5 Easy Ways to Draw a Simple or Elegant Bow

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Learn how to draw a cartoon, coquette, or Christmas bow
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It’s easy to draw a bow like the fabric and ribbon ones that adorn gifts, hair, and clothing. Whether you want to doodle bows in a notebook to channel the coquette aesthetic, add a cute bow to a character, or sketch a bow onto a drawing of a present, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for beginner-friendly tutorials for drawing cute bows in multiple art styles.

Method 1
Method 1 of 5:

How to Draw a Simple Cartoon Bow

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  1. 1
    Draw a small, rounded upright rectangle. This is the central knot of your cartoon bow. Imagine drawing a rectangle but rounding out the corners—that’s what the knot looks like. Make it taller than it is wide. [1]
    • Consider how big your bow is going to be before you draw the knot. While it doesn’t have to be the same size as the loops of the bow, it should be about â…“ or ¼ the height of the bow loops.
  2. 2
    Draw a round, widening curve to the left of the knot. Place your drawing utensil (pen, pencil, or marker) about 1 ⁄ 2  in (1.3 cm) to the left of the bow knot at the same height as the center of the knot. Move your utensil to the right, touching the side of the knot and swooping downward. At the bottom of the knot, draw the left bow loop, closing it at the top left corner of the knot. [2]
    • The first small line you make is a wrinkle in the bow, which forms naturally because of how the ribbon tightens into the knot.
    • Your bow loop should look like a sideways piece of candy corn with a dent at the bottom.
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  3. 3
    Draw another rounded curve to the right of the knot. Place your drawing utensil at the top right corner of the bow knot. Move it upward and outward to create the top of the right bow loop, then pull it downward to draw the side of the bow loop. Finally, bring the line back to the bottom right corner of the bow knot. Draw a bow wrinkle by drawing a small line from the knot toward the edge of the bow, about 1 ⁄ 2  in (1.3 cm). [3]
    • Try your best to match the loop’s size and shape with the left-side loop you just drew.
  4. 4
    Sketch an upside-down “V” and two curved lines for the tail. Hold your writing utensil below the left bow loop where the end of the tail (the dangly ribbon that hangs down) will be. Draw a wide, upside-down “V” from right to left. When you finish the V, draw a slanted line upward until you reach the bow loop. Trace along the loop to the knot, then draw a slanted line downward until you connect with the other side of the upside-down “V.” [4]
    • For a more realistic cartoon bow, make the tail slightly skinnier near the knot and widest at the upside-down “V” end.
  5. 5
    Draw two curved lines with a forked end for the other tail. Start at the lower right corner of the bow knot. Draw a slanted line down toward the right, tracing along the right bow loop for about 1 ⁄ 2 inch (1.3 cm). Keep drawing the line until it reaches the bottom of the left tail you just drew. Draw an upside-down “V” to end the tail, moving your utensil from right to left. Finish the tail by drawing another slanted line up to the bow knot. [5]
  6. 6
    Color in your bow. If you drew it in pencil, trace over it with a black marker to define the edges before coloring it in. Use a marker, crayons, colored pencils, or paint to fill in the bow knot, loops, and tails with color. Get creative—color the loops, ribbons, and tails different colors for a truly unique bow, or add a pattern like stripes or polka dots.
    • Not a fan of black borders in your art? Trace around the bow with a dark color and fill it in with a lighter shade of the same color for a more natural look.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 5:

How to Draw a Coquette Bow

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  1. 1
    Draw an infinity symbol to form the bow loops. The infinity symbol (∞) forms the loops of the bow. Make the loops by swooping out toward the left to form a skinny balloon shape, then crossing over your starting point and swooping out toward the right to mirror the original shape. [6]
    • While the bottom edges of the two loops can be relatively straight, the tops should be more curved like the top of a heart. This creates a more rounded, realistic look.
    • If you’re painting instead of drawing, paint the top and bottom of each loop one at a time instead of making an infinity symbol in one motion.
  2. 2
    Draw two wavy tails hanging from the center of the bow. Start at the middle of the bow loops where the two sides meet. Draw a skinny, wavy line down toward the left to form the left ribbon tail. Repeat to form the right ribbon tail, also stemming from the center but hanging toward the right instead of the left. [7]
  3. 3
    Color in your bow. Trace over your sketch with markers or crayons to add color. Or, paint over your drawing for a shiny, ribbon-like appearance. Draw little plus signs (+) in pencil around the bow to mimic small sparkles for an extra coquette aesthetic vibe.
    • Once you get the hang of drawing a coquette bow, cover a whole sheet of paper in colorful bows. Hang it in your room for aesthetic wall art, or slip it into the cover of a binder.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 5:

