Draw Hawaii Outline from Memory
How well do you know The Aloha State? Draw Hawaii from memory and score 0–100 based on how accurately you sketch its distinctive outline.
More US States to Draw
Why Hawaii Looks the Way It Does
Hawaii's shape is a time machine drawn in islands. Every one of them sits on the Pacific plate, which carries the sea floor steadily northwest — straight over a volcanic hotspot that pumps magma up from deep in the mantle. Each island is born over the hotspot, grows into a volcano, then rides the plate away, shrinking under erosion as a new island forms behind it.
That conveyor belt explains everything about the map. The Big Island, at the chain's southeast end, sits over the hotspot today: it's the youngest island and still growing, with Kilauea erupting on its flank and an underwater volcano building toward the surface offshore. Kauai, at the far northwest end, is roughly five million years older — a deeply eroded, almost circular rim of a single ancient volcano.
The chain doesn't stop at the state line. Beyond Kauai the islands shrink into the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, tiny specks stretching another thousand miles toward Asia — the older, drowned chapters of the same story. What Americans draw as the state of Hawaii is just the newest eight pages of a volcanic book that has been printing for thirty million years, one island at a time.
Quick Facts: Hawaii
- Capital
- Honolulu
- Nickname
- The Aloha State
- Statehood
- 1959
- Area
- 16,638 km²
- Borders
- No land borders — pure coastline
What is "Drawing Hawaii Outline from Memory"?
Drawing Hawaii from memory means sketching the Aloha State's border on a blank canvas without looking at a map. Focus on the state's distinctive features and overall proportions — that's what pushes your accuracy score up.
Hawaii became a state in 1959 and is rated ★★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a trickier outline with more detail to remember. When you hit Reveal, your sketch is scored 0–100 against the real border, so every attempt teaches you something about the outline.
Hawaii isn't one outline but eight, arranged in a line: the Big Island — a chunky, almost-triangular giant — sits at the chain's southeast end, and the islands shrink steadily as the chain marches off to the northwest, ending in the small, rounded shapes of Kauai and Niihau.
How to Draw Hawaii from Memory
Step 01
Anchor the chain with the Big Island in the bottom-right of your drawing: a large, roughly triangular blob, clearly the biggest shape on the page. Everything else in Hawaii steps away from it in a straight line, so fix its size and angle first.
Step 02
Run the chain to the northwest as a loose diagonal: Maui close beside the Big Island, then Lanai, Molokai and Oahu packed tightly in the middle, then Kauai and Niihau alone at the far end. Each island is smaller than the last, and the spaces between them grow wider as you go.
Step 03
Keep every island rough and irregular — these are volcano rims, not smooth ovals. Kauai reads as a nearly round dot, Oahu as a small dumbbell of two volcanoes, Maui as a figure-eight with a tilted top, and the Big Island's outline bulges where each of its volcanoes swells the coast.
A dotted chain: one big triangular island anchoring the bottom-right, six smaller islands stepping away to the northwest, and a scattering of tiny islets in between.
How Hawaii Is Scored
When you hit Reveal & compare, your sketch is measured against Hawaii's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Three numbers come back:
Matched — the share of the real border your drawing covered. 100% means you traced every part of the outline.
Extra — how much of your drawing fell outside the true border. This catches sketches that are too big, mispositioned, or drifting off.
Missed — the border you didn't reach, the flip side of Matched.
The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score. The rating names give you a target: 80+ is Cartographer, 60+ is Border patrol, 40+ is Getting there, and below 40 is Try again.
Drawing large and roughly centered is the single fastest way to raise your score — a small sketch tucked in a corner overlaps less of the true border, so it scores lower. For Hawaii, keep the whole island chain in frame and let the distinctive parts do the work.
FAQ
- What makes Hawaii's outline distinctive?
- Hawaii isn't one outline but eight, arranged in a line: the Big Island — a chunky, almost-triangular giant — sits at the chain's southeast end, and the islands shrink steadily as the chain marches off to the northwest, ending in the small, rounded shapes of Kauai and Niihau.
- How hard is it to draw Hawaii from memory?
- Hawaii is rated ★★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a trickier outline with more detail to remember. You can score your attempts immediately and watch your accuracy climb with practice.
- Which states border Hawaii?
- Hawaii has no land borders — it's surrounded by the ocean, which is why its outline is pure coastline.
- How is my Hawaii drawing scored?
- Your sketch is compared with Hawaii's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Matched is the share of the border you covered, Extra is how much of your drawing fell outside it, and Missed is the border you didn't reach. The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score.
- Can I draw Hawaii on mobile?
- Yes — Hawaii works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Draw with your finger on touchscreens; no app download is required and it runs directly in your browser.