How to Draw Big Ben

Learn how to draw Big Ben with a step by step tutorial and some grid paper. It's all about simplifying those many detailed and fancy shapes.

drawing big ben
Drawing of Big Ben

Big Ben, the nickname for the Great Bell, is arguably the most famous clock tower in the world. You can find the tower at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. The piece of Gothic Revival architecture has been standing since 1859.

This tutorial is a good lesson in subtle details. Creating the tower out of basic shapes like squares and rectangles, you can add small details to make the drawing flourish and realistic. Following the steps below, you can show your art to anyone and they will know exactly what you created.

drawing big ben

MATERIALS

  • Pencil. The Ticonderoga brand are the most reliable, make nice dark lines when you need them, and are the easiest to erase. Buying the pre-sharpened ones will save busy teachers a lot of time.
  • Eraser. Large ones you can hold in your hand do a much better job than just the pencil tip erasers, especially when erasing leftover pencil lines after tracing.
  • Black Sharpie Marker. These fine point permanent marker pens make nice black outlines, have a good tip for coloring, and never bleed when they get wet. Use them with good ventilation and add extra paper underneath to protect your tables.
  • Prang Crayons. These are a bit softer than other crayons so they sometimes look like oil pastels. They also have a some nice brown shades that Crayola does not have unless you buy their larger boxes.
  • Crayola Crayons. The reliable brand that always works well. The 24 pack has some of my favorite golden orange and yellow colors that seem a bit richer and warmer than the ones Prang has.

DIRECTIONS

Time needed:1 hour.

How to Draw Big Ben

  1. Make guidelines. Draw a circle.

  2. Draw a rectangle around the circle.

  3. Draw 3 rectangles.

  4. Draw sides of the tower.

  5. Add side boxes and lines.

  6. Add tower details. Draw clouds.

  7. Draw the clock face.

  8. Finish with hands and lines.

  9. Trace with a marker and color.