Draw a Cylinder
Drawing a cylinder might seem difficult, but once you realize it's merely two ellipses and a rectangle, creating one of your own isn't that hard. If you can master how to draw a cylinder, you can easily draw other objects such as a bucket, a crayon, a cup, a bottle, or a vase. Learning how to draw basic 3D shapes is the first step in making your drawings more realistic.
Contents
Things You'll Need
- Sharp pencil
- Paper
- Eraser
- Ruler (optional)
- Pen
Steps
Create the Cylinder's Axes
- Don't press too hard during this step. You are creating guide lines that will be erased later.
- Lightly draw a vertical line longer than the height of the cylinder you want. Let's call this line, "Line A."
- Draw a faint, shorter horizontal line that passes through Line A near, but not at, the top. This is Line B. The length of Line B will be the width of your cylinder.
- Look at Lines A and B. They should now resemble a tall, narrow cross.
- Draw another horizontal line, similar to Line B, this time near the bottom of your vertical line. This is Line C.
- Look at Lines A, B and C. They should now look vaguely like a line drawing of a barbell, standing on its end.
Drawing the Cylinder's Sides
- Connect the left ends of Lines B and C by drawing a vertical line. This is the left side of your cylinder.
- Do the same on the other side, connecting the right ends of B and C. This is the other side of your cylinder.
- Check your drawing. It should resemble a rectangle, divided down the center by Line A.
Drawing the Cylinder's Top and Bottom
- Pick points on Line A that are slightly above and below the intersection of Line B.
- Mark these points with faint hash marks.
- Carefully sketch an ellipse (a flattened circle) that passes through your two hash marks and the upper corners of your rectangle. This is the top of your cylinder.
- Sketch a similar ellipse at the lower end of Line A. This creates the bottom the your cylinder.
Remove the Axes and Guidelines
- Erase Lines A, B and C.
- Erase the top half of your lower ellipse. This creates the illusion of a solid, 3D object- the "back" of your cylinder and wouldn't be visible in real life.
Add Shading and Shadow
- Decide where your imaginary light source is located. If it's on the left, you will add shade and shadow on the right, and vice versa.
- Gently darken your cylinder on the side you've chosen. Add shading slowly and stop when you've achieved the look you want.
- Sketch in some shadow at the base of your cylinder. Make sure you are working on the same side as your shading. Draw slightly "behind" your cylinder.
