How to Draw an Ice Cream Cone

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1. Icyiciro 1

   A Birenzeho Bito Akadomo Hasi

   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.

   Gusuzuma Making the triangle too narrow and too long.

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

2. Icyiciro 2

   Funga i Hejuru: Na: A Ikizamuko, OYA A Umurongo:.

   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.

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

   Kugenzura... The top should be a visible curve.

3. Icyiciro 3

   i Hasi: Nka A Uruziga i

   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.

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

   Kugenzura... The circle should cross the cone's top curve.

4. Icyiciro 4

   i Hejuru:, i Itangira.

   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.

   Gusuzuma Perfectly centred scoops of identical size.

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

5. Icyiciro 5

   i Imirongo Gihishwe i Impera: Ishusho.

   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.

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

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

6. Icyiciro 6

   i Amasimbuka Birenzeho Idirishya

   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.

   Gusuzuma Making the bumps regular, which looks like a flower.

   Kugenzura... The outline should be uneven but still clearly round.

7. Icyiciro 7

   i Urusobetudirishya: Imirongo Rimwe, Hanyuma i.

   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.

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

   Kugenzura... The grid lines should be closer together near the point.

8. Icyiciro 8

   A Gihinguranya Iy' ibusamo na Igicucu Rimwe Bya.

   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.

   Gusuzuma Shading each scoop from a different direction.

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

9. Icyiciro 9

   A Igicucu i Hejuru: i Hasi: Rimwe.

   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.

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

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

10. Icyiciro 10

    i, ku i Nka i.

    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.

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

    Kugenzura... Your strokes should follow the sloping side of the cone.

11. Icyiciro 11

    ku i Imirongo Kuri, na i.

    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.

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

    Kugenzura... The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.