How to Draw a Cupcake

You can add a lot of fun to a basic how to draw a cupcake lesson by drawing MANY of them, using lots of bright colors, and then maybe a shadow or two.

These cupcakes were drawn on trading card size paper (2.5″ x 3.5″) and placed in a trading card sleeve. The repetition of a theme and cartoon style drawing would make a great Pop Art lesson too.

If the color seems extra bright to you, it happens for two reasons. One is that I used Sharpie markers and two is they are colored on finger print paper. The glossy finish makes the colors just pop. The only drawback to the fingerpaint paper is that it is tricky to draw on with a pencil because you can’t erase lines very well. At all, actually. Therefore I bring it out when drawings are extra simple like these cupcakes. If fact, you might just hide the pencils for this project and have everyone start drawing with a black marker. The small size of the paper makes it easy to offer a few practice sheets for everyone.

If you like this project, I have 200 easy drawing tutorials in my “How to Draw” ebook from my PDF Shop.

MATERIALS

• Cupcake Sample PDF for drawing reference
• Fingerpaint paper*

• Sharpie Markers*
• Black markers, ultra fine point*
• Plastic Trading Card Sleeves*
• Paper cutter recommended

*The above product links are referrals. If you click through and take action, I’ll be compensated a small amount, at no extra expense to you.

DIRECTIONS

1. PREP: Use a paper cutter to trim lots of paper to a 2.5″ x 3.5″ size. If you want to make a sheet like my sample, you will need at least 9 per student. I’d add a few for practice.
2. Draw a cupcake with a fine tip black Sharpie marker. Make the outline like any shown on the sample page.
3. Add a shadow to one side and fill in to make it solid black.
4. Use the ultra fine tip to draw the lines on the cupcake wrapper.
5. Fill in the cupcake with lots of fun colors. To make the cherry look like it is shiny, leave a small curved rectangle like the ones shown.
6. Fill in the background with two colors so look like a colorful table and wall in the background.
7. Keep drawings in a plastic trading card sleeve.