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How to Draw a Sphere

drawing exercise sphere

Why Draw a Sphere?

You may be wondering, "why draw a sphere?". After all, there are so many other interesting things in the world to draw other than a sphere.

How to draw a sphere

We draw a sphere as an exercise. An athlete spends many hours exercising before the big game. An artist needs to exercise and practice before tackling more complex subjects. These drawing exercises help to train our brain to see as an artist and recognize the elements that we need to address in those complex subjects.

Two Great Reasons to Practice Drawing With a Sphere

A sphere is an excellent subject to practice honing your drawing skills. There are two important reasons why a sphere is such a great subject.

1. Spheres have a full range of value - Value is the darkness or lightness of a color. This important element is what informs the viewer about the light within the scene and the form of the object. A sphere, no matter how strong the light source, will most likely include a full range of darks and lights.

Value scale

This means that you're likely to see super dark values and light values and many different tones in between. By drawing a sphere, we can practice creating that full range of value in our drawing, paying close attention to subtle changes in tone.

2. Locations of value are easily recognized - Not only is a full range of value important, but the locations of those values are equally important. By practicing recognizing these locations on a sphere, we are better equipped to find them on more complex subjects.

Locations of Value on a Sphere

When you draw any object, you must consider your light source. The light within the scene dictates where locations of value will appear on the subject. By placing specific values in specific locations in our drawing, we can inform the viewer of the strength and location of the light.

There are five locations of value that can be found on any subject, but on a sphere, they are easy to recognize and are clearly defined.

Sphere with labeled values

Highlight - The highlight is location(s) of lighter value on the subject where light is hitting with greatest intensity.

Midtone - The midtone is the location of middle value on the subject. Typically, the midtone reflects the local color of the subject.

Core Shadow - The core shadow is the location(s) of darkest value on the subject. This shadow is found on the subject opposite from the dominant light source.

Reflected Highlight - A reflected highlight is the result of light hitting the surface or surrounding objects and bouncing back onto the subject within or near the location of core shadow.

Cast Shadow - Cast shadows are produced on a surface or surrounding objects when light is prevented from hitting those surfaces because the subject is blocking the light.

Smooth Gradations of Value

Another benefit to practicing with a sphere is the gradations of value that occur. Unlike on a cube or pyramid, gradual changes of tone occur on a sphere. We can practice creating these smooth and subtle transitions.

When using a pencil, smooth transitions of value can be created by making small circular strokes. This technique is often referred to as "circling". We can also change the direction of the strokes so that they flow over the cross contours of the form. The combination of both of these techniques create a smooth gradation of value in our drawings.

Time to Practice

While a convincing sphere can be drawn without a reference, it's often best to practice from a photo or live subject. Instead of inventing the locations of the value and tones, we can observe them. Drawing is all about seeing .

Below you'll find a reference photo that you can use to practice drawing your own sphere...

drawing exercise sphere

Drawing lessons for beginners

The Easy Way to Learn to Draw …

How To Draw A Sphere

drawing exercise sphere

Welcome to the sphere lesson! This is where we take a plain circle and make it look spherical.

You can think of the sphere as a rounded cube.

We will draw a circle. There are many methods to draw a circle and you are welcome to try them but this is what most pro artists do and it’s what I use.

First, hover over the paper and make circular motions just above the surface.  Then gradually lower the pencil until it touches the paper. Lightly trace out a circle.

It’s ok if it looks a little sketchy. Just erase some of the outer lines to clean up the drawing. If you are having a problem making a decent circle just, make a bunch of them and then pick the best. It takes practice to make a decent circle so don’t feel bad if it doesn’t look round. Keep practicing.

You could also use a compass to draw perfect circles.   

drawing exercise sphere

Next trace over the edge of the circle to darken the form.

How do we turn it into a sphere?

That’s where the magic of shading comes in. Darken the side opposite the imaginary light source and fill in the cast shadow.

