How to Draw a Vase
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Draw a light horizontal for eye level.
You should be able to say if you are above or level with the rim.
Teikna á pappír í staðinn?
Við réttum og hreinsa mynd fyrir þig. Pappír telur nákvæmlega það sama.
Um þessa teikningu
A vase is the vessel construction with one addition: the profile swells. Where a mug's sides run straight, a vase bellies out and comes back in, and the entire drawing is making the left swell agree with the right one. Fold a piece of paper in half and cut it, and you have the idea - except here the fold is imaginary.
Like everything hollow on this site, it is two ellipses and a profile: the rim, the base, and the sides that join them.
Skref fyrir skref
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Skref 1
Draw a light horizontal for eye level.
Everything about the ellipses follows from where your eye is. Decide now, consciously, and mark it - letting it drift mid-drawing is how the rim and base end up disagreeing.
- Varlega. Not deciding, then drawing contradictory ellipses.
Athuga You should be able to say if you are above or level with the rim.
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Skref 2
Put the opening in as a single ellipse.
Round three or four times in one fast continuous motion and keep the best pass. Speed is what makes an ellipse smooth - drawn slowly it lumps on one side every time.
- Varlega. Building the ellipse from four careful arcs.
Athuga The rim should be symmetrical about its long axis.
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Skref 3
Take both sides down from the ellipse.
Start each side exactly at the widest point of the rim ellipse. A step where side meets rim is instantly visible and almost impossible to hide later.
- Varlega. Sides starting inside or outside the rim's ends.
Athuga Each side should leave the rim at its widest point.
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Skref 4
Close the bottom with a rounder curve.
The base is further from your eye than the rim, so it is ROUNDER - same width, more curve. Getting this backwards is what makes vessels look like they are sliding off the table.
- Varlega. A base flatter than the rim, or a straight line.
Athuga The base curve should be rounder than the rim.
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Skref 5
Put a second curve just inside the top.
One curve just inside the rim gives the material its thickness and turns the top from a painted disc into an opening. It follows the rim's curve, not parallel all the way round.
- Varlega. Skipping it, leaving a flat disc on top.
Athuga A visible band should separate the two curves at the front.
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Skref 6
Draw the change of profile.
Where the profile changes is where the form lives. Draw the change on both sides at the same height - a shoulder at two heights makes the whole vessel lean.
- Varlega. The profile changing at different heights left and right.
Athuga Both sides should change shape at the same height.
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Skref 7
Draw the handle, both ends touching.
Both ends must touch the body - a floating handle is the most common error on any vessel. And it is a strap with thickness, never a single line.
- Varlega. A handle drawn as one wire line, or floating.
Athuga Both handle ends should touch the vessel's side.
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Skref 8
Add what makes it a vase.
The identifying details go on last and they follow the form - a label, a pattern or a spout curves with the surface it sits on.
- Varlega. Flat detail pasted over a round form.
Athuga Any pattern should bend with the body.
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Skref 9
Shade the shadow side.
A cylinder's darkest band sits just INSIDE the shadow edge, not at it. Lay the strokes vertically, following the form, and build up in passes.
- Varlega. Scrubbing horizontal tone across a vertical form.
Athuga The darkest band should sit inside the outline.
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Skref 10
Add the bounced light at the edge.
Light bounces off the table back onto the very edge, so leave a thin lighter strip at the outline. That strip is what makes the form read as round rather than flat-shaded.
- Varlega. Shading right up to the edge.
Athuga A light strip should separate shading from outline.
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Skref 11
Put the cast shadow down.
Darkest where it touches the base, softening as it spreads. The cast shadow is what anchors the vessel - without it the thing floats no matter how well you shaded it.
- Varlega. A detached grey blob nearby.
Athuga The shadow should touch the base.
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Skref 12
Go over the keepers and erase the guides.
Weight the rim and the silhouette, erase the eye-level guide, and check the two ellipses one last time - they are what the whole drawing stands on.
- Varlega. Leaving the eye-level line in.
Athuga Rim and silhouette should be the darkest lines.
Hvernig það lítur út eins og lokið
Sama teikningin með öllum leiðbeiningum eytt og aðeins línurnar sem þú ætlaðir að halda, á þyngd sem þú ætlaðir að vera. Ef þinn er enn með miðlínur og blokka-í form í henni, þetta er skrefið sem þú hefur ekki gert ennþá - og það tekur um þrjátíu sekúndur.
Ūitt mun ekki líta svona út og ūađ á ekki ađ vera. Ūetta er byggingin međ vinnupallnum fjarlægđum, ekki teikning sem einhver gerđi til ađ vera dáđur. Markmiđiđ er ađ sũna ūér hverjar línurnar voru.
Það sem þetta kennir þér í raun
The skill underneath is symmetry about an axis: both sides of the profile have to match, and checking beats hoping.
The vase is symmetry about a vertical axis at its most exposed: two long mirrored curves with nothing to hide behind. It is the drawing equivalent of the potter's wheel that makes real ones - any wobble in the profile shows all the way round.
Æfðu þetta: Line confidence Proportion Value range
Það sem þú þarft
A pencil and any paper, or a finger on the canvas above - nothing here needs special equipment. Keep the construction light if you are on paper, because the guides come off at the end.
Ef það fer úrskeiðis
If it leans, the two sides disagree about where the belly's widest point is. Mark that height on the centre line FIRST, then draw both swells out to it.
If it looks like a bottle, the neck is too narrow: a vase's opening is wide relative to the body - flowers have to fit through it.
If the curves look weak, they were drawn in pieces. Each side of the profile is one stroke from rim to base, drawn fast, and redrawn whole if it misses.
Prenta skrefin
Taktu það frá skjánum. Skref blaðið prentar á einni síðu.
Spurningar sem fólk spyr
- How do I make both sides of a vase match?
- Mark the widest point's height on the centre line before drawing either side, then draw each profile in one stroke out to that mark. Checking beats hoping.
- Why does my vase lean to one side?
- The two swells peak at different heights. Erase the worse side entirely and redraw it in one pass against the better one - patching a curve never works.
- How wide should a vase's opening be?
- Wide enough for flowers - noticeably wider than a bottle's neck relative to the body. A narrow opening changes the object.
- Can I draw a vase on paper instead of the canvas?
- Yes - print the step sheet and draw beside it. The ellipse practice actually benefits from paper, where your whole arm is free, and a photo of the page gets measured exactly like a canvas drawing.
- How do I draw the top of a vase?
- As one fast ellipse, going round several times and keeping the best pass. Its roundness depends on your eye level - decide that first.
- Why does my vase look like it is tipping over?
- The base ellipse disagrees with the rim. The base is always slightly ROUNDER than the rim, never flatter, and both must be the same width.
- Can a beginner draw a vase?
- Yes, and it is worth it - the ellipse practice transfers directly to wheels, plates, hats and eyes. There is a finish-early step partway through.
- How do I shade a vase?
- Vertically, following the form, darkest just inside the shadow edge with a thin light strip at the very edge - that strip is what makes it read as round.
- What is the hardest part of drawing a vase?
- The two ellipses agreeing with each other. Everything else is forgiving; the rim and base are what the eye checks first.