How to Draw a Mug
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Draw the rim as an ellipse - flatter if you are looking at it from the side, rounder from above.
Dọzi na peèrì n'ebe ahụ?
Anyị na-ewepụ foto ahụ n'ihi gị. A na-echekwa akwụkwọ ahụ n'otu ụzọ ahụ.
N'ihe banyere ọ̀tụ̀tụ̀ a
Everybody draws the top of a mug as a flat oval and everybody's mug comes out looking wrong. The rule is simple and it fixes it immediately: the further the opening is from your eye level, the rounder it looks. Level with your eyes it is a straight line. On the floor it is nearly a circle.
Get that one thing right and you can draw wheels, plates, bottles, hats and tins.
Nzọụkwụ site n'ụdị
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Nhazi 1
Draw the rim as an ellipse - flatter if you are looking at it from the side, rounder from above.
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Nhazi 2
Draw the two sides straight down, tapering in very slightly.
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Nhazi 3
Close the bottom with an ellipse that is slightly rounder than the top one.
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Nhazi 4
Add a second curve just inside the rim so it reads as an opening.
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Nhazi 5
Add the handle: start below the rim, end two-thirds of the way down.
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Nhazi 6
Give the handle thickness with a second curve inside the first.
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Nhazi 7
Shade the side away from the light and add a shadow on the table. Done.
Ihe a na-akụzi gị
This is the ellipse lesson, which is really a lesson about drawing what is in front of you instead of what you know is true. You know the rim is a circle. It does not look like a circle from here, and the drawing has to say what it looks like.
It also drills line confidence hard: an ellipse drawn in one committed motion looks right, and the same ellipse assembled from twelve careful little strokes looks wrong even when it is more accurate.
Nwaọrụ ndị a: Line confidence Proportion Corners and joins
Ihe ịchọrọ
A pencil or the canvas. And a mug - there is one within reach of you right now. Put it on the desk and look at it while you draw.
Ọ bụrụ na ọ na-aga n'ụzọ na-adịghị mma
If the mug looks like it is tipping over, the bottom ellipse is rounder or flatter than the top one. They must agree with each other: the bottom is always slightly rounder than the top, never flatter.
Do not draw the ellipse with tiny scratchy strokes. Go round in one movement, several times, and pick the best line.
Both ellipses must be the same width. Different roundness is correct and expected; different widths is what makes a mug look like it is melting. If you are unsure, hold your pencil up against the real mug and compare the two widths directly.
Draw the whole top ellipse, including the back half that is hidden behind the front rim, and only then decide what to erase. Drawing just the visible arc is how you end up with a rim that does not close.
Bipụta ụzọụkwụ ndị ahụ
Kpụga ya n'ime inyogo. Nzọụkwụ síìtì na-ebipụta na ihuakwụkwọ ọfụụ.
Ajụjụ ndị mmadụ jụrụ
- Why do my ellipses look wobbly?
- You are drawing them slowly. Go round several times in one fast continuous motion, then keep the best pass.
- How round should the top of the mug be?
- It depends entirely on your eye level. Look at a real mug: at eye level the rim is almost a line, from above it is almost a circle.
- Why does my mug look like it is falling over?
- The bottom ellipse disagrees with the top one. The bottom is always slightly rounder than the top.
- Where does the handle go?
- Starting just below the rim and ending around two-thirds down. Attached to the side, not floating beside it.
- Do I need to draw the inside of the mug?
- Just a second curve inside the rim. That thin band is what makes it read as an opening rather than a disc.
- Is this useful for anything else?
- Enormously. Wheels, cans, plates, hats, eyes and bottles are all this same skill.
- Should the sides be straight?
- Slightly tapered looks more natural than perfectly straight.
- What if my two ellipses are different widths?
- They should be the same width and different roundness. Widths differing is what makes it look wonky.