A sphere with shading and a cast shadow at the base

Now you have a sphere that you can be proud of. Just wait and see what we can draw with this simple object.

The sphere is essential to portrait drawing.

Here are some examples of how to tilt the sphere in different directions. For aspiring portrait artists, I recommend you practice drawing the sphere from different angles. Draw a line through the center and tilt it up, and down. Change the direction of the light source and the angle of the centerline. 

Experiment with the L.S. on your own. Try lighting a sphere from all directions, above, below, etc., and see how the light covers the object. 

drawing exercise sphere

We can also turn the circle into an ellipse and the ellipse into a cylinder. In future lessons, we will make lots of drawings with these three shapes.

Check out how to transform a circle into various size ellipses. First draw a circle. Then gradually narrow the circle until it turns into a straight line. 

drawing exercise sphere

Spend some time drawing circles, ellipses, cylinders, and spheres. The exercises will help in human-figure and portrait drawing. Remember all these complex subjects are made up of shapes. 

drawing exercise sphere

Try doing this exercise on your own and draw many, many cylinders. Like in the above example. I promise this will help with advanced art topics. 

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Or go to the next lesson one-point perspective

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Exercise 6.1 Shading of Spheres

For this exercise, you will be taking the basic round shape of a circle and transforming it into the three dimensional (3D) shape of a sphere. You will be creating five spheres, each with a different type of shading.

Materials needed:

  • Pencils – 4H, HB, and solid graphite for stippling sphere
  • One quarter of your drawing pad

Time to complete: 30 minutes

Instructions:

Draw five spheres using the five shading techniques used in the image below.

  • You will need to make the spheres a minimum of 2 inches (50mm) in diameter each.
  • Start with a lightly drawn circle for all spheres, other than the stippling one. Use your 4H pencil and try to be as accurate as possible with its shape.
  • Don’t forget about the shadow under the sphere. Without it, the sphere will appear suspended in space. The shadow under the sphere tells us that it’s anchored to the ground.
  • Add shading for hatching, cross-hatching, and scribbling with a sharp HB pencil after the circle looks correct. You will want narrow uniform lines for these, so you may need to sharpen the pencil periodically.
  • The blended sphere will first need to have material (graphite) built up using other shading techniques, such as hatching or scribbling. Be careful not to push hard. Try not to have any visible line in the finished sphere. Slowly build up material with your pencil to smudge with your stump. Your stump will blend what you leave on your paper, but will not do so on dark line embedded in your paper. You can go back and forth between your pencil and stump to build up darker shades.
  • Stippling may work better with a dull solid graphite pencil with a round tip, so the dots are larger and more noticeable. You may need to experiment with what pencil and tip shape works best. The perimeter of the circle could start out as dots with no line. Try to build the shape of the circle with dots. If it doesn’t look correct, fix it with more dots until it looks round. Once it looks round, build up more dots to create the shading. If you need to use a perimeter line, try to make it only noticeable to you.

drawing exercise sphere

Drawing is Seeing Copyright © by David DeRoche is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Draw a Sphere

Spheres show up everywhere in life and for that reason it is essential that an artist be able to render each part of a spherical form well. In today’s post I reveal the 4 parts to a sphere drawing so that you can draw spheres with realistic precision.

Setting Up a Sphere

To draw a sphere or any ball like form,  start off with a perfect circle. Use a compass or trace something perfectly round like a can of soup. Draw lightly because you want the circle to disappear later leaving the sphere with no outlines.

How to Draw a Sphere | Free Drawing Lessons for Beginners | Contructing a sphere

The sphere’s cast shadow is nothing more than an elliptical shape positioned horizontally. Make sure the diameter of the cast shadow is very close in length to the circle’s diameter otherwise the cast shadow will not look like it belongs to the sphere.

