Santa Claus Portrait

A close-up portrait of a smiling Santa with kind, crinkled eyes, a fur-trimmed hat with a pompom and a huge curly beard and mustache drawn as dozens of swirls. He wears a scarf patterned with stars, snowflakes and zigzags, with a holly sprig on his coat and snowflakes all around. With over 400 areas, it suits ages 10 and up and adults.

Level

Detailed

Areas to color

423

Ages

Ages 10+ & adults

Time to color (estimate)

1–2 hours

Paper

A4 or US Letter, standard printer paper

Don't leave the beard plain white: shade the inside of each curl with pale gray or light blue pencil and keep the outer edges white, so the swirls stand out. A peach skin tone with pinker cheeks and nose warms the face, and the scarf can echo the hat's red with green stars.

Use a light gray or pale blue for snow shadows: it makes white areas look three-dimensional.

Red and green side by side can look flat; add gold or a warm yellow to lights and stars to make the page glow.