How to Draw a Moon

Today you will learn how to draw a moon in three simple steps. The moon's shape and texture make it an ideal subject for practicing shading and other skills. With a few tools and some basic steps, anyone can create a stunning drawing that captures the moon's beauty.

Create multiple moon phases to add to your digital library. You can even use it as a space clipart to sublimate on mugs, design out-of-this-world party decorations, or use the line art for coloring pages.

For this three-step drawing guide, gather your supplies. Create your moon illustration with any medium you have on hand. These mediums include anything from colored markers, acrylic paint, or digital apps such as Illustrator or Procreate.

Our tutorials cater to everyone, so you can join in on the fun no matter what medium is used or your drawing ability. Why not learn to draw other space clipart using our guides, such as drawing the earth or making a rocket drawing?

Step 1 - Roughly Sketch your Moon

Create a sketch of your moon using a sketching tool, like a pencil. If you do not have a pencil, any light color of your drawing medium will work. Ensure it is soft or pale enough to cover up when outlining or applying color to your drawing.

Moon Shape

Let's draw the base shape of our moon by drawing a perfectly round circle. You can use a compass or circular object to trace and Procreate QuickShape. Once you have your circle, you must decide what moon phase to depict.

There are four main phases, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, and crescent. Once you have decided, draw a line in your circle for the depicted phase. For our example, we are drawing a full moon.

Add texture and Craters

Next, draw a couple of rough shapes inside your circle. These shapes will represent surface areas that are either darker or lighter.

The moon's craters are the defining feature of its surface, so adding them to your drawing is essential. Start by lightly drawing circles that are in random sizes and angles.

Step 2 - Define your Moon Sketch

With your moon sketch done, switch to a lining medium to make a defined moon outline. Feel free to skip this step if you do not want a dark and permanent line. If you're going to line your sketch, use a black pen, felt-tip marker, or dark-colored medium.

These ink Procreate brushes are great for creating different line thicknesses or adding texture.

Begin tracing your sketch carefully, including the phase, surface shapes, and craters. If there are no other line details you would like to add, go ahead and remove your remaining rough sketches.

Step 3 - Add Depth to your Artwork

Your outlines are made, and now it's time to swap to a coloring medium. For your moon clipart, we recommend using multiple shades of gray to add depth and dimension. However, if you want to make a colored moon, feel free to use any color palette.

We used this sky Procreate brush kit for our moon to apply our gray. We layered multiple shades using the "Clouds 3" brush. Then created texture by erasing some areas and adding a splatter effect with the "Stars spray" brush.

Want to learn about blending in Procreate? Check out our handy tutorial on the four methods to blend colors easily.

With our quick and easy steps, you can create all the phases or illustrate a unique planet. We know your space drawings will look great applied, printed, or sublimated onto your future crafts and projects.

Just think how amazing your artwork will look when combined with other elements, such as these galaxy graphics. If you enjoyed following along today, check out our other FREE drawing tutorials for more things to draw.