How to Draw Abraham Lincoln Step by Step (Easy Portrait)

Few faces in American history are as easy to recognize from a few shapes as Abraham Lincoln's: a tall hat, a long face and a beard that runs along the jaw. Here you'll learn how to draw Abraham Lincoln step by step as a friendly, respectful portrait that works for Presidents' Day posters and school reports. I've kept every shape simple, and each feature sits on a guide line you sketch first, so no portrait experience is needed.

Each step image paints its fresh lines blue. Everything gray is already on your paper, and the light blue construction lines disappear in step 11.

Quick overview
⏱️ Time: around 45 minutes, plus 15 for coloring
🎯 Level: easy to medium, best for ages 9 and older
✏️ Steps: 12
🎩 You'll draw: Abraham Lincoln from the shoulders up, in his stovepipe hat and bow tie

Gathering Tools for Honest Abe

• An HB pencil for the light construction lines
• A kneaded or soft white eraser
• A black fineliner or a thin felt-tip pen
• Colored pencils: peach, tan, dark brown, black, gray, dark gray and a rosy pink
• White drawing paper, or poster card if it's for a school display

A gray pencil is handy for the hat band and coat, but a light layer of black works almost as well.

How to Draw Abraham Lincoln Step by Step

Step 1: Sketch a long oval and a center line

Lincoln had a long face, so this oval is taller than a usual head: about one and a half times as tall as it is wide. Run a straight line down the middle, from above the oval to a little below it.

💡 Tip: Sketch the oval a few times very faintly and keep the best one.

Step 2: Mark the face guide lines

Halfway down the oval, draw a level line for the eyes. Halfway between that line and the chin goes the nose line. The mouth line is shorter and sits about a third of the way from the nose line to the chin. Mark five even spaces across the eye line.

💡 Tip: Turn your paper upside down for a second; uneven spacing jumps out that way.

Step 3: Block in the hat and shoulders

Now place the hat as a simple box. Its bottom edge crosses the oval about a quarter of the way down, and its top reaches well above the head. A flat oval across the bottom of the box shows where the brim goes. Below the chin, add two short neck lines and a wide, shallow arc for the shoulders.

💡 Tip: Make the hat box almost as tall as the forehead-to-chin distance. A short hat stops looking like his.

Step 4: Draw the tall stovepipe hat

Trace the sides of the box for the crown, letting them lean out just a touch toward the top. Draw the brim as a thin band that curls up at both ends and dips slightly in the middle, wider than the head on each side. A second line a little above the brim makes the hat band.

💡 Tip: Use a ruler lightly for the crown sides if your hand wobbles; you can soften them when you ink.

Step 5: Add the side hair and the ears

His dark hair shows below the brim on both sides, so draw a puffy, rounded shape on each side of the head, from the brim down to about the eye line. The inner edge curves in toward the forehead and frames it. Each ear peeks out under the hair, between the eye line and the nose line.

💡 Tip: Keep the hair shapes the same height on both sides by checking them against the eye line.

Step 6: Draw the chin curtain beard

This is the feature that makes the drawing his. Lincoln's beard grew along the jaw and chin with no moustache, so the space above his lip stays bare. Start the outer edge in front of each ear and swing it down around the chin, a little below the oval. The inner edge passes under the mouth line.

💡 Tip: Leave a clear gap between the inner beard edge and the mouth line, or the lips will get crowded later.

Step 7: Shape the coat and lapels

Follow the shoulder arc out from under the beard, sloping gently down and out, and cut the bottom off flat. The two sides of the coat meet low in the middle in a V, with a white shirt showing inside it. Add a folded lapel along each side of the V with a small notch near the top.

💡 Tip: The shoulders should spread to roughly two and a half head widths. Narrow shoulders make the hat look top-heavy.

Step 8: Add the shirt collar and bow tie

Just under the beard, draw two small pointed collar flaps that angle down and outward from the center. In the middle, where they meet, add the bow tie: two rounded triangle wings and a small circle for the knot. I keep the tie fairly small, because a big bow pulls the eye away from his face.

💡 Tip: Draw the knot first, then hang one wing on each side of it so they come out even.

Step 9: Draw calm eyes and full brows

Put an almond shape in the second and fourth spaces on the eye line. Tuck each iris a little under the upper lid; that small overlap gives him a quiet, thoughtful look instead of a wide stare. Add a pupil, a tiny highlight and a soft lid line. His brows are fuller and fairly straight, sitting close above the eyes.

💡 Tip: Keep both highlights on the same side of the pupils so the eyes look in one direction.

Step 10: Add the nose, the mouth and the mole

Draw one long, gentle line for the side of the nose, then the base on the nose line with two small nostrils. The mouth is calm and closed: a slightly curved center line, a thin upper lip and a fuller lower lip. Two short curves under the outer eye corners hint at his cheekbones. A tiny circle near the nose, on the left side of your page, is the small mole on his right cheek.

