How To Draw a Sugar Skull?

Here’s a process on how to draw a sugar skull.

Step 1 – Create the Skull Base Shape and Guidelines

Start by drawing a large rounded head shape, like an oval that’s slightly wider at the top and gently narrowed near the bottom.
Lightly sketch a vertical guideline down the center to keep the face symmetrical.
Add a horizontal guideline across the upper half of the shape to help place the eye sockets evenly.
Refine the jaw area by slightly flattening the lower sides so the skull doesn’t look like a perfect egg.
Keep your pencil pressure light and sketchy—this stage is only for construction, so small corrections are expected.
Check that the shape looks balanced on both sides of the center line before moving forward.
Avoid details like teeth or decorations yet; focus only on a clean skull silhouette and accurate alignment lines.

Draw two large, rounded eye sockets on either side of the vertical guideline, using the horizontal guideline as a placement reference.
Inside each socket, add a second ring to suggest thickness or a decorative eye border, matching the reference style.
Sketch a small upside-down heart/triangle-like nose cavity centered below the eyes.
Define the cheek and jaw edges by adding gentle curves where the skull indents near the sides.
For the mouth, draw a slightly curved horizontal line, then add a row of short vertical tooth separators along it.
Add a subtle lower jaw boundary under the teeth to show where the skull’s mouth section sits.
Keep everything neat but still light—this step is about clear structure before ornamentation is added.

Begin decorating the forehead with a central flower motif: draw a small circle and add rounded petals around it.
Add curling swirls and vine-like lines across the forehead and sides, keeping the design symmetrical but not perfectly mirrored.
Decorate around the eyes with scalloped flower-like borders, creating a layered, festive look.
Add small accents like dots, tiny hearts, and short curves to fill empty spaces without overcrowding the skull.
Enhance the cheek and chin areas with additional swirls and curved patterns, following the skull’s contours.
Keep decorative lines thin and clean so they read as ornamentation rather than heavy outlines.
Lightly erase unnecessary construction marks while preserving the main skull outline and the newly added designs.

Darken the outer skull outline and the key facial features (eye sockets, nose cavity, and mouth line) to make the drawing pop.
Fill the eye sockets with solid dark shading, as shown in the final reference, leaving the surrounding decorative borders clear.
Shade the nose cavity darker as well, keeping the edges crisp so the shape remains recognizable.
Strengthen decorative lines by tracing over them carefully, varying line weight slightly for a polished look.
Refine the teeth by cleaning the vertical separators and adding subtle shading between some teeth to create depth.
Add small shadows under the cheekbones and along the jawline to give the skull a slightly rounded, dimensional feel.
Finish by erasing any remaining faint guidelines and smoothing the final outline so the sugar skull looks clean, bold, and complete.