How to Draw a Soccer Referee | in 9 Simple Steps

Are you a fan of soccer? You probably play at school or enjoy watching a good game of soccer like many of us. Whatever the case, you know a referee. This is the person who ensures there is fair play among the soccer players by making judgments, keeping time, and ensuring all the rules are followed. In today’s lesson, we will be learning how to draw a soccer referee.

The soccer referee also referred to as the football referee or simply as the referee, is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the game’s laws during a match. Their primary duties include maintaining the safety of the players, team officials, and fans.

The referee also inspects the playing area and assumes the right positioning during a game. There are many more responsibilities that a referee has. However, since our job is to train you to become a great artist, we will not focus too much on the role of the referee. We will focus on the drawing part.

What You Will Need

• A pencil
• An eraser
• A drawing piece of paper or sketching app
• Coloring supplies
• 30 minutes

How to Draw a Football Referee

If you complete our previous lesson on how to draw a soccer player, today’s lesson will be a breeze. This is because we will be doing almost the same thing with the exception that the referee will simply be standing.

To give you a better understanding of what will be involved, the below image has the steps we will be following. Study it keenly so that you know what we will be doing and avoid making mistakes that may cause you to start over before you are done.

Step 1: Draw the Hair

The first thing we are going to draw is the hair of the soccer referee. We are going to start with this because the hair is the top-most part of our drawing. It needs to be at the very top of the drawing paper so that we have ample space for the other parts of the drawing.

Make sure your drawing paper is vertical (portrait) so that we have enough room for the drawing. We are going to add the hair at the topmost part of the paper. We will start by adding an oval shape close to the top margin. Make the right part of the oval shape a bit pointed. This will be the top part of the hair.

Next, we are going to add hairs to the side. For this, we will use vertical curved lines starting from the bottom of the oval shape we added earlier and extending them slightly downwards. With that, the hair of our soccer referee is complete.

Step 2: Draw the Face

The next thing we are going to do is add the face of the football referee. To do so, we will start by adding a vertical semi-oval shape that sits below the bottom part of the hair. At the point where the hair and the semi-oval shape connect, we are going to add two protrusions to serve as the ears. Erase the part of the oval shape that cuts inside the protrusions we added for the ears.

On the face, we will start by adding the eyebrows. This should come a short distance below the top part of the hair. Add two semi-oval shapes for the eyebrows. Next, add a small circle below each eyebrow. You should also add another circle in each circle to create the eyes. For the nostrils, we are simply going to add two dots a short distance below the eyes.

For the final step, we are going to add the mouth below the nostrils. We will do so using a curved line. You should also add a small mark below the mouth for the soul patch. The face of the soccer referee is now complete. Here is what our drawing looks like.

Step 3: Draw the Jersey

Just like other soccer players, a referee also wears a jersey. The jersey is, however, of a different color from the one worn by other players for distinction. It can be a plain jersey or one with patterns. In most cases, the jersey has stripes.

Before we can add the jersey, we first need to give our referee a neck. Everyone has a neck, right? Draw two vertical lines below the face of the referee. The lines should not be too long since we don’t want his neck to be as long as that of a giraffe. Now that the neck is done, we can add the jersey.

Beneath the lines we added for the neck, we are going to add a collar. To do so, start by drawing a V-shape below the neck of the referee. next, at the bottom of the V-shape, add two curved lines that slant outwards and diagonally. We are then going to add a diagonal line starting from the diagonal lines and extend them so that they sit a short distance from the neck of the football referee.

For the body of the jersey, we will start by adding a diagonal line that starts from the top part of the collar and extends outwards, but diagonally, to form the shoulders. Next, we will add vertical lines starting from the end of the line we added for the shoulder and extending slightly downwards to form the body of the jersey. Use a slightly curved line to connect the two lines.

To add the striped patterns common on referee jerseys, we will draw vertical lines starting from the shoulder and connecting to the line we added at the bottom of the jersey. Make sure the lines don’t go over the collar.

The final step is all about adding the sleeves to the jersey. For this, we are going to use diagonal rectangles on the side of the jersey’s body. Make sure the rectangles slant accordingly so that they form realistic sleeves. At the end of the rectangle, add two parallel lines to indicate that the sleeves are striped.

Step 4: Draw the Arms

Our soccer referee will be standing with their hands akimbo. We will start with the right hand. This will be on the left side of our drawing paper. Draw a line that starts from the upper side of the right sleeve, extends slightly downwards then curves so that it extends diagonally towards the right and downwards. Draw another line from the lower part of the sleeve. The line should be parallel to the first one and end at the same length as the first one.

To add clasped fists, start by adding an oval shape at the end of the two lines we added. Add some short lines in the bottom right part of the oval shape to represent the soccer referee’s fingers.

Now repeat the same process to add the left arm. Your drawing should now look something like this.

Step 5: Draw the Shorts

The soccer referee wears shorts like other players. This is what we will be adding next. To add the shorts, add diagonal lines starting from the bottom of the jersey and extending downwards in a way that makes the resulting shape wider at the bottom. Next, add two flattened oval shapes at the bottom of the shorts. The two oval shapes should have a small space between them. Draw a line starting from the inner side of the oval shapes and rising to almost halfway the length of the shape to form the shorts. Here is what your drawing should look like.

Step 6: Draw the Legs

The next thing we are going to draw is the legs of the soccer referee. For this, we are going to add tube-like shapes starting from the shorts and extending downwards. Make sure you curve the lines accordingly to indicate the calves, heel, and knee. For the leg on the right, we will bend the lower part of the tube-like structure to form the foot. You should have something that looks like this.

Step 7: Draw the Boots and Socks

To add the socks, we will simply draw a curved line below the knee of the soccer referee. Slightly below the curved line, we will add two horizontal lines to represent the stripes on the socks. We will then add a curved line at the ankle to depict the soccer cleats.

Step 8: Refine the Drawing

The drawing of our soccer referee is now ready. Congratulations if your drawing looks like ours. If it doesn’t, don’t be frustrated. You will notice better results on your next attempt. Always keep in mind that it takes practice to become a good artist.

Take the Drawing to the Next Level

We are not going to leave our drawing as it is. To make it pop, we are going to add colors.

Step 9: Color Your Drawing

Take out your coloring supplies and color your drawing. Here are the colors we used in our drawing. You don’t have to use the same colors.

Conclusion

Drawing a soccer referee is quite easy when done the right way. In our drawing, we started by drawing the head then we added the neck and jersey. We later added the arms of the referee then the shorts and the legs. To make our drawing more realistic, we added lines to show that our soccer referee is wearing socks and boots. We later colored our drawing to make it stand out.

You can use our steps to draw any person using these steps. The key is to keep practicing in order to improve your skills.

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