How to Draw a Realistic Bow

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  1. 1
    Use a pencil to sketch a lumpy, rounded rectangle. This is the knot of your realistic bow. Make the rectangle wider than it is tall, and add slight curved lines on the top and bottom to give the knot lumps. Although it’s a rectangle, round the corners so the overall shape isn’t sharp in any places. [8]
  2. 2
    Draw a curved line with a loop going up from the knot. Start with your pencil at the top right of the bow knot. Sketch a curved line upward and toward the right—this is a fold on top of the right bow loop. At the top of the curved line, very faintly sketch another curved line toward the left and down into the midpoint of the first line, creating a closed loop. [9]
    • This curved line/loop resembles an elongated raindrop.
  3. 3
    Add the side and bottom edge of the right-side bow loop. To start, trace over the faint line you just made. Once you reach the top of the loop, drop down and outward to form the right-side bow loop. When your line is at the same level as the bottom of the bow knot, sketch a line leftward to close the right bow loop. Connect it with the bottom right corner of the bow knot. [10]
  4. 4
    Add a second bow loop underneath the first one. Start at the lower right corner of the right bow loop. Moving your pencil down and leftward, create another bow loop below the one you just made. [11]
    • This lower loop is almost identical to the top loop, but it doesn’t have the raindrop shape at the top because this raindrop (showing the inside of the ribbon) is “covered” by the top loop.
  5. 5
    Mirror the right-side loops on the left side of the knot. Place your pencil at the top left corner of the bow knot. From there, sketch a rounded triangle shape where the wide part is away from the knot and the point touches the knot. Repeat to draw another left bow loop below the one you just made, letting this one extend ever so slightly past the left edge of the top loop. [12]
  6. 6
    Add a raindrop-shaped loop to the lower left bow loop. Mirror the raindrop-shaped loop on the top of the upper right bow loop, sketching one on the bottom of the lower left bow loop. Start at the lower left corner of the loop and sketch upward, toward the right, and down to close the raindrop shape. [13]
  7. 7
    Flick short lines from the knot to create wrinkles. Start with the lower left bow loop. From the left edge of the knot, flick your pencil out to create a slightly curved line that extends almost halfway across the center of the loop. Repeat with both right-side bow loops. [14]
    • Adding wrinkle lines helps your bow look more realistic because fabric tends to wrinkle when pinched like it is in a bow’s knot.
  8. 8
    Draw wavy lines trailing down to form the bow tails. Bow tails look like a thick forked snake’s tongue. To draw the right bow tail, draw a wavy line down from the lower-left side of the bow knot. End it in an upside-down “V”. Draw another curved line back up to the bow knot to close off the tail. Repeat to draw the right-side tail. [15]
    • Add wrinkle lines like you did with the bow loops. Put one or two going about 1/3 of the way down each ribbon.
    • The tails don’t have to be identical. Try to make the waviness of the lines slightly different so they appear more realistic.
  9. 9
    Shade in the bow loops, knot, and tails. The final step to turn your bow from a simple drawing into a realistic one is shading. Make a series of close-together lines along the edges of the bow loops, raindrop-shaped loops, the bow knot, and the top and bottom ends of the tails. Shade darkest at the edges and gradually lighten toward the centers of each bow part. [16]
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Method 4
Method 4 of 5:

