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An astronaut in a white spacesuit waving on the moon, with a dark visor, a gold visor frame, a backpack, Earth and stars in the sky and craters on the ground.
The finished drawing.

How to draw

How to Draw an Astronaut

  • Challenge (level 5 of 5)
  • 45 min
  • 18 steps
  • Ages 10–14 (a guide, not a rule)
Start Drawing Draw on Screen Print

Draw on paper: Paper, Pencil, Eraser. Optional: Colored pencils: dark blue, gray, yellow and green.

Draw it on the screen

A spacesuit is made of simple solid shapes: a ball for the helmet, a box for the body and fat tubes for the arms and legs. First measure the whole figure in helmets, then build a stick skeleton, then wrap the suit around it. Rings around the tubes show they are round.

Rather color it? Print the astronaut coloring page.

Step by step

  • New lines: purple, thick and glowing
  • Lines you already drew: gray
  • Guides: dashed blue, draw them lightly
  • Erase: dotted pink with an eraser
  1. Step 1 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 1 of 18 Draw a light vertical center line. Mark it into four equal parts: the astronaut is about four helmets tall, from the top of the helmet to the boots.
  2. Step 2 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 2 of 18 In the top part, draw the helmet: a circle with a wide, rounded opening for the visor. Add the neck ring under it, curving around like a smile.
  3. Step 3 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 3 of 18 Draw a light stick skeleton: shoulders, a spine, hips, and arms and legs with circles at the joints. One arm is raised to wave.
  4. Step 4 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 4 of 18 Draw the visor's glass inside its frame, and a curved shape for a shine on its upper left.
  5. Step 5 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 5 of 18 The waving arm is nearest, so draw it first: a round shoulder pad, a ball at the elbow and two fat tubes around the sticks.
  6. Step 6 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 6 of 18 Draw the other arm the same way, hanging down beside the body.
  7. Step 7 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 7 of 18 Draw two puffy mitten gloves at the ends of the arms. Each thumb is on the side nearer the body.
  8. Step 8 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 8 of 18 Draw the suit's body: a rounded box from the shoulders to the waist. Stop where the helmet and arms are in front. Add the backpack corners peeking out behind.
  9. Step 9 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 9 of 18 Draw a wide ring around the waist and the rounded hips below it.
  10. Step 10 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 10 of 18 Draw the legs as two thick tubes around the sticks, with a ball at each knee. Stop the tubes where the hips and knees are in front.
  11. Step 11 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 11 of 18 Draw the big boots: rounded blocks with a line for the thick soles.
  12. Step 12 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 12 of 18 Draw rings around the arms and legs. A ring around a tube is an ellipse, and all of them curve down the same way, because we look from a little above.
  13. Step 13 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 13 of 18 Add the chest box with three knobs, a hose to the side and a patch on the shoulder.
  14. Step 14 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 14 of 18 Draw the moon's far edge behind the legs, and craters in front. Craters are circles lying flat, so they look like thin ellipses.
  15. Step 15 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 15 of 18 Add Earth in the sky with two continents, and a few small four-pointed stars.
  16. Step 16 diagram, showing what to erase
    Step 16 of 18 Erase the center line, the marks, the skeleton and the joint circles.
  17. Step 17 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 17 of 18 The sun is on the left. Shade the right side of every tube, the helmet and the body with a middle value. That is what makes a tube look round.
  18. Step 18 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 18 of 18 Cross-hatch the visor darkest, leaving its shine white, then the backpack and the flat shadows on the ground. The white suit stays the lightest value.
An astronaut in a white spacesuit waving on the moon, with a dark visor, a gold visor frame, a backpack, Earth and stars in the sky and craters on the ground.

You did it!

Your drawing does not have to look like this one. Every artist draws a little differently.

Color it on screen Print a practice sheet

Tips for this drawing

Helpful hints

  • Check the proportions with your pencil: hold it up to the helmet, then count how many helmets fit down the body.
  • Keep the tubes fat. A spacesuit is puffy, so the arms are almost as thick as the legs.
  • Make every ring curve the same way. One ring curving up looks like it belongs to a different drawing.

Common mistakes

  • The helmet is small, so the astronaut looks like a person in normal clothes. Make the helmet about a quarter of the whole height and the suit thick and puffy.
  • Rings are drawn as straight lines across the arms and legs. Curve each ring like a smile: it wraps around the tube.
  • The craters are drawn as round circles, so they look like holes in a wall. Craters lie flat on the ground: draw them as wide, thin ellipses.

Make it simpler

Draw a front-facing astronaut with both arms down: a circle helmet with a visor, a box body, four tubes for arms and legs, mittens and boots. Skip the rings and background.

Proportion

Use one part to measure the rest. This astronaut is about four helmets tall: helmet, chest, hips and upper legs, then lower legs and boots.

Construction

A stick skeleton with circles at the joints sets the pose. Then a ball, a box and tubes wrap around it, like building with clay.

Ellipses on tubes

A ring around a tube looks like part of an ellipse. When you look from a little above, every ring curves down the same way, which makes the tubes look round.

Overlap

The waving arm and the helmet are in front of the body, and the backpack is behind it. Draw near parts first and stop farther lines where they meet them.

Value

With the sun on the left, the right side of each tube is a middle value, the visor and shadows are darkest, and the white suit stays light.

Practice first: Rocket.

  • A white and red rocket with a round blue window, three red fins and orange and yellow flames, flying up among four little stars.

    Rocket

    Growing (level 3 of 5) 15 min Ages 6–10
  • A hand holding a yellow pencil, seen from the thumb side: the thumb and index finger pinch the pencil near its sharpened tip, the middle finger supports it, and the other fingers curl under.

    Hand Holding a Pencil

    Challenge (level 5 of 5) 45 min Ages 10–14
  • A lifelike blue eye with curved eyelids, a dark ring around the iris, a black pupil with a white highlight, upper and lower lashes, and an eyebrow above.

    Realistic Eye

    Challenge (level 5 of 5) 40 min Ages 10–14