How to Shade a Sphere

Shading the sphere / ball is very difficult to do and will most likely require much practice if you are new to drawing. The sphere will consist of 2 radial gradations . A radial gradation is a value transition that changes from a lighter to darker value in a circular fashion radiating out from a central point. See the diagram below for a comparison of the more common linear gradation, which is precisely what you used to draw a cylinder .

gradations: linear vs. radial | helloartsy.com

Under a normal, single source of light, a sphere will contain a single highlight , which will not be located on the sphere’s edge but inward slightly. This is the location that reflects the most light back towards the viewer and as a result the highlight appears the lightest in value compared with the other parts of the sphere drawing.

How to Draw a Sphere | Shading a Sphere | helloartsy.com

Imagine a point being located in the center of the highlight and each time you visually move away from that point the value of the sphere gets darker. Eventually you will arrive at the sphere’s darkest value, which is called the core shadow . The core shadow is the darkest value on the form and resembles a crescent shape much like a crescent moon.

Like the highlight, the core shadow should not be sitting against the outer edge of the circle that defines the outer edge of the sphere. Rather, the core shadow leaves a small space between itself and the edge of the sphere, which is taken up by the reflected light . The reflected light is the 2 nd gradation incorporated into the drawing of the sphere.

To draw the reflected light, you must gradate from the darkest part of the core shadow to a medium value along the outer edge of the sphere just outside the core shadow. This will require much practice and a sensitive eye and hand to accomplish but, without the reflected light a drawing of a sphere will look flat and not very realistic .

In reality, a cast shadow is highly affected by the objects around it, but for now let’s shade in the cast shadow as a medium-dark value and soften up it’s edge ever so slightly. This will be good enough for practicing and when you are faced with drawing an actual sphere-like object from direct observation, you can study the cast shadow a little more closely for subtle changes in value.

Let’s Review the Parts of the Sphere

By now you have identified where to draw the 4 components of the sphere.  It’s important to be able to identify these components so that you can draw them accurately in your drawings and paintings. Attempting to draw a sphere just by pure sight is difficult. Always attempt a drawing with some mental understanding as to what forms you are dealing with.

Keep in mind the location of your light source and where you would expect each of the 4 components to be positioned and drawing a sphere will be far easier and you’ll get better results!

How to Draw a Sphere | A sphere's 4 components | helloartsy.com

Please remember that the highlight , core shadow , reflected light , and cast shadow do move around depending on where the light source is located and what a sphere’s surface is composed of.

And Furthermore…

Take some time today and look for spheres in the world around you. If you’re willing to look, you will see sphere’s everywhere and if not by themselves, they will often be part of a more complex conglomeration of forms. Remember the pear fruit? It’s made from spheres and a cone. Objects can also be sphere-like and not so obviously a sphere; the human head is a perfect example of a form that is spherical in nature, but by no means a perfect sphere.

Where do you see spheres in your world? Let us know below!

Why does the cast shadow not touch the bottom of the sphere?

It should be. This is just a simple graphic to get beginners started in the right direction.

I thought my eyes were deceiving me. Lol! Very helpful response , thank you!

You’re welcome, thanks for visiting the blog!

My list of spherical things that I’m aware of: 1. Balloons 2. clown red nose 3. Apples 4. Igloos? 5. the number 0 6. oranges 7. Bones ( head of bone) 8. blood cells? I think they are somewhat flat.. not quite sure 9. White cells 10. EARTH 11. pearls 12. marbles 13. gum 15 m&ms 16. skittles 17.fist 18. tea cups? 19. Ovary part of flowers 20. seeds 21. turtle shell 22. puffer fish Sorry that’s all I could think of in the meantime xD THANKS for the great lesson!! =D

Excellent List, very insightful indeed!

Oh yes I have more! Hats, Eyes, tomatoes, panda ears, cupcakes, cherries, buttons, fish bowl , round bacteria , toilet plunger? XD, door knobs, that is it for the addition 😀 xD

Thank you for these lessons! You have made drawing forms very easy to understand and relay to others. Quite brilliantly, I must add. Sincerely, Peg

Thank you Peg, sphere’s can get complicated but I tried to keep it very simple here!

