Pull out your paper or sketchbook, and a pencil and eraser. For sketching you may prefer a "hard" pencil to make lighter lines with, and a softer pencil for later.

In the middle of your table, gather some cups, a bowl or two, and a lid. Arrange them as you wish, but make sure that some overlap (when you look at them, some should stand in front of others). This is called a "still life" because your subject doesn't move as you draw it.


First of all, loosen up by drawing ellipses on a scrap piece of paper. These are skinny ovals on their sides. If you look around your house you will be able to find many. You'll find them in lamps, tea cups, potted plants, etc. - anything shaped like a cylinder. Draw a couple dozen - practicing these will help later on when drawing the tops and bottoms of cups and bowls. They are one of the few basic shapes in drawing.

After you've got a good grasp of ellipses, look at your cups and bowls. Don't let yourself rush into drawing the details. In your mind compare the different objects to each other. How wide is your biggest glass compared to the smallest glass? Is it twice as wide? Is your bowl as wide as a glass is tall? How much space is in between two cups?

As you continue to observe your subjects, begin to loosely lay down some out lines. Don't worry about details right now, just quickly map out the basic shapes. Once you have the basic structure, curves can be added.

Now take a step back and compare the sketch to the bowls and cups. Take in to account how much space each object takes, and the spaces in between them. The shape you see in between the objects is called negative space. The cups and bowls themselves are positive space. Seeing and drawing the  negative shapes instead of positive shapes will help you get a more accurate depiction.

Here's another tip: When comparing the sizes of the cups and bowls, use your pencil as a "measuring stick." (You may have to sit farther back from the table.) Squinting one eye, hold your pencil at arm's length, and use your finger to gauge the length or width of and object (such as the bottom portion of this coffee cup). With your pencil still at arm's length, find another shape of the same width. Look at your sketch - are those two widths equal? Make adjustments accordingly. Erasers are great for this!

Here are some more examples:

This the part of the drawing you will probably spend the most time on. Save the details for last. If you do them too soon, you may notice later on that something is too small, too large, or crooked, and have to erase all that hard work. So enjoy the process of working it out, line by line.

When you think you've come to the end and have everything just right, go ahead and add the details. They could be the scroll work on the bowl, a rim around a cup, etc. Keep in mind that the things you are drawing are cylinders, and the designs will wrap around the object. It's tempting to draw them flat on the side, so remember that they are curved.

To add depth, add the line that determines the back of the table. If you've already drawn these - great! Some faint shadows at the base of your subjects will add some drama. If you wish to shade the rest, too, feel free. I will post a lesson about shading later, though, if you can wait. :)

Once you've finished all of this, you may rest from your labor of love and enjoy your latest drawing.

TA-DA! I hope you had fun with this first exercise! See you next week!