💡 Tip: Draw the cheek curves short and light. Long lines there make him look much older than he should.

Step 11: Ink the lines and erase the guides

Trace every keeper line with a black fineliner. Once the ink is dry, erase the oval, the center line, the face lines, the hat box and the shoulder arc.

💡 Tip: Ink the hat first and work down the page so your hand rests on clean paper.

Step 12: Color the portrait

Start with peach on the face and ears, then a tan band right under the brim for its shadow. Use dark brown for the hair and beard, and for the brows. Use black for the hat and bow tie, gray for the band and dark gray for the coat. The collar and shirt stay white, and the lips get a soft rose.

💡 Tip: Press softly on the black hat and build it in two passes; one heavy pass turns waxy and shiny.

Where Lincoln Portraits Tend to Go Wrong

• A short, wide hat. His stovepipe is tall and narrow. Keep the crown nearly as tall as the face.
• Adding a moustache. Lincoln's beard skipped the upper lip, so leave that space bare.
• Turning the features into a caricature. Keep the nose and cheekbones normal size; this is a respectful portrait.
• Beard drawn right on the oval. Let it bulge a little outside the jaw so it looks like hair, not a shadow.
• Coloring the hat and coat the same black. Use dark gray for the coat so the two shapes stay separate.

Ideas for a Presidents' Day Poster

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, and he led the country through the Civil War. In 1863 he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and later that year he gave the short speech known as the Gettysburg Address. My drawing is a simple cartoon portrait meant for practice and school projects, not an exact likeness, so I kept his features gentle. For a poster, I'd write his name above the hat and the year 1863 under the shoulders. If your class is making a set of historical portraits, the Rosa Parks drawing tutorial pairs well with this one, and the easy face drawing tutorial helps with general face practice.

Abraham Lincoln Coloring Page and Printable Steps

Print the coloring page for a Presidents' Day activity. It includes a colored example and a key naming each color. The step guide PDF holds all twelve steps on a few pages, so kids can follow along at their desks without a screen.

📱 On a phone? Tap a download button, then open the file and choose Share → Save to Files or Print. On a computer, the PDF opens or saves straight to your Downloads folder.

Pin the Lincoln Steps for Class

Costumed Heroes and Characters to Draw Next

Each of these is a step-by-step tutorial with a picture for every stage, full of hats, helmets and costumes.

• Cowboy Drawing: Another tall hat: the how to draw a cowboy tutorial ends with a lasso in one hand and a little cactus nearby.
• Astronaut Drawing: Draw a space explorer waving hello next to the moon with this astronaut drawing tutorial.
• Monster Drawing: A furry cyclops and a three-eyed jelly buddy both start from ovals in the cute monster drawing step by step lesson.
• Tinkerbell Drawing: Four slim wings and a swoosh of golden dust come together in the Tinkerbell drawing tutorial.
• Darth Vader Drawing: Big helmet, tiny boots and a red glow: learn how to draw Darth Vader in chibi style.
• Cat Noir Drawing: Ears up and staff in hand, the hero takes eleven steps in this Cat Noir drawing tutorial.

What Kids Ask Before Drawing Lincoln

What is the easiest way to draw Abraham Lincoln?

Get the tall hat and the chin beard right first. Those two shapes make him recognizable, even if the eyes and mouth stay very simple.

How do you draw Abraham Lincoln for kids?

Younger kids can skip the lapels, the cheek lines and the hair strokes. Dots for eyes and a short line for the mouth still look friendly under that big hat.

How long does it take to draw Abraham Lincoln?

About 45 minutes for the drawing and another 15 for color. In a classroom it splits nicely into two sessions.

What colors do I need for an Abraham Lincoln drawing?

Peach and tan for the skin, dark brown for the hair and beard, black for the hat and bow tie, and gray for the band and coat. A rosy pink finishes the lips.

Grab a sharp pencil, sketch that long oval, and let the hat and beard do the hard work of making him look like Lincoln. 🎩

Related posts:

How to Draw Rosa Parks Step by Step (Easy Portrait) How to Draw Juice WRLD Step by Step (Easy Tribute Portrait) How to Draw a Family Step by Step (Easy Cartoon Portrait) How to Draw a Whale Step by Step (Easy for Beginners) How to Draw a UFO Step by Step (Cute Alien Saucer) How to Draw Flames Step by Step (Easy Campfire Drawing) How to Draw a Crow Step by Step (Easy for Beginners) How to Draw a Tiger Step by Step (Easy Walking Pose) How to Draw a Heart Step by Step (Even, Symmetric Shape) How to Draw a Jellyfish Step by Step (Cute, Easy Guide) How to Draw Cerberus Step by Step (Cute and Easy) How to Draw a Taco Step by Step (Easy Kawaii Taco)