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How to Draw a Sphere – An Easy-to-Follow Sphere Drawing Tutorial

Avatar for Matthew Matthysen

Circles are typically quite tricky to draw freehand, and the process may become even more daunting when you start considering adding three dimensions to your sphere drawing. Learning how to draw a sphere is actually much easier than you would imagine, the trick lies in creating realistic highlights and shadows to emphasize three-dimensionality. In this easy sphere drawing tutorial, we take you through all the basic steps and show you exactly how to shade a sphere. 

Table of Contents

  • 1.1 Step 1: Draw Your Base Circle
  • 1.2 Step 2: Creating the Field Base
  • 1.3 Step 3: Emphasizing Perspective
  • 1.5 Step 4: Creating the First Layer of Sphere Shading
  • 1.6 Step 5: Begin Shading the Perspective Line
  • 1.7 Step 6: How to Shade a Sphere with a Light Source
  • 1.8 Step 7: Adding the Second Layer of Shadow 
  • 1.9 Step 8: Continue Building the Shadows
  • 1.10 Step 9: The Final Shading Step for Your Sphere Drawing
  • 1.11 Step 10: Finishing Your Shaded Sphere Drawing
  • 2.1 Is Sphere Shading Difficult?
  • 2.2 Can the Tutorial Show me How to Draw a 3D Sphere?

How to Draw a 3D Sphere in 10 Easy Steps

Creating a sphere can be tricky when you attempt it the first time. As with all of our drawing tutorials, we find that it is best to take it slowly and set everything up before jumping into the shading. You can see in the diagram below, the outline of the ten steps in our sphere shading tutorial. We begin by drawing a simple circle, and then move on to creating a three-dimensional field before learning how to shade a sphere. 

shaded sphere

The best medium for this simple sphere sketch is a pencil, as this will allow you to create smooth and soft shadows and highlights. If you prefer to work with a graphic tablet, you can achieve a very similar effect, but we do not recommend any paint mediums. 

For the sphere shading, we recommend a very soft and blendable graphite pencil. 

Step 1: Draw Your Base Circle

This first step is very simple and easy to achieve, but it may take a little practice if you are working freehand. If you do not want to waste time, then you can use a compass or a round object as a base for your circle. 

Simply draw a large blank circle shape right in the center of your canvas. 

sphere drawing 01

Step 2: Creating the Field Base

When it comes to the question of how to draw a 3D sphere, it is important to create a visual field around your sphere. We do this by drawing a simple vertical line through the bottom third of the circle. This line immediately creates a sense of three-dimensionality in your sphere sketch by creating a contrast between the sphere and another surface. 

In future steps, we will be creating shading around this new field, to emphasize our three-dimensional sphere drawings.  

sphere drawing 02

Step 3: Emphasizing Perspective

To create a more realistic perspective, we are now going to erase the vertical line that overlaps within the outline of your sphere sketch. In the final drawing, the baseline will sit behind the sphere and the shadows it casts, so we do not want it to overlap with the sphere itself. 

At this stage of the tutorial, your sphere drawing should look something like the example below.

Step 4: Creating the First Layer of Sphere Shading

In this step, we are going to add the first touch of sphere shading. As with all shading in drawing, we want to start off as light as possible, and gradually build it to create a realistic effect that is not overwhelmingly dark. Use the side of a very soft pencil to gently shade the interior of your sphere drawing, leaving light patches of white throughout. 

To make your shaded sphere smooth, you can use a piece of soft paper towel or a soft brush to gently smear and smudge the graphite. 

sphere drawing 04

Step 5: Begin Shading the Perspective Line

Now that we have created the first layer of shading in our sphere drawings, we are going to do the same for the perspective line. This is where you will see the magic of three-dimensionality really coming to life. Using the same pencil and the same shading method as you did for the sphere, begin to add a light shadow below the perspective line that curves down and around the bottom of the sphere. You want the shadow on the left of the sphere to be ever-so-slightly darker than that on the right. 

