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.

Things You'll Need

  • Sharp pencil
  • Paper
  • Eraser
  • Ruler (optional)
  • Pen

Steps

Create the Cylinder's Axes

  1. Don't press too hard during this step. You are creating guide lines that will be erased later.
  2. Lightly draw a vertical line longer than the height of the cylinder you want. Let's call this line, "Line A."
  3. 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.
  4. Look at Lines A and B. They should now resemble a tall, narrow cross.
  5. Draw another horizontal line, similar to Line B, this time near the bottom of your vertical line. This is Line C.
  6. 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

  1. Connect the left ends of Lines B and C by drawing a vertical line. This is the left side of your cylinder.
  2. Do the same on the other side, connecting the right ends of B and C. This is the other side of your cylinder.
  3. Check your drawing. It should resemble a rectangle, divided down the center by Line A.

Drawing the Cylinder's Top and Bottom

  1. Pick points on Line A that are slightly above and below the intersection of Line B.
  2. Mark these points with faint hash marks.
  3. 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.
  4. Sketch a similar ellipse at the lower end of Line A. This creates the bottom the your cylinder.

Remove the Axes and Guidelines

  1. Erase Lines A, B and C.
  2. 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

  1. 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.
  2. Gently darken your cylinder on the side you've chosen. Add shading slowly and stop when you've achieved the look you want.
  3. 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.

Tips

Related Articles

Sources and Citations