How to Draw a Rainbow

Here’s how to draw an easy rainbow, and then fill the foreground and background with lots of pretty flowers and butterflies.


A finished rainbow drawing colored with crayons.


Time lapse of a rainbow drawing.

Rainbows actually contain upwards of 1 million colors, but the limitations of our eyes pretty much turn them into seven curved bands that all softly blend from one to the next. For those that are just learning how to draw though, making those bands as even as possible, and then filling them in the right color order, are enough to practice for one lesson.

Rather than draw the entire rainbow, this tutorial will show students how to draw about 3/4 of one. The closer view means those bands can be just a bit wider, which is always helps when drawing them. Plus, the slightly off-center composition creates a little more interesting look than if everything was just centered on the page.


Preview of the butterfly drawing step by step tutorial.


MATERIALS

  • How to Draw a Rainbow (click for a PDF)
  • Drawing paper
  • Black marker
  • Crayons

DIRECTIONS

Time needed: 45 minutes.

How to Draw a Rainbow

1.Draw the horizon line.


2.Start the rainbow with the top curve.

3.Add two more evenly spaced curves below.


4.Add two more evenly spaced curves below.

5.Finish with two evenly spaced curves below.

6.Draw background bushes.

7.Draw flowers in the foreground.

8.Fill the sky with clouds and butterflies.


9.Trace with a marker and color.























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