Once again, you can smudge out this shadow with a clean paper towel or brush to make it smoother and softer. 

sphere drawing 05

Step 6: How to Shade a Sphere with a Light Source

Another essential aspect of three-dimensional drawing is deciding on a light source within your shaded sphere. In our sphere drawings, the light is coming from the front right corner of the drawing, which casts a highlighted spot on the upper right part of the shaded sphere. This point of light is responsible for the left side of the perspective shading from the last step being slightly darker than the right because the sphere casts a shadow backward to that side. To create this highlighted spot, add another light layer of shading within the sphere, leaving this light spot a little barer. 

Smooth out your blending once again, ensuring that the transition from the darker parts of the shaded sphere and the highlighted spot is smooth and subtle. 

sphere drawing 06

Step 7: Adding the Second Layer of Shadow 

In the last step, we added some more shading to the sphere itself, and in this step, we are going to emphasize the shadow around the perspective line further. The most important part of this step is taking into account the light source, and making the shadow on the left of the sphere significantly darker than the right. Add the darker shadow close to the perspective line and the shaded sphere, and gently blend it out to the first layer of shading. You want the shadow to fade slightly, to the point where the first shadow layer is visible around the edges. 

You can then repeat this process within the sphere, adding shadow around the frame only, and gently blending this in toward the center. Remember the light source, and ensure that the left side of the shaded sphere is ever-so-slightly darker than the right. 

As always, finish up the shading by using your chosen material to smooth and smudge out the shadows. 

sphere drawing 07

Step 8: Continue Building the Shadows

We are doing nothing new in this step of our sphere sketch tutorial. Simply repeat the process of the previous step, adding another layer of shading within the sphere and on the left side of the perspective line. As you did in the last step, you want to gradually reduce the size of the darkest shaded part, and blend it out to the point where the previous layers are still visible. In this step, you can begin to focus your sphere shading on the left bottom edges, leaving the top-right edge significantly lighter. 

For realistic sphere shading and a three-dimensional look, you want to achieve a smooth and soft gradient in your shadows. 

sphere drawing 08

Step 9: The Final Shading Step for Your Sphere Drawing

In this final shading step, we are going to apply a final, darker layer of shading to the sphere and the perspective line. You can darken the edges of the sphere and the point of the perspective line on the very left of the sphere quite a lot. For this final shading step, in particular, you want to make sure that you blend the dark shadow into the lighter layers very smoothly with your soft paper towel or blending brush.  

When it comes to creating three-dimensional sphere shading, smoother is always better.

sphere drawing 09

Step 10: Finishing Your Shaded Sphere Drawing

In this final step of our easy sphere sketch tutorial, you are going to erase the outlines of the sphere and perspective line, and add some final touches of highlight to the center of the shaded sphere. Begin the step by erasing the outlines of the baseline and the sphere. You will see in our example below, that erasing the outline on the bottom left side of the sphere creates a beautiful highlight that separates the sphere from the field behind it. 

Next, take a soft eraser – a putty eraser is best – and gently erase the graphite from the center of the main light source area within the sphere.

Using circular motions, gently erase other areas surrounding this main light point, to create a bright and vibrant highlight. Finally, add the finishing touches to your sphere drawing by smudging together all the shadows and highlights to create a smooth and sleek finish. Use your chosen method and rub the sphere in circular motions to blend everything together slightly. 

sphere drawing 10

Just like that, in 10 easy-to-follow steps, you have created a beautiful three-dimensional shaded sphere drawing. With time and practice, you will quickly become an expert at finding a light source and creating realistic shading and highlights. We hope that you have enjoyed this quick tutorial and that you feel more confident in shading sphere drawings.

Take a look at our sphere drawing webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is sphere shading difficult.

Shading a sphere sketch may seem intimidating when you first approach it because we have long believed that drawing a circle is hard enough, let alone learning how to draw a 3d sphere. Our tutorial takes away all of these concerns, as we lead you through a very simple and easy-to-follow tutorial for creating stunning sphere drawings in only 10 steps. 

