How to Draw a Mug

Крок за кроком

1. Крок 1

   Визначте рівень свого ока і позначте його.

   Everything about the ellipses follows from this. If the mug is below your eye level you will see into it; if it is level you will not. Make the decision consciously now rather than letting it drift halfway through the drawing.

   Обережно Not deciding, then drawing a rim that contradicts the base.

   Перевірити You should be able to say whether you are looking down into this mug or across at it.

2. Крок 2

   Намалюйте обід як один еліпс, з одним швидким рухом.

   Go round three or four times without stopping and keep the best pass. Speed is what makes an ellipse smooth - drawn slowly it comes out lumpy on one side every single time, because your hand cannot hold a curve at low speed.

   Обережно Building it out of short careful arcs.

   Перевірити It should be symmetrical about its own long axis.

3. Крок 3

   Намалюйте обидві сторони донизу, трохи звужуючи.

   Start exactly at the ends of the ellipse's long axis. A slight taper inward looks more natural than perfectly parallel sides, and it is what most real mugs do.

   Обережно Starting the sides inside or outside the rim, which leaves a visible step.

   Перевірити Each side should begin exactly at the widest point of the rim.

4. Крок 4

   Закриває нижню частину еліпсом трохи заокругленим, ніж згори.

   The base is further from your eye level than the rim, so it is rounder. Same width, more curve. Getting this relationship right is the difference between a mug that sits on the table and one that appears to be sliding off it.

   Обережно Drawing the base flatter than the rim, or as a straight line.

   Перевірити Rounder than the rim, and exactly the same width.

5. Крок 5

   Додати другу криву просто всередині облямівки.

   This thin band is the thickness of the ceramic, and it is what makes the top read as an opening rather than a painted disc. One stroke, following the rim's curve.

   Обережно Drawing it parallel all the way round instead of following the ellipse.

   Перевірити There should be a visible band between the two curves at the front.

6. Крок 6

   Намалюйте зовнішнє вигин держака.

   Start just below the rim and end about two-thirds of the way down the side. Both ends must touch the mug - a handle that floats beside the body is the most common error here and it is instantly visible.

   Обережно Leaving a gap where the handle meets the mug.

   Перевірити Both ends of the curve should touch the side of the mug.

7. Крок 7

   Надайте ручку товщиною з другою кривою всередині.

   A handle is a strap, not a wire. The inner curve runs parallel to the outer one and meets the mug slightly closer in at both ends. This is a small change that makes a large difference to how solid the mug looks.

   Обережно Drawing the handle as a single line.

   Перевірити There should be a visible gap between the two handle curves.

8. Крок 8

   Познач, звідки йде світло.

   Pick a side and commit. A cylinder shades differently from a sphere - the darkest band sits just inside the edge on the shadow side, not at the very edge, because light bounces back up off the table onto the rim.

   Обережно Shading the very edge darkest, which makes the mug look flat.

   Перевірити You should be able to say which side is lit.

9. Крок 9

   Затіни бік чашки подалі від світла.

   Work in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth. Scrubbing gives an even grey, which is exactly the thing that makes a drawing look flat, so lay the strokes the same way and build the darkness in passes.

   Обережно Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

   Перевірити The dark side should be clearly darker than the mid tone, not slightly.

10. Крок 10

    Додайте легшу смугу праворуч на краю тіні.

    Light bouncing off the table catches the very edge of a cylinder, so the darkest band sits slightly INSIDE the outline. Leaving that thin lighter strip is what makes the mug read as round rather than as a shaded rectangle.

    Обережно Running the shading right up to the outline.

    Перевірити There should be a thin lighter line between your shading and the edge.

11. Крок 11

    Додайте тінь на поверхні під землею.

    The cast shadow is darkest where it touches the mug and softens as it moves away. It also anchors the object to a surface - without it the mug floats, however well you have shaded it.

    Обережно Drawing it as an even grey blob detached from the object.

    Перевірити It should touch the object and be darkest at that contact point.

12. Крок 12

    Пройдіть по лінії, які ви хочете зберегти, і загубіть провідники.

    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.

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

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