How to Draw Stairs

Stairs are tough to draw, especially when attempting to draw the horizontal part of each step. There is no special formula for drawing each step at a proportionate height unless the stairs are drawn from a frontal or side view. Each step must be drawn with an artist's eye towards aesthetics. Fortunately, most pictures will look great even if certain parts are slightly out of proportion, so do not worry about whether or not the steps are exactly perfect. Instead, worry about whether or not the stairs look right.

Things You'll Need

• Drawing pencil
• Pencil eraser
• Drawing paper
• Graphics tablet (if using a computer)
• Graphics program (if using a computer)

Instructions

Drawing a Frontal View of Stairs

1. 

   Draw your vanishing point and horizon line. Draw two lines extending from the bottom corners of the page to the top where both lines intersect.

2. 

   Draw two vertical lines connecting each diagonal line to the bottom of the page. Draw a horizontal line from the top of one vertical line to the top of the other.

3. 

   Draw a second horizontal line a few centimeters above.

4. 

   Find where the diagonal lines on the side and the lower horizontal line meet and extend two lines all the way over to the vanishing point. These lines will serve as the edges of the first step.

5. 

   Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until you have built a staircase. Erase all of your guidelines.

Drawing a Horizontal View of Stairs

1. 

   Draw two parallel diagonal lines.

2. 

   Draw a vertical line connecting one parallel line to another. From this point, draw a horizontal line connecting this point to the other line.

3. 

   Erase your guidelines.

Tips & Warnings

• Follow each step on a different layer to make erasing much easier.

• When drawing something that is consistently the same shape, such as the side view of the stairs, you can select, copy and paste different portions of the stairs in order to save time.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish