Drawing Techniques

The Cylinder Understanding how to correctly depict a cylinder will greatly ease  and enhance the rendering of most natural objects

The cube, the cylinder, and the sphere are the fundamental shapes an artist must absorb to achieve a deeper understanding of all forms. The cylinder—a combination of the cube and the sphere—exists in the middle of these three. Many forms can be built out of a cube, and the cylinder is the most logical geometric form to tackle next. Drawing cylinders well is important, particularly in a still life—in which the artist is continually confront- ed with ellipses found in items such as a plate, a bowl of fruit, a glass of wine, or any cylindrical man-made form—

and in figure drawing, which is nearly impossible without the use of cylinders. 

Circles and Ellipses: The Foundations of Cylinders Before you can draw a cylinder well, you must first learn how to draw an ellipse, but let’s begin with drawing a circle. A circle is a curved line in which all points are the same distance from the center. (See Illustration 1.) It is said that Giotto could draw a perfect circle without any mechanical aids. But we don’t hear about his mistakes, so in the meantime we must practice. To begin,

draw a 4-inch square and add intersecting lines from corner to corner to find the midpoint, then draw lines through the center at right angles to each other. Then try drawing a freehand circle so it touches the square’s middle extremities at the top, bottom, left, and right. Once you become proficient at drawing cir- clues it’s time to try ellipses. For materials I’d recommend a drawing board, a bond or smooth sketch paper pad, and charcoal or graphite pencils. A circle, which exists on a flat plane, becomes an ellipse when the plane is tipped. When flat on a table, your 4-inch circle forms an ellipse because it’s in perspective, tilted away from you. (See Illustration 2.) Notice that because of perspective, the true horizontal middle— called the “perspective center”—appears farther back. To draw a successful ellipse without distortion you must consider the concept of the minor and major axes. The minor axis is the shortest diameter of the ellipse, and the major axis is the longest diameter. Both are always centered and at 

wrong                                     right

by Jon deMartin, 2008, charcoal on newsprint, 18 x 24.

by Jon deMartin, 2008, charcoal on newsprint, 18 x 24.

Minor axis       Major axis

by Jon deMartin, 2008, charcoal on newsprint, 24 x 18.

by Jon deMartin, 1990, charcoal on newsprint, 18 x 24.

Perspective Center of Square and Circle Ends of Major axis of Ellipse and actual Center Line of Ellipse
right angles (perpendicular) to each other. In Illustration 3, when we move the major axis in front of the perspective center (dot- ted line) to the exact middle of the minor axis and draw by relating to the new mid- points, the ellipse appears correct. In the left half of Illustration 4, the axes are incorrect because the major axis is not at a right angle to the minor axis. Illustration 5 shows the proper orientation of the major and minor axes running at right angles to one another and therefore “spinning” correctly, like the wheel of a car on its axle. In Illustration 4, the left wheel appears broken