How to Draw Water Filling a Glass

Drawing water in a glass in an exercise in perspective.

Drawing a glass of water is one of the first assignments in art class when you learn about perspective. Illustrating the object requires you to draw shapes that are not actually present on the glass, but which appear present, based on the perspective from which you are viewing the glass. Drawing water in a glass entails making two basic shapes-- a wide oval and long diagonal lines-- multiple times, then shading to indicate roundness and depth.

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Paper
Pencil or marker

Instructions

- 1
  
  Draw a wide oval that is narrow in shape. This will be the top of the glass. It should be dark, since the entire rim is obscured from view by some of the glass or water.
- 2
  
  Draw two lines to indicate the sides of the glass. Start each line at the far ends of the oval. Draw them straight and at a slight angle toward each other. They should also be dark since they are also in plain view.
- 3
  
  Draw another wide, narrow oval to connect the two lines. The lines should meet the oval at its far ends, just as they did with the longer oval above. The bottom half of the oval should be dark, but the top half should be light since it is just partially visible through the glass and water.
- 4
  
  Draw a third wide, narrow oval in the middle of the glass to represent the depth of the water. this oval should be light all the way around.
- 5
  
  Shade the sides of the glass and surface of the water by lightly coloring, darker at the edges and lighter in the middle.