How to draw a ferris wheel with lines and measurements that is so fun to color.

Hello Artists! Today we are drawing a Ferris Wheel! Ferris Wheels are so fun, they are big and bright and give a different view of our everyday world.

I love the view at the top of the Ferris Wheel. There you are in the middle of a busy space but you are so high in the air that it is quiet and you can see far off in the distance.

Then at night they are lit up with bright neon lights and it feels even more exciting.

Ferris Wheels are an iconic symbol of fun. At a circus, or a fair or on a boardwalk. It’s always a good time for a Ferris Wheel ride.

How to draw a Ferris Wheel

Supplies for drawing this favorite circus ride

Supplies:

  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Black marker
  • Colored Pencil
  • Ruler

Artist tip: This is considered a pretty technical drawing. We will be measuring out our lines to make sure everything is symmetrical.

My measurements will be taken from the portrait position, measured in inches.

Make sure your paper is TALL.

Remember to draw lightly until you get it right!

Take your time with this one, it might be tricky.

Supplies for drawing a carnival ride

How to draw a Ferris wheel with measurements

Let’s get started:

1. Find the middle of your paper. Line your ruler up horizontally, and the middle of 8.5” is 4.25”.

Then, line the ruler up vertically and the middle is 5.5″.

how to find the center of a paper

2. From the middle dot, measure and mark with a dot at 3”, left, right, top and bottom.

Then, 2” from each dot is the middle, make another dot.

Straight line measured drawing

3. Using your ruler draw lines connecting the dots, through the middle to the dot on the other side.

Metal spoke for big dipper

How to draw the spokes of a ferris wheel

4. Next, draw a curved line connecting each dot on the outside.

This will look like a large circle.

Ferris wheel spokes

How to draw a big dipper wheel

5. Draw a dot at 1” from the top of each line, then connect the dots with STRAIGHT lines.

Outline for a carnival ferris wheel

6. On every line, measure and mark with a dot at the 1”.

Also, on the straight lined circle, the measurement should be 2” in between lines, mark a dot at the 1”.

Technical measurement drawing of a wheel

7. Next, using your ruler connect those vertical dots to the horizontal dots with lines, they will form points.

Draw the inside of a ferris wheel

How to draw the basic shape for a big dipper wheel

8. Draw a small circle in the middle.

We will fill this one in, so if it’s not perfect it will be hidden!

How to draw a circus ride

How to draw passenger cars for an amusement park ride

9. At each line connecting to the outside circle, we will draw the seats.

These will hang vertically, due to gravity. The shape is a simple curved line for the top, then a half circle for the seat itself.

They are connected by a small straight line.

How to draw passenger cars for a ride

How to draw cars for a carnival ride

10. Almost done! Now, for the support beams.

These will come from the middle circle and rest on the ground.

The lines start at the same spot and spread out to a 1” wide. Yes, right through all the other lines we drew!

This way our Ferris Wheel doesn’t roll away!

Also, it’s a great time to draw a line for the ground.

Sketch support beams for a ferris wheel ride

11. Next, draw steps for getting on the Ferris Wheel.

These will be rectangles, stacked on top of each other getting bigger top to bottom.

How to draw ride steps

12. Outline with black marker & as always, erase any extra pencil lines.

Outline sketch of a ferris wheel

How to color a ferris wheel

The Best Part: Color and it’s your choice Artist! These can be as colorful and fun as you can imagine.

How to color a ferris wheel

There you go. You’ve done it and drawn a ferris wheel.

Let’s see what other fun ideas we can draw together… next time.

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