Look at the back of a twenty-dollar bill. Or, well, look at what was supposed to be on the back of the twenty-dollar bill by now. When people think about a drawing of Harriet Tubman, they usually picture a very specific version of her: the stern, elderly woman in a dark dress, eyes set with a weight that could crush stone. It’s the iconic portrait from the 1880s. But here’s the thing—that’s just one sliver of who she was.
Artists today are struggling with a weird problem. How do you draw someone who spent most of her life trying not to be seen? Tubman was a ghost. A shadow. If someone caught a good look at her while she was working the Underground Railroad, she wasn't doing her job right.
Capturing her likeness isn't just about getting the nose or the headwrap right. It’s about the scars. It’s about the fact that she carried a pistol and a sharp sense of humor. When you sit down to create or study a drawing of Harriet Tubman, you’re actually looking at a political statement, a historical correction, and a piece of high-stakes art all rolled into one.
The Problem With the "Kindly Grandmother" Trope
For a long time, the most common sketches of Tubman leaned heavily into her later years. You know the ones. She looks tired. She looks like someone’s great-aunt sitting in a parlor. While those images are authentic—based on real photographs taken at her home in Auburn, New York—they sort of strip away the "General Tubman" energy.
I think we've done her a disservice by only focusing on the elderly version.
Think about it. When she was leading people through freezing swamps in the middle of the night, she was young. She was muscular. She was probably terrifyingly intense. Newer artistic interpretations, like the sketches used for the proposed $20 bill design or the vibrant murals popping up in Maryland and Philadelphia, are finally starting to show the Harriet who could outwalk a bounty hunter.
Honestly, the "Grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement" vibe is fine, but it ignores the Harriet who was a literal spy for the Union Army. If you're looking at a drawing of Harriet Tubman and she doesn't look like she could survive a week in the woods with nothing but a knife, the artist might be missing the point.
Accuracy vs. Artistic License: What the Reference Photos Tell Us
We only have a handful of confirmed photographs of Tubman. The most famous one was actually discovered relatively recently, in 2017, in an album belonging to her friend Emily Howland. In this one, Harriet is younger. Maybe in her 40s. She’s wearing a stylish dress with a tight bodice and a full skirt.
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She looks... fashionable.
This blew people’s minds. Why? Because we’ve been conditioned to think of her only in rags or plain Quaker-style clothing. When an artist creates a drawing of Harriet Tubman based on the Howland photograph, they aren't just making her look "nice." They are showing her humanity and her status as a free woman who took pride in her appearance.
The Physical Markers You Can't Ignore
If you're an illustrator or a student trying to get the details right, there are specific physical traits that show up in the most accurate renderings:
- The Scar: Tubman had a visible scar on her forehead from a two-pound metal weight thrown by an overseer when she was a teenager. It caused her lifelong seizures and "sleeping fits" (likely narcolepsy or temporal lobe epilepsy).
- The Stature: She was tiny. Barely five feet tall. In many drawings, artists make her look much larger to match her "larger than life" reputation, but the reality of a small woman possessing that much power is actually way more impressive.
- The Hands: She was a laborer. She worked on wharves, in fields, and in kitchens. Her hands were calloused and strong.
- The Eyes: In the 1860s portraits, her gaze is often described as "piercing."
Why Modern Illustrators Are Obsessed With Her
Go to Instagram or ArtStation and search for Harriet Tubman. You won't just find charcoal sketches. You'll find afrofuturist versions of her. You'll find her reimagined as a literal superhero with a cape made of North Stars.
Kinda cool, right?
Artists like Kadir Nelson have mastered the art of the drawing of Harriet Tubman by using light in a way that feels divine. Nelson’s work often uses "The Great Migration" themes, where Harriet isn't just a person, but a force of nature. This shift in art—from "historical record" to "mythic icon"—is how we keep her story relevant for kids who grew up on Marvel movies.
But there is a trap here.
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Sometimes, in an effort to make her look heroic, artists "soften" her features or make her look more like a modern model. That’s where it gets dicey. Tubman’s power didn't come from being "pretty" in a conventional, 21st-century way. It came from her resilience. If a drawing of Harriet Tubman removes the grit, it removes the history.