How to Draw a Bow Tie

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  1. 1
    Draw a rounded square. This is the bow tie’s central knot. To round the square, curve the corners so they aren’t sharp. Also, make the vertical sides of the square bulge out slightly to make the knot look more like a real bow tie. [17]
  2. 2
    Make a sideways triangle where the knot covers its point. Bow ties have two loops that look like triangles turned on their sides. Draw the left-side bow tie loop by sketching a triangle where the point is covered by the knot and the widest part is farthest from the knot. Again, round the corners of the triangle by curving them. [18]
  3. 3
    Draw a similar triangle on the right side. Again, imagine the triangle is on its side and the knot covers the point. Round out the triangle’s corners. Try to make it the same size and shape as the first bow tie loop you drew. [19]
  4. 4
    Draw short lines out from the knot to make wrinkles. Real bow ties have creases where the fabric is pinched into the central knot. Recreate these wrinkles by swiping two lines on each side of the knot, about halfway across the bow loops. Instead of sketching straight lines, flick your pencil with a slight curve. It’s okay if the lines are slightly different lengths. [20]
  5. 5
    Color in your bow tie. Use other art supplies to add color to your bowtie, such as crayons, markers, or colored pencils. Create a unique pattern by sketching stripes, polka dots, zigzags, or a rainbow across the loops and bow knot. Shade the bow tie around the borders and wrinkles to add dimension. [21]
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Method 5
Method 5 of 5:

How to Draw a Bow on a Present

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  1. 1
    Draw a flat oval. This is your bow knot, or the center of the bow. If you’re drawing a bow on a present, draw this oval at the top of the present box’s lid or the center of the present, depending on the angle of the drawing. If you’re drawing a standalone bow, draw the oval bow knot in the center of your paper. [22]
  2. 2
    Sketch a loop like a flower petal to the oval’s right. Starting at the right side of the bow knot, create a long, skinny oval that resembles a thin flower petal. Angle this loop so it’s extending toward the right and upward. [23]
  3. 3
    Draw a curved line over the loop for a ribbon fold. Start 1 ⁄ 8  in (0.32 cm) to the left of the loop at the bow knot. Swoop up and toward the right like you’re making another petal-shaped loop. At the top of the loop, arc downward and connect it with the top of the closed loop. Check that it looks like an upside-down Nike swoop. [24]
    • This is your first of four bow loops for a Christmas-style bow on a present.
  4. 4
    Repeat to draw three other loops around the oval. Make a loop on the left side that mirrors the first one. Then, make two other loops below the left and right one so you have four total loops. The finished loops resemble a flower made out of folded ribbon. [25]
    • To make the bow look more realistic, start the lower curved lines over their respective loops from the upper loops, not from the bow knots. This will make them look tucked under the top loops.
  5. 5
    Sketch curved lines to form the bow’s tails. From the bottom of the circular bow knot, draw a curved line downward. Draw a parallel curved line about 1 ⁄ 3  in (0.85 cm) away from it. Connect the two lines at the bottom with an upside-down “V” to create the forked end of a bow tail. Repeat on the other side with two more curved lines to form the second bow tail. [26]
  6. 6
    Use a ruler to add extra ribbon around the present. If your Christmas or birthday bow drawing is attached to a present, make it more realistic by adding the ribbon that goes around the gift box. Use a ruler to sketch a cross behind the bow, drawing two vertical parallel lines and two horizontal parallel lines that ‘meet’ where the bow is. [27]
    • Trace the lines along the ruler so they extend from the edges of the bow to the edges of the gift box or present.
    • Make these ribbon lines about as wide as the bow knot.
  7. 7
    Color in the bow. Use markers, crayons, colored pencils, oil pastels, or another art supply to fill in your bows’ loops, knot, and tails with color. Also color in the excess ribbon around the present, if you drew that. To make the Christmas bow look realistic, leave white space at the center of each bow loop and the tails by only coloring from the edges toward the middle. [28]
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      Tips

      • Look at a real bow or a picture of a real ribbon or fabric bow. Use it as a reference while drawing to give you a sense of proportions, shape, and color.
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      • Shading your bows is optional. Color them in one solid color for a cartoon effect.
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      • Make your bows fancier by adding glitter glue or stickers.
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      7. ↑ https://youtu.be/c5ACj9RW9Ac?t=83
      8. ↑ https://www.easyartguides.com/how-to-draw-a-bow-tie-step-by-step/
      9. ↑ https://www.easyartguides.com/how-to-draw-a-bow-tie-step-by-step/
      10. ↑ https://www.easyartguides.com/how-to-draw-a-bow-tie-step-by-step/
      11. ↑ https://www.easyartguides.com/how-to-draw-a-bow-tie-step-by-step/
      12. ↑ https://www.easyartguides.com/how-to-draw-a-bow-tie-step-by-step/
      13. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VijQ6OfAuP0?feature=share
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      19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VijQ6OfAuP0?t=25&feature=share

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