drawing an ellipse

7/29/2019 Drawing an Ellipse

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Drawing an

Brenda Hoddinott

K-02 INTERMEDIATE: PERSPECTIVE TWO

You need to understand ellipses in order to correctly draw cylindrical or cone shapes objects,

such as vases, ice cream cones, mugs, plates, and tires on vehicles. In this exercise, I show you

how to use one point perspective to accurately draw an ellipse. You need your sketchbook, apencil, and a ruler.

This project is divided into three sections:

EYEING A CIRCLE IN PERSPECTIVE: You know a circle is round. But, a circle

changes its shape to an oval when viewed in perspective. Hence, drawing ellipsescorrectly requires you to record circles as you actually see them, not as your mind knows

or perceives them to be.

DRAWING A BASIC ELLIPSE: I show you how to draw an ellipse correctly with onepoint perspective.

DRAWING A PRECISE ELLIPSE: If a drawing subject, or your style of drawing,needs a more precise ellipse, follow the directions in this section.

7 PAGES 1 5 I LLUSTRATI ONS

This lesson is recommended for artists with strong drawing skills and a basic understanding of

geometric perspective, as well as advanced students of home schooling, academic andrecreational fine art educators.

Published by Hoddinott Publishing for Drawspace.com, Halifax, NS, Canada - 2008


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Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this document belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever

without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott. E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.drawspace.com

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Figure 201

Perspectiveis a visual illusion in a drawing in whichobjects appear to become smaller, and recede into distantspace, the farther away they are from the viewer.

Horizon lineis an element of perspective, also known aseye level that refers to an imaginary horizontal line thatdivides your line of vision when you look straight ahead.Your eye level always stays with you wherever you move.The horizon line is usually drawn parallel to the upper and

lower sides of a square or rectangular drawing space.

Vanishing pointis an imaginary point (marked VP in thisdrawing) on the horizon line where perspective lines seemto converge.

Perspective linesare straight, angular lines (invisible inreal life), which extend from the edges of subjects back toa vanishing point(s) on the horizon line.

EYEING A CIRCLE IN

PERSPECTIVE

An ellipse looks like an oval shape, but in fact is simplya circle drawn in perspective. Perspective is a complex

aspect of drawing. Dont expect to be able to master allcomponents right away. Be patient with yourself.Careful observation of objects around you expands your

understanding of perspective. Your skills at rendering

perspective, improve with practice.

Drawing circles in perspective means unlearning someof what your brain currently knows about what it sees,

and readjusting its perceptions to a different set of rules.

You know a circle is round. But, a circle changes its

shape to an oval when viewed in perspective. Hence,drawing ellipses correctly requires you to record circles

as you actually see them, not as your mind knows or

perceives them to be.

Examine the ellipses and cylinders above andbelow the horizon line (marked HL) in figure

201. Take note, that the closer the ellipses are

to the horizon line, the narrower they appear.
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Figure 202

Figure 204

Figure 205

Figure 203

DRAWING A BASIC ELLIPSE

In this exercise I show you how to draw an ellipse correctly with one point perspective. You

need your sketchbook, a pencil and a ruler.

1) Draw a straight horizontal line asthe horizon line.Refer to figure 202.

2) Add a dot in the center of the lineas the vanishing point.

3) Draw two lines below and parallel to the horizon line to represent the top and bottomof a square viewed in perspective.

Refer to figure 203. Now you have three parallel lines.

4) Connect the lowest parallel line tothe vanishing point with two straight

lines.

Refer to figure 204. Now you have the

other two sides of your square shape,

drawn in perspective.

5) Erase all lines except the four ofyour new square shape.

Refer to figure 205.

The square shape in Figure 205 servesas a guide for drawing an ellipse.


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Figure 206

Figure 207

Figure 208

Figure 209

6) Draw two lines,connecting each set of

two opposite corners.

The point where these

two lines intersect is the

exact center of yoursquare (Figure 206).

This point is also thecenter of the ellipse you

draw.

7) Draw line ABperpendicular to the

two parallel sides of

the square (Figure

207).

8) Add line CD parallelto the two parallel

sides of the square.

Refer to Figure 208.

Points A, B, C, and Dmark the center point of

each of the four sides of

your square.

9) Lightly sketch an ovalinside the square that

touches each of the

four points: A, B, C,

and D.


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Figure 211

Figure 210

Figure 212

10) Erase all lines that are not part of your ellipse.For most drawing needs, this ellipse works great.

DRAWING A PRECISE ELLIPSE

If a drawing subject, or your style of drawing, needs a

more precise ellipse, follow the directions in this section.

1) Follow steps 1 to 8 in the previous section.2) Use a ruler to connect dots A and D, D and B, B and C, and C and A.You now have

another square

drawn at anangle inside

the originalsquare.

3) Focus your attention onthe four large triangular

shapes created by the

four corner sections that

are not part of the new

square.

Notice that each of

the four triangular

shapes is divided inhalf by a line.

4) Use a ruler to measure the total length of each of these four lines, divide the distanceby three, and mark two dots to identify the three equal lengths.

Refer to Figure 213 on the next page. Some artists prefer to divide each of these lines intohalves, and others like to divide each into five or more sections for increased accuracy. I

get by just fine with only thirds.


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Figure 214

Figure 213

Figure 215

As you developstronger skills with

perspective, you may

want to experimentwith dividing

these four linesinto more thanthree sections,

for increased

accuracy.

5) Lighten your drawing with a kneaded eraser.6) Take your time and draw the ellipse, and then erase the guidelines.

Use dots A, B, C, and D as well as the inner dots you just drew as reference points.

My favorite places

to draw the lines of

the ellipse are justpast the one-third

points (measured

from the insideoutward).

If you want a line drawing of an ellipse

appear even more three dimensional,

make the line thicker toward theforeground. Naturally,

according to perspective,

things appear smaller thefarther they recede into the

background. Therefore its

logical to make the line thinner

on the side of the ellipse that isfarther away. Refer to Figure 215.


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BRENDA HODDI NOTT - BI OGRAPHY

As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda

Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk

pastel, charcoal, cont crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment

aspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence, in

creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge also

becomes enjoyable.

>Brenda Hoddinott

drawing an ellipse

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