Do you remember what design patterns were popular in the 90s? One of them was this characteristic 90s sun and moon bedding style, where both sun and moon have facial features. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to draw such a 90s sun and moon decor.
You'll learn how to sketch the sun and the moon, and how to finish both drawings with clean lines. Then I'll show you how you can color them to achieve this characteristic color scheme. And then, if you decide to create a full pattern out of it, I'll show you the tutorials that will teach you to draw the stars and create a seamless pattern in Photoshop. But you can also stop right there and just use these drawings individually—for example, to create a 90s sun logo!
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What You'll Learn in This 90s Sun and Moon Pattern Tutorial
- How to draw a 90s design pattern with sun, moon, and stars
- How to create a sun and moon for a 90s pattern
What You'll Need
This tutorial is medium-independent, which means you can follow it both digitally and traditionally. In any case, you're going to need a few tools:
- Sketching tool (e.g. a pencil)
- Inking tool (e.g. a marker or an ink liner)
- Ruler
- Compass
- Eraser (optional)
You can follow the tutorial without a ruler and a compass, but it will be harder to create this specific, neat style by hand.
1. How to Sketch the 90s Sun
Step 1
Draw a big circle using your sketching tool (and, preferably, a compass). If you're drawing traditionally, keep these lines fairly light so that you can erase them later.
Step 2
Using a ruler, draw a horizontal line cutting the circle in half.
Step 3
Add a second line, perpendicular to the previous one.
Step 4
Cross each quarter with another line, dividing them in half.
Step 5
Divide each of the resulting sections in half again.
Step 6
Put marks on a few of the lines, roughly at half of the radius.
Step 7
Draw a smaller circle through these marks.
Step 8
Put marks along the circle, in the middle of each "pie slice".
Step 9
Construct a series of triangles by connecting two of these marks to the lines touching the big circle.
Step 10
Draw a slightly smaller circle just inside the big one.
Step 11
Divide each section between the triangles into thirds.
Step 12
Draw a curve from the middle of each triangle towards the mark of the last third.
Step 13
Add another, concave curve on the other side.
Step 14
Draw a smaller circle inside the innermost one.
Step 15
Let's add the face of the sun now! Draw an oval nose under the middle horizontal line.
Step 16
Add the round tip of the nose.
Step 17
Draw two circles next to the nose—these will be the areas for the eyes.
Step 18
Add an oval chin on the bottom.
Step 19
Place a mark slightly higher than half of the distance between the chin and nose.
Step 20
Draw a horizontal line across this mark, and place two slanted ovals on it. We will use them for the cheeks.
Step 21
Draw an oval around the same mark, creating the shape of the lips.
Step 22
Draw the full shape of the lips now.
Step 23
Draw the curve of the upper eyelids.
Step 24
Add a round iris, slightly covered by the upper eyelid.
Step 25
Add the lower eyelids under the iris.
Step 26
Place a round pupil inside each iris.
2. How to Draw the Sun for a 90s Sun and Moon Decor
Step 1
It's time to add the final lines to our drawing of a 90s sun. Take the darker tool, and if you're drawing digitally, switch to a new layer. Draw the two small circles around the face. Keep these lines clean and precise—it's necessary for this style.
Step 2
Draw the "spikes" around the circles.
Step 3
Outline the "flames" behind the spikes.
Step 4
Draw a straight line through each "spike".
Step 5
Draw the eyebrows over the eyes.
Step 6
Make the eyelids more detailed.
Step 7
Outline the iris and the pupil.
Step 8
Outline the shape of the nose.
Step 9
Add details to the mouth.
Step 10
Add the remaining details: the top of the chin, the curve of the cheeks, and an extra line for the eyelids.
Step 11
To make the whole illustration of the 90s sun look more interesting, you can fill one half of each "spike" with a series of parallel diagonal lines.
Step 12
To finish the drawing, you can erase the sketch or hide the sketch layer, and accentuate some of the lines by thickening them. If you thicken just one side of each element, it will create an illusion of shading.