Can the Tutorial Show me How to Draw a 3D Sphere?

Absolutely! In this easy sphere drawing tutorial, we take you through all the necessary steps to help you create realistic and three-dimensional sphere drawings. The key lies in knowing where to create shadows and highlights. 

matthew matthysen

Matthew Matthysen is an educated multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. He successfully completed his art degree at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, majoring in art history and contemporary drawing. The focus of his thesis was to explore the philosophical implications of the macro and micro-universe on the human experience. Matthew uses diverse media, such as written and hands-on components, to explore various approaches that are on the border between philosophy and science.

Matthew organized various exhibitions before and during his years as a student and is still passionate about doing so today. He currently works as a freelance artist and writer in various fields. He also has a permanent position at a renowned online gallery (ArtGazette) where he produces various works on commission. As a freelance artist, he creates several series and successfully sells them to galleries and collectors. He loves to use his work and skills in various fields of interest.

Matthew has been creating drawing and painting tutorials since the relaunch in 2020. Through his involvement with artincontext.org, he has been able to deepen his knowledge of various painting mediums. For example, watercolor techniques, calligraphy and lately digital drawing, which is becoming more and more popular.

Learn more about Matthew Matthysen and the Art in Context Team .

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How to Draw a Sphere – Drawing Spherical Objects Made Easy

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The perfect geometric circle is notoriously difficult to sketch freehand, and the task may become even more difficult when you contemplate incorporating three dimensions to your sketch of a sphere. Understanding how to draw a three-dimensional sphere is surprisingly much simpler than you may think; the key is to create an accurate illusion of the fall of light across the surface of the sphere to accentuate the three-dimensional aspects of your sphere drawings. In this simple sphere drawing lesson, we walk you through all of the fundamental techniques and also demonstrate how to shade a sphere.

Table of Contents

  • 1.1 Step 1: Create a Basic Circle Shape
  • 1.2 Step 2: Creation of the Field Base
  • 1.3 Step 3: Emphasizing Perspective
  • 1.4 Step 4: Shading the First Layer of Your Sphere
  • 1.5 Step 5: Start Shading the Perspective Line
  • 1.6 Step 6: Shade Your Sphere by Incorporating a Light Source
  • 1.7 Step 7: Creating the Second Shadow Layer
  • 1.8 Step 8: Continuation of the Shadow Building
  • 1.9 Step 9: The Last Step of Shading Your Sphere Drawing
  • 1.10 Step 10: Completing the Shaded Sphere Drawing
  • 2.1 Is it Difficult to Learn How to Draw a Sphere and Shade it Properly?
  • 2.2 Will This Guide Teach Me How to Draw a 3D Sphere Accurately?

Our Guide on How to Draw a Realistic-Looking 3D Sphere

When you first try to create a drawing of a sphere, it might be difficult. We feel that, as with all of our drawing tutorials, it is better to take it step by step and set it all up before diving into the shading part. The graphic below shows us the basic structure of the 10 steps to follow in our sphere shading instruction. We start with a basic circle and go to a three-dimensional space before discovering how to shade a sphere.

Sphere Sketch Steps

A pencil is the finest medium for this basic sphere drawing since it permits you to produce clean and subtle highlights and shadows. If you want to create with a visual tablet, you may produce a fairly similar result, but no paint media is recommended. We propose very delicate and easily blendable graphite pencils for the shaded sphere.

Step 1: Create a Basic Circle Shape

The first step on how to draw a sphere begins here! This initial step is pretty basic and straightforward; however, it may require some experience if you are creating freehand. You could use compasses or a round item as a template for your circle if you don’t want to spend more time than necessary.  Simply create a wide empty circle in the middle of your panel.

