Use the video and step-by-step drawing instructions below to learn how to draw Jack Skellington from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. A new cartoon drawing tutorial is uploaded every week, so stay tooned!

 

 

Intro: Start drawing Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, with a pencil sketch. In the beginning stages, don't press down too hard. Use light, smooth strokes for sketching.

 

Step 1: To draw Jack Skellington, start with a circle on the top half of the page. Underneath that circle, draw two lines that angle slightly to the right. These will make the basic shape for Jack Skellington's head and neck.

 

Step 2: Next, draw two intersecting lines across the circle, one vertical line and one horizontal. When drawing the lines, bend them so that they follow the shape of a sphere. These will be construction lines that will help you place Jack Skellington's features later on.

 

Step 3: Now give the Pumpkin King two big ovals that sit on top of the horizontal construction line on either side of the vertical construction line for his eyes. Draw the one on the left slightly bigger than the right because of the perspective. Draw in his mouth as a line that follows the shape of Jack Skellington's head and sits below the horizontal construction line.

 

Step 4: For Jack Skellington's bowtie, draw a triangle that points down below his neck. On top of this triangle draw two smaller triangles that point up.

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Step 5: To finish drawing Jack Skellington's bowtie, draw three long and slightly curved lines on each side of the triangle.

 

Step 6: That's it for the initial sketch of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King from Tim Burton's The Nighmare Before Christmas! You have the basic Jack Skellington shape, so now go in and tighten your drawing. From this point on, press harder with your pencil in order to get darker lines and a more defined sketch.

 

Step 7: Darken in the shape of Jack Skellington's head and neck. Taper in the head a bit at the top to give him more shape.

 

Step 8: Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King from Halloween Town, so draw scary eyes for him. To draw the eyes, follow the basic guides for his eyes, but dip them down in the middle and draw two lines on top for eyebrows. Also draw two lines underneath Jack Skellington's eyes for a scary effect.

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Step 9: Draw in Jack Skellington's nostrils above the horizontal construction line on either side of the vertical construction line. Draw them so they look like upside-down water drops. Darken in the shape of Jack Skellington's mouth and draw a series of lines across it to make his teeth. Make sure his teeth and mouth aren't too perfect. Draw more random lines to give him character.

 

Step 10: Darken in Jack Skellington's bowtie and draw curves to close the gaps on the sides. Draw two small circles inside the bowtie triangle to make bat eyes. The end result will look like a small bat head with large batlike wings.

 

Step 11: That's it! You now have a nice sketch of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. You can stop at this quick drawing for a rough, sketchy look or go for a more finished look by continuing to the step below.

 

Step 12: For a more finished, inked look, carefully draw over the final sketch lines with a pen or marker. Wait for the ink to dry, and then get rid of every pencil mark with an eraser. You now have a finished inked drawing of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas! You can stop here or go to the final step to complete your Jack Skellington drawing.

 

Final Step: For a completely finished Jack Skellington drawing, you have to color it. You can use markers, color pencils or even crayons! Jack is a very easy character to color. Just color his eyes, nostrils and bowtie black. That's it! You now have a completed drawing of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

 

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