How to Draw a Sugar Skull

In today’s fun and easy drawing guide, you can learn how to draw a sugar skull. Sugar skulls are a celebration of departed loved ones during the Day of the Dead festivities. Colorful designs decorate these skulls that are traditionally made of sugar or clay and placed on ofrendas or altars. Sugar skull clipart is perfect for crafts during the celebrations such as stickers and t-shirts.

Before you begin, get all of your drawing supplies together. We will be using Procreate for our drawing, but you could use colored pencils, paint or markers. Along with Procreate, we will also be using Procreate ink brushes to make our sugar skull design.

Did you know that Design Bundles has a fantastic selection of Sugar Skull Clipart to choose from? There are tons of choices to add to your digital library.

Step 1 - Make Rough Sketches of a Skull

In our first step, we are going to make rough sketches of a skull. Our skull sketch will be minimal. If you want something spookier for future projects, check out this tutorial on how to draw a skull.

Using a pencil or light-colored medium, draw a big oval shape that is wider at the top. On the left and right side of the oval, just below the middle, sketch a curved line to make the cheekbone shape. See our number two sketch below.

This will be our starting point for the drawing.

In the center of the oval, and in line with the cheekbones, sketch an upside-down heart for the nose. Then, right above the nose, draw an oval on the left and right side for the eyes.

Step 2 - Outline Your Sugar Skull Sketch

Switch to a more defining medium like a pen or marker and outline your skull sketch. Looking at our image below, we outlined the outermost sketch line. We then shaped and squared the bottom to make a chin.

Next, draw a mouth for your sugar skull. Draw a simple line that is straight in the middle and curved up at the ends. Add short horizontal lines for the teeth. Alternatively, you can add more detail to the mouth with individual teeth shapes.

Once you are done outlining your sketch and adding a mouth, you can remove your rough sketches.

Step 3 - Add a Base Color to Your Sugar Skull

In this step, we are going to add a base color to our sugar skull drawing. You can use a light or natural color for the skull, eyes, and nose. As we need to add the sugar skull design on top of the color base, choose colors that are not too dark or too bright.

Step 4 - Create Your Sugar Skull Design

Now that we have outlined the sketch and added the base color, we are going to create the sugar skull design. Use bright and contrasting colors that stand out and show off the beautiful design. The design should be mirrored, which you can try to do freehand or use the symmetry drawing guides in Procreate.

Add Your Colored Design

For our sugar skull design, we started with a gold color and drew rhombus or diamond-like shapes at the top. At the bottom of the eyes, we drew scalloped lines. We also sketched curling and wavy lines at the top and sides of the jaw. Then, using purple, we add florals and more rhombus shapes.

With pink, we drew teardrops in the middle of the forehead and on the chin, with four rhombus shapes at the top.

Add the Final Details

Add your final design details to complete your sugar skull drawing. We used white and black for our final details by adding lines and dots to our drawing. You can add as many or as few details as you want.

Here is the final result of our sugar skull drawing.

Try adding flowers, glitter, shading or other textures to your sugar skull. Each skull design can be completely different, with whatever details and colors you prefer. From just one basic shape, you can create many unusual sugar skull designs.

For more interesting and fun illustrations, be sure to check out other beginner drawing tutorials. We hope you had fun following along and creating a sugar skull design with us.