Sphere Sketch 1

Step 2: Creation of the Field Base

When drawing a 3D sphere, it is critical to construct what is referred to as a ‘visual field’ surrounding your sphere. This is accomplished by creating a basic vertical line through the lower third of the spherical drawing. By drawing a distinction between the sphere and the other surface, this line quickly adds an impression of three-dimensionality to your sphere drawings. In subsequent sections, we will add shade to this new field to accentuate our three-dimensional sphere sketches.

Sphere Sketch 2

Step 3: Emphasizing Perspective

To produce a more accurate viewpoint to our sphere drawings, eliminate the vertical line that overlaps inside the border of your sphere sketch. This baseline should be positioned just behind the sphere as well as the shadow it produces in the final drawing, so we don’t want it to interfere with the actual sphere. At this specific point in the lesson, your spherical design should resemble the one pictured in the graphic below.

Sphere Sketch 3

Step 4: Shading the First Layer of Your Sphere

In this phase, we’ll apply the initial spherical shading touch. As with any shading in art, we would like the first layer to be as light as possible and progressively build it up to get a realistic but not overly dark appearance. Shade the inside of your spherical drawing lightly with one of the sides of a rather soft pencil, allowing faint spots of white throughout the image. To smooth out your darkened sphere, softly smear and wipe the graphite with a soft towel or a gentle brush.

Sphere Sketch 4

Step 5: Start Shading the Perspective Line

Now that we’ve finished the first layer of shade in our sphere sketches, we’ll move on to the perspective line. This is when the magic of three-dimensionality actually comes to life. With the same pencil and shade method you used for the sphere, begin drawing a lighter shadow below the perspective line that bends down and around the base of the sphere. The shade on the left side of the sphere should be somewhat darker than the rest than the shade on the right. To enhance the shadow’s smoothness and softness, smear it out with a fresh clean towel or brush.

Sphere Sketch 5

Step 6: Shade Your Sphere by Incorporating a Light Source

Choosing a direction from which the light falls across your shaded sphere is another critical part of how to draw a 3d sphere. The light in our sphere drawing comes from the front right corner, casting a highlighted area on the top right section of the shaded sphere. Because the sphere throws shadows on the opposite side of the shape, the top right area will be lighter than the bottom left. Apply an additional light layer of shade around the edges of the sphere to emphasize the highlighted section. Blend once more to ensure a smooth and delicate transition between the darker regions of the shaded sphere to the highlighted point.

Sphere Sketch 6

Step 7: Creating the Second Shadow Layer

We added additional shade to the sphere itself in the previous stage, and in this phase, we’ll enhance the shadow surrounding the perspective line even more. The most crucial component of this phase is to consider the light source and make the shadows on the left of the sphere are noticeably darker than the shadow on the right. We’ll now blend the darker shadow into the first layer of shading, close to the perspective line and shaded sphere area. You want the shadow to fade gradually, so that the initial shadow layer can be seen around the borders.

Sphere Sketch 7

Then, within the sphere, repeat the technique, adding shadow solely around the edge and softly blending it in toward the center of the picture. Always keep in mind the light source, and make the left-hand side of the shaded sphere just a tad darker than the right. As always, you want to complete the shading by smoothing and smudging out the shadows with your preferred material.

Step 8: Continuation of the Shadow Building

In this phase of our spherical drawing lesson, we’re doing nothing new. Repeat the last step, this time adding an additional layer of shade within the sphere shape itself and on the left-hand side of the perspective line. Reduce the size of the darkest darkened part and blend it out, as you did in the previous step until the previous layers are still visible. In this phase, you may start to concentrate your spherical shade on the left and bottom edges, leaving the top and right edges substantially lighter. You want a smooth and delicate gradient in your shadows to generate genuine sphere shading and a proper three-dimensional effect.

Sphere Sketch 8

Step 9: The Last Step of Shading Your Sphere Drawing

We will now apply a final, deeper layer of shade to the sphere shape and perspective line in this last shading phase. Perhaps you would prefer to darken the sphere’s boundaries and the perspective line’s tip on the far-left side of the sphere considerably. You’ll want to use your soft hand towel or mixing brush to merge the dark shadows into the lighter layers as smoothly as possible for this final shading phase.  Smoother is usually better when it comes to generating 3D sphere shading.

