How to Draw a Red Convertible
Whether it's an old family car, or your first convertible vehicle depicting a car through a drawing is a great way to exercise your skills and help you practice drawing sharp lines and edges. Incorporate basic geometric shapes to make your car look realistic. Break out your colored pencil set to create a copy of the red convertible of your dreams. Use your convertible sketch to hang on your wall, or as an example of your skills in your portfolio.
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Things You'll Need
- Photograph of a red convertible
- Easel
- Tape
- Drawing paper
- #F pencil
- #HB pencil
- Red colored pencils
- Black colored pencil
- White colored pencil
- Gray colored pencil
- Matte fixative
Instructions
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1
Print out a profile picture of a red convertible. Drawing from a photograph is easier than drawing from real life. Once you get a feel for drawing cars, switch to using a still-life as your reference guide.
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Set up your work area. Position an easel near a strong source of light. Tape the photograph on the drawing board and attach a sheet of drawing paper.
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3
Draw the outline of the car. Use a ruler and a hard grade pencil, such as an #F to create the basic shape of the convertible. Sketch the body by creating a rough rectangle shape in the center of your drawing paper. Using the photograph as a guide, go over the rectangle shape, softening the angles into the curves that represents your vehicle. Draw two half-ovals at the bottom of the rectangle shape to represent the wheel wells of the vehicle.
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4
Use a ruler to draw the angled shape of windshield. Continue working with the #F pencil and sketch a border around the windshield to depict the glass. Sketch the shapes of the light reflecting off the glass.
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Create circles below the half-oval shapes of the body of the convertible to represent the details. Examine the photo closely to replicate the shape of the hub caps. Use an HB pencil to fill in the darker areas of the hub caps and rubber tires. Draw two smaller circles in front of the vehicle to depict the headlights.
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Use your ruler and and #F pencil to make a small square shape near the top corner of the front door to depict the mirror. Make a narrow rectangle on the opposite side of the front and back doors to represent the door handles.
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Use loose, curving lines to make the front and back bumpers of the convertible. Sketch lightly with the #F pencil until you achieve a shape that closely represents the bumpers in the photograph. Darken the contours of the bumpers with a HB pencils.
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Mark the areas where the light hits the brightest and where the shadows fall on the vehicle. Look at your photograph often to check the details of the car and where the light falls. Create organic shapes over the outline of the car with an HB pencil to indicate where the shadows and highlights are.
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Use different shades of red colored pencils to fill in the highlights and shadows of your composition where you drawn the outlines for. Lay the red down in short, hatch-like strokes. Deepen the color by adding more layers of red, or using black and brown pencils to deepen the hue.
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Fill in the details of the wheels with black, white and gray pencils. Always lay the color down lightly and then go back and fill in areas with more color to deepen shadows for a realistic effect.
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Tips & Warnings
Spray your drawing with a matte fixative in a well-ventilated area to protect the color of your drawing.
Work in a well-ventilated area to avoid inhaling graphite dust.
Avoid using an eraser when working with colored pencil as this can smear the drawing.
References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