3. How to Sketch the 90s Moon
Step 1
We can start our drawing of the 90s moon using the same method as for the sun. Draw a big circle (but slightly smaller than the sun's if you want them to look good together). Again, use your sketching tool for this stage, and keep these lines light.
Step 2
Cut this circle in half horizontally.
Step 3
Cut it in half again, this time vertically.
Step 4
Draw a slightly tilted version of the horizontal line. This will help us make the moon look slightly rotated.
Step 5
Put a mark on this tilted radius, at about 1/3 of its length.
Step 6
Use this mark as the center of a smaller circle, going slightly outside the borders of the first circle.
Step 7
Add another tilted line, this time next to the vertical line.
Step 8
Draw a small circle in the upper part of the moon. This will be the forehead.
Step 9
Draw a slanted oval inside this circle—an area for the eye.
Step 10
Add a small circle around the middle of the tilted "vertical" line, to create the tip of the nose.
Step 11
Add another small circle next to it, to create the shape of the nostril.
Step 12
Add a small circle in the bottom half of the moon to create the shape of the chin.
Step 13
Draw a line between the chin and the nose and one between the nose and the forehead.
Step 14
Put a mark around the middle of the lower line.
Step 15
Sketch the line of the mouth.
Step 16
Add a slanted oval under the eye area to create the shape of the cheek.
Step 17
Let's add the details of the face now. Draw two small ovals around the line of the mouth to create the shape of the lips.
Step 18
Sketch the curve of the upper eyelid.
Step 19
Add the bottom curve of the upper eyelid.
Step 20
Draw the curve of the lower eyelid, too.
Step 21
Add an oval for the iris, in the front part of the eye, slightly covered by the upper eyelid.
Step 22
Add the pupil inside the iris.
4. How to Draw the Moon for a 90s Sun and Moon Decor
Step 1
Let's finish our drawing of the 90s moon now. As this is the final stage, take a darker tool and change the layer (if you're drawing digitally). Outline the general shape of the crest.
Step 2
Outline the silhouette of the face.
Step 3
Add the details of the eyelids.
Step 4
Outline the iris and the pupil.
Step 5
Draw the eyebrow.
Step 6
Outline the nose, mouth, and chin.
Step 7
Add the curve of the cheek and the corner of the eye.
Step 8
You can finish at this point, but if you want to create this style of a "full moon with a shadow" (which was common in 90s design patterns), you can close the full outline of the circle.
Step 9
You can shade this shadowed part with a series of parallel diagonal lines. Try to keep equal distances between these lines.
Step 10
To make the shading more detailed, you can add a series of shorter lines between them.
Step 11
Finally, erase or hide the sketch, and accentuate portions of the lines to give them more variety.
5. How to Color the Sun and Moon
Step 1
If you want to color your sun and moon to create a full 90s sun, moon, and stars pattern, you need to use a consistent color scheme. Here are the colors I've used.
First, you can use #fad386 for the general color of each shape.
Step 2
Then you can mark the shadows with #f4c567.
Step 3
Use #ffdb94 to accentuate the curvature of each face.
Step 4
Add smaller dots of #ffe9a8 to create highlights.
Step 5
You can use #ffdfa3 around the highlights to make them look less sharp, wherever needed.
Step 6
Use #f4c567 again to add small shadows around the details of the face.
Step 7
If you're drawing digitally, you can duplicate the line art layer, fill it with #fe9001, and put it slightly below the original line art (under its layer) to quickly create tiny shadows. If you're drawing traditionally, you can achieve the same effect by drawing thin lines right under the line art.
Step 8
If you're drawing digitally, you can also fill the line art with a slightly less harsh #433105, to give the whole drawing a warmer tone.
Step 9
If you want to create a full 90s sun, moon, and stars pattern, you can use #05193a for the background and throw in some stars—for example, by using this tutorial:
And if you want to make your pattern seamless, you can learn how to do it using this tutorial:
Good Job!
Now you know how to create your sun and moon illustration. Here's how my 90s sun and moon bedding pattern looks when applied to a mockup. If you want to create your own mockups, visit Placeit to get access to thousands of professional mockups—among them, this paper roll mockup I've used:
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