Remarkable Women: How to Draw Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks is best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. Now you can learn how to draw her portrait as a tribute to her amazing role in our country's history.

How to Draw Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks portrait

Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist who refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Its success launched nationwide efforts to end racial segregation of public facilities.

Aside from learning how to honor the amazing Rosa Parks with a drawing in her likeness, this tutorial can teach students some tips on how to better draw faces too.

Getting started with the right proportions is key, and Rosa's features happen to fall in some easy to see places. Her inside hairline touches the 1/4 down guide, the eyes on the 1/2, and the mouth just above the 3/4 line. If students make sure to hit those placements when drawing, their face is bound to have nice proportions.

Good news! A template with very light dashed lines is included in page 2 of the PDF download below. You could, of course, also just fold the paper to get creases in the same places, but sometimes that makes for extra wrinkles you have to draw around. At any rate, now you have a choice to see what works best for you and your students.

MATERIALS

  • Draw Rosa Parks PDF Tutorial (click to download)
  • Black Sharpie marker, fine tip
  • Stabilo Markers

DIRECTIONS

Time needed:1 hour.

How to Draw Rosa Parks

  1. Draw two eyes on center line or fold.

  2. Draw the bottom of the face.

  3. Draw the top of the face with the hair line.

  4. Draw glasses. Add the brows above it.

  5. Draw the nose and mouth.

  6. Draw the hair on top and sides.

  7. Start the collar.

  8. Add shoulders and her name in block letters.

  9. Trace with a black marker and color in.

More Black History Drawing Projects

How to Draw like Lois Mailou Jones
How to Draw Harriet Tubman
How to Draw Maya Angelou