How to Draw an Ice Cream Cone

Stap met stap

1. Stap 1

   Trek 'n lang dun driehoek, wys af.

   Not too narrow - the opening at the top should be about as wide as one scoop of ice cream, and about half as wide as the triangle is tall. A cone that is too thin reads as a party hat immediately.

   Pas op Making the triangle too narrow and too long.

   Gaan na The triangle should be roughly twice as tall as it is wide.

2. Stap 2

   Maak die boonste toe met'n vlak kurwe, nie'n reguit lyn nie.

   The opening of a cone is a circle seen at an angle, so it curves. Which way it curves tells the viewer whether they are looking slightly down into the cone or up at it - pick one and commit.

   Pas op A straight line across the top, which flattens the whole cone.

   Gaan na The top should be a visible curve.

3. Stap 3

   Trek die onderste skeping as'n sirkel wat die keëlopening oorvleuel.

   It has to sit ON the cone, which means its lower edge disappears behind the cone's rim. If the circle merely touches the top of the cone, the ice cream will look balanced there rather than resting in it.

   Pas op A circle that sits on top of the rim without crossing it.

   Gaan na The circle should cross the cone's top curve.

4. Stap 4

   Voeg die boonste skepsel by, wat die eerste een oorvleuel.

   Slightly smaller, and offset to one side rather than balanced dead centre - two scoops stacked perfectly reads as a snowman. Let it cross in front of the lower scoop's outline.

   Pas op Perfectly centred scoops of identical size.

   Gaan na The top scoop should be off-centre and slightly smaller.

5. Stap 5

   Ere die lyne agter die voorste vorms.

   This is the step that turns three separate shapes into one object. Anything behind something else goes: the cone rim behind the scoop, the bottom scoop where the top one covers it. Overlap only works once you commit to it.

   Pas op Leaving the construction lines visible, which makes everything look transparent.

   Gaan na No line should cross in front of a shape that is nearer to you.

6. Stap 6

   Maak die skep skeppaalte stamperig eerder as heeltemal rond.

   Go round each circle and add three or four shallow bumps. Ice cream is soft and slumps; a perfectly circular scoop reads as a tennis ball, and the fix costs about ten seconds.

   Pas op Making the bumps regular, which looks like a flower.

   Gaan na The outline should be uneven but still clearly round.

7. Stap 7

   Trek die waffle rooster: skuins lyne een manier, dan die ander.

   Both sets of lines curve with the cone, and they get closer together as the cone narrows toward the point. Lines drawn on a curved surface must curve - that single idea is worth more than the cone is.

   Pas op A flat straight grid, which makes the cone look like a piece of graph paper.

   Gaan na The grid lines should be closer together near the point.

8. Stap 8

   Kies'n ligte rigting en skadu een kant van elke skep.

   A scoop is a ball, so it is light on the side facing the light and dark on the other, with the darkest part just inside the edge rather than at it. Shade both scoops from the same side or they will look like separate drawings.

   Pas op Shading each scoop from a different direction.

   Gaan na The shadow should be on the same side of both scoops.

9. Stap 9

   Sit'n skaduwee waar die boonste skepfrein die bodem ontmoet.

   Wherever one thing sits on another it casts a small shadow there, and that little dark crescent is what makes the top scoop sit ON the bottom one rather than beside it. Same at the cone's rim.

   Pas op No contact shadows, so the scoops read as flat circles arranged on a page.

   Gaan na There should be a dark crescent at every place two shapes meet.

10. Stap 10

    Skadu die keël, donkerste aan dieselfde kant as die skepke.

    A cone is a cylinder that tapers, so it shades the same way: dark on the shadow side, with a thin lighter strip right at the edge where light bounces back up. Keep the strokes following the cone's slope.

    Pas op Shading straight up and down, ignoring the cone's angle.

    Gaan na Your strokes should follow the sloping side of the cone.

11. Stap 11

    Gaan oor die lyne wat jy wil hou, en verloor die gidse.

    This is the step that turns a construction drawing into a finished one, and it is the one most people skip. Press harder on the outline and the features; leave the small stuff light. That difference in weight is what makes a drawing look deliberate rather than traced, and it costs thirty seconds.

    Pas op Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    Gaan na The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.