The $20 Bill Controversy and the "Official" Look
We have to talk about the Treasury Department. Back in 2016, the plan to put Harriet on the twenty was everywhere. Then it stalled. Then it moved again. The specific drawing of Harriet Tubman intended for the currency was based on the 1885 photograph by Benjamin Powelson.
The engravers had a tough job. Money needs to be hard to counterfeit, which means lots of fine lines and cross-hatching. But money also conveys "national character." By choosing the older Tubman for the bill, the government was leaning into the "Matriarch" image.
Critics argued we should have used the younger, more defiant Tubman. The one who led the Combahee River Raid and freed 700 people in a single night. Imagine a drawing of Harriet Tubman on our currency where she's holding the lead in a military operation. That would change the entire energy of the American wallet.
How to Sketch Tubman: A Guide for Art Students
If you're sitting down with a pencil and a blank sheet of paper, don't start with the face. Start with the weight. Tubman’s life was defined by the weight of the people she carried—literally and figuratively.
- Block out the Headwrap: It wasn't just a fashion choice; it was practical. It kept her hair out of the way while moving through brush. Use heavy, textured strokes here.
- Focus on the Brow: Because of her head injury, her brow often looks heavy or slightly furrowed in photos. This gives her that look of deep concentration.
- The Lighting is Everything: If you're doing a drawing of Harriet Tubman, try using chiaroscuro (the dramatic contrast between light and dark). She lived in the shadows. The light should hit one side of her face, leaving the rest in the dark—symbolizing the secret world she navigated.
- Don't Forget the Gear: Sometimes the best way to "draw" Harriet is to draw what she carried. A lantern (though she rarely used one to avoid detection), a gourd for water, or the woods of the Eastern Shore of Maryland behind her.
Realism vs. Symbolism
There's a famous mural in Cambridge, Maryland, by artist Michael Rosato. It’s become a viral sensation. In it, Harriet is reaching out her hand, seemingly coming out of the wall to grab the viewer. It’s technically a drawing of Harriet Tubman on a massive scale.
What makes it work isn't just the photorealism. It’s the hand.
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The hand is oversized. It’s weathered. It looks like it could pull you to safety or knock you out if you got in her way. This is where art beats photography. A photo shows you what someone looked like; a drawing shows you how they felt. When you look at that mural, you feel the urgency. You feel the "keep moving" vibe that she was famous for.
The Erasure of the Disabled Body
People often forget that Harriet was a disabled woman. Those "sleeping fits" were no joke. She would sometimes pass out mid-sentence. When we look at a drawing of Harriet Tubman, we rarely see that vulnerability.
Modern disability advocates have started calling for art that reflects this. They want to see the Harriet who struggled. The Harriet who was in pain but kept going anyway. If you're an artist, showing a moment of exhaustion or the physical toll of her journeys adds a layer of "human-quality" depth that a standard portrait lacks.
Actionable Insights for Collectors and Creators
If you are looking to buy, commission, or create a piece centered on this historical titan, keep these points in mind:
- Check the Source: Ensure the work is based on the 1860s or 1880s photographs to maintain historical grounding.
- Look for Agency: Does she look like a passive subject, or does she look like the protagonist of her own story? The best drawing of Harriet Tubman always grants her agency.
- Context Matters: A portrait is fine, but Harriet in her element—the woods, the bridge, the boat—tells a much richer story.
- Support Black Artists: Many of the most nuanced and powerful contemporary drawings of Tubman are coming from Black illustrators who bring a deep understanding of ancestral memory to the canvas.
To truly honor Harriet Tubman through art, you have to look past the symbols and find the woman. She wasn't a saint on a pedestal; she was a radical who broke the law because the law was wrong. Any drawing of Harriet Tubman worth its salt should make you feel a little bit of that radical fire.
Start by visiting the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park's digital archives to see the high-resolution scans of her original photos. Use those as your North Star. Whether you're sketching in a notebook or designing a mural, let the grit of her real life guide your hand. Forget the "precious" versions of history. Draw the woman who walked through the dark and didn't blink.