Watch it draw itself · tap to replay
How to Draw Star Trails
Draw star trails 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 pole star.
Step 1: The pole star
A little above the middle of your paper, draw one small star: the pole star, the one that stays still.
Tip Every other star sweeps round this one all night.
Step 2: The first trails
Around the pole star, draw a tiny curved trail on its right and a bigger one at the top left.
Tip Each trail sweeps about a quarter of the way round, so every star moves the same amount.
Step 3: More trails
Further out, draw 4 more curved trails, 2 at each distance, each starting somewhere new.
Step 4: The outer trails
Outside those, draw 2 longer trails: one along the bottom and one over the top to the right.
Step 5: Broken trail bits
Outside the biggest trails, draw 3 short curved trail pieces: 2 on the left and 1 on the right.
Step 6: Hill and ground
Low down, draw a ground line that nearly reaches both sides, and a soft hill arching between its ends.
Step 7: The tree trunk
Start on the hill on the right. Draw a trunk up and down to the hill, wide at its foot.
Step 8: The tree top
On top of the trunk, draw a cloud of 6 soft bumps. Rub out the trail lines inside it.
Step 9: A little tent
On the left, draw a small triangle tent standing on the hill line, with a smaller triangle door in it.
Step 10: Yellow star and trails
Colour the pole star yellow, then go over every trail with a thick yellow line.
Step 11: Orange tent, slate ground
Colour the tent orange around its door. Colour the door, the tree and the ground around the tent slate grey.
Step 12: Navy night sky
Colour the sky navy to the edges, around everything already coloured. Your star trails spin through the night!
Your finished drawing
Follow the steps above and this is where you end up: star trails, drawn by you.
Every step in one picture
