink.
– Costume: Use two or three main colors. For example, a yellow shirt with big blue polka dots and red pants with green suspenders.
– Shoes: Traditionally yellow or red.
Color evenly and try to stay within your inked lines. If you’re using colored pencils, layering a light color first and then adding a darker shade for shadows can add depth.
What If My Clown Looks Lopsided or Weird?
It’s common for beginners to face a few hurdles. If the face looks off, the most likely culprit is the initial guide lines. Always use that light vertical and horizontal line on the head circle to ensure the eyes, nose, and mouth are aligned.
If the body seems awkward, check the proportions. The body (the pear shape) should be noticeably larger than the head. The arms should be long enough so the hands reach about mid-thigh. The legs should be short and the shoes comically large. Exaggeration is your friend here.
If you’re unhappy with a part, don’t erase the whole thing. Just lightly sketch over that section. Drawing is a process of constant adjustment. Your first clown is a learning piece. Your second one will be noticeably better.
Exploring Different Styles and Expressions
Once you’ve mastered the basic happy clown, experiment. The core shapes remain the same, but small changes create entirely different characters.
Try drawing a surprised clown. Raise the eyebrows high up on the forehead and make the eyes into two huge circles, with smaller circles inside for pupils. Draw the mouth as a perfect “O” shape.
For a gentle, sleepy clown, draw the eyebrows as soft, straight lines. Make the eyes half-closed with long eyelashes, and give him a small, gentle smile. You can even add a nightcap on his head.
Practice drawing the clown from a different angle, like a three-quarter view. This is more advanced but starts by drawing the head as an oval instead of a circle, with the guide lines curving around its form.
The goal is to use the basic framework you’ve learned as a launchpad for your own creativity. The shapes are just tools. Your imagination decides what to build with them.
Your Next Steps to Confident Drawing
You now have a complete, colorful clown drawing and the step-by-step method used to create it. The real skill comes from repetition and variation.
Grab another piece of paper and try drawing the clown again from memory. See what details you remember and where you improvise. Try giving him a different prop—a balloon animal, a flower that squirts water, or a tiny umbrella.
Look at pictures of real clowns, cartoon clowns, and illustrations for inspiration. Notice how different artists simplify the hair, the shoes, and the patterns. Trace one if you like, just to understand the line flow.
Most importantly, have fun with it. Drawing should feel like play. Each clown you sketch makes the next drawing easier and opens the door to tackling even more complex characters. You’ve learned to build a person from shapes, a skill that applies to almost anything you might want to draw next.
