Gather drawing paper, pencil, eraser, and coloring tools
Lightly sketch a horizon line
Add silhouettes of mountains, trees, or land below the horizon
Draw soft, flowing ribbon shapes across the sky
Vary the ribbon widths and curves
Layer several ribbons at different heights
Add gentle wave-like edges to the ribbons
Leave some open space between the light bands
Shade the sky around the ribbons with dark blue or black
Blend the edges of the ribbons softly
Color the aurora with green, blue, purple, pink, or yellow
Add brighter highlights along the center of each ribbon
Darken the lower sky and foreground for contrast
Add stars as small white dots if desired
Refine the shapes and erase any rough sketch lines