Sun Drawing: Step-by-Step Tutorial & Easy Ideas

Every good sun drawing starts the same way: a circle with triangle or wavy rays, refined step by step into a finished piece. Below you'll find a complete step-by-step tutorial you can follow with any pencil and paper, plus easy sun drawing ideas — from quick five-minute doodles to more detailed studies.

  • Difficulty Easy
  • Time ~6 min
  • Tools Pencil, eraser, paper
  • Starts with a circle with triangle or wavy rays
Sun drawing — hand-drawn sun illustration with ink lines and soft colors
Sun drawing — hand-drawn sun illustration with ink lines and soft colors

How to Draw a Sun Step by Step

How to draw a sun step by step — 6-step sun drawing tutorial grid
How to draw a sun step by step — 6-step sun drawing tutorial grid

  1. Draw the circle

    One clean circle, off-center on the page — top corners are where suns naturally live in compositions.

  2. Mark ray positions

    Lightly dot 8 or 12 evenly-spaced points around the circle — even spacing is what separates a sun from a virus.

  3. Draw the rays

    At each dot, draw your ray style: simple triangles, straight strokes, or alternating long-short lines. Commit to ONE style.

  4. Vary alternate rays

    For the classic look, make every other ray longer — or make rays wavy for the vintage 'boho sun' style.

  5. Add the face (optional)

    Closed happy eyes, rosy cheeks, and a serene smile — the celestial-face style. Sleepy suns outperform grinning ones aesthetically.

  6. Radiate warmth

    A halo ring between circle and rays, tiny dots between rays, and warm yellow-orange coloring that's darker at the circle's edge.

Sun Drawing Ideas to Try Next

Once the basic sun clicks, run it through these variations — each one practices a different skill while staying on a subject you already know.

  • Sun and moon yin-yang

    Half sun face, half crescent moon sharing one circle — THE celestial tattoo classic.

  • A sun rising between mountains

    Two triangle peaks, half a sun, rays fanning up — a complete landscape in three shapes.

  • Vintage map sun

    The old-cartography style: stern face, alternating straight and wavy rays, weathered shading.

  • Day and night split sun

    Divide the page down the middle and render the same sun in both lightings.

  • Sun at golden hour

    Same drawing, warm palette, long shadows — light does the heavy lifting.

  • A tiny sun in a glass jar

    The miniature-world trend: your sun scene bottled with a cork on top.

  • Sun through a window frame

    Draw a simple window and place the sun outside it — built-in composition and cozy mood.

  • A minimalist one-line sun scene

    Reduce the sun to its simplest continuous line — modern, framable, and fast.

  • Sun with a wanderer figure

    One tiny silhouette person gazing at your big sun — instant scale and story.

Sun Drawing Styles: Easy, Cute & More

Easy sun drawing — easy style sun sketch

Easy Sun Drawing

Try a simplified version built from basic shapes — perfect for beginners and kids. Same six steps as above — simply simplify or stylize the final pass.

Browse more easy ideas →

Tips for Better Sun Drawings

  • Ray spacing is everything — count and mark before you draw. Twelve marks like a clock face takes ten seconds and is the difference between 'design' and 'child's fridge art' (unless that's the goal).
  • Detail only the focal area and let the edges stay loose. The viewer’s eye goes where the detail is; detail everywhere means focus nowhere.

Not feeling the sun today?

Let the generator pick your next subject — filtered by mood and difficulty.

🎲 Random Drawing Generator

Sun Drawing FAQ

How do you draw a sun easily?

Start with a circle with triangle or wavy rays, keeping your lines light. Refine the outline, add the defining details, then erase the construction shapes. The six-step method above breaks this down — most people get a recognizable sun on their very first try with it.

How long should it take to draw a sun?

A simple sun drawing takes about 6 minutes following this tutorial. A quick doodle version can be done in two or three minutes, while a detailed, fully-shaded study might take an hour. Speed comes with repetition — the second attempt is always faster than the first.

What do I need to draw a sun?

Just a pencil, an eraser, and any paper. An HB pencil for construction lines and a 2B for final outlines is a nice upgrade, and colored pencils or markers finish it off — but nothing on this page requires special supplies.

Is a sun easy to draw for beginners?

Yes — the sun is one of the friendlier subjects for beginners, and this method was written for first-timers. Kids can follow the same steps; just expect wobblier lines and more charm.