Watch it draw itself · tap to replay
How to Draw the Empire State Building
Draw the Empire State Building in 12 easy steps, about 9 minutes. Free, with a printable worksheet.
Each picture adds one red line. Draw that line, then scroll to the next picture. Rub out any dashed helper lines at the end. First up: the wide base.
Step 1: The wide base
Low on your paper draw a wide flat block for the base, with a flat top.
Step 2: The second step
On the base draw a narrower middle block: start on the base's top, go up, across, down to the base.
Step 3: The tall tower
Start on the step's top. Draw a tall thin tower way up, across, and down to the step.
Tip The tower is more than twice as tall as it is wide!
Step 4: Crown and spire
Start on the tower top, draw 2 small steps, then a thin spire up to a point and an antenna.
Step 5: The front doors
From the base's bottom in the middle, draw a door up, across, down to the bottom. Add a middle line.
Step 6: Tower windows
On the tower draw 3 tall thin window boxes standing up: one in the middle and one each side.
Step 7: Step windows
On the second step draw 5 short windows in a row. Add 3 each side of the doors below.
Step 8: Window lines
Draw a line down the middle of each tower window, not touching the top or bottom, like window frames.
Step 9: Ground and cloud
Draw a ground line under everything, edge to edge. Add a puffy 4-bump cloud high on the left.
Step 10: Sky windows
Go over your lines. Colour every window sky blue and the cloud white.
Step 11: Stone building
Colour the whole building warm stone, going around the windows and doors.
Step 12: Spire and doors
Colour the spire grey and the doors slate grey. Your Empire State Building is done!
Your finished drawing
Follow the steps above and this is where you end up: the Empire State Building, drawn by you.
Every step in one picture