Sphere Sketch 9

Step 10: Completing the Shaded Sphere Drawing

In this last phase of our simple sphere sketch lesson, you’ll remove the sphere’s edges and perspective line, as well as add some finishing highlights to the darkened sphere’s center. Begin this stage by deleting the baseline and spherical outlines. In the example below, deleting the contour on the sphere’s bottom left side gives a lovely highlight that distinguishes the shaded sphere from the area behind it. Next, using a soft eraser – preferably a putty eraser – carefully wipe the graphite from the middle of the sphere’s main light source region. Gently delete additional regions surrounding this primary light point with circular strokes to create a brilliant and colorful highlight. Finally, smudge together all of the highlights and shadows to produce a smooth and sleek finish on your spherical painting. To somewhat mix everything together, use your preferred method and massage the spherical in circular motions.

Sphere Sketch 10

You have now made a lovely shaded drawing of a realistic-looking sphere in only ten simple steps! Rest assured, you will become adept at determining a light source and generating realistic shade and highlighting across the surface of your sphere with time and experience. We hope you enjoyed this quick lesson on how to draw a sphere and shade it properly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it difficult to learn how to draw a sphere and shade it properly.

When you first start shading a sphere design, it may appear scary because we have long felt that sketching a circle is difficult enough, let alone understanding how to draw a three-dimensional sphere. Our guide solves this by guiding you through a simple and straightforward 10-step process for creating gorgeous spherical drawings.

Will This Guide Teach Me How to Draw a 3D Sphere Accurately?

If you would like to learn how to create realistic 3D spheres then you have arrived at the right place! We lead you through all of the required procedures to help you produce lifelike and three-dimensional spherical sketches in this simple sphere drawing lesson. It’s critical to understand where to put highlights and shadows.

izzybll

Israel Benloulou aka IzzyBll is a digital artist and content creator from Israel, currently living in South Africa. Originally, he started his career in videography but later shifted his focus to digital graphic art. He specializes in using digital drawing software like Photoshop and Procreate. Drawing and photo editing have always come naturally to Izzy, and he now has 5 years of experience in the industry, working on commissions for various renowned brands such as Audi. Izzy creates drawing tutorials on his drawing tablet and produces related content for Craft Art since 2021.

Learn more about Israel Benloulou  and about us .

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drawing exercise sphere

How to Draw a Sphere

This can seem like a boring exercise, but it will provide you with a basic understanding of shading a sphere that you will be able to apply on all future drawings.

* Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means I receive small commissions for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you.

Art Supplies

  • Kneaded Eraser
  • Blending Stump
  • Paper or Cardstock

Form in Art

The elements of art are the fundamental principles used to create art. Form is one of the elements of art. The others are, line, shape, texture, space, color, and value.

Form is the three-dimensional counterpart to shapes. A square becomes a cube. And a circle becomes a sphere.

Using forms in our artwork helps us create a 3D illusion on a two dimensional surface (our paper).

So understanding how to illustrate forms will help us create more interesting works of art.

As mentioned earlier, a sphere is the 3D counterpart to the circle. Creating the illusion of depth on a 2D surface is done using shading.

But before we can properly shade a sphere we need to understand the construction of its form.

Begin by drawing a circle. This can be done freehand by moving your arm from your shoulder. Start moving in a circular motion before making contact with your pencil on the paper.

Start with light pressure and then darken up your lines as you refine your shape. You’ll probably end up going over your circle shape a few times before getting a nice round shape.

Circle-Drawing

You could also use a drawing compass or a template for your circle. For this exercise you don’t need to have a perfect circle though.

The next step is to add some shading to illustrate the roundness of the sphere. But before we do that, let’s look at how the sphere is formed.

This is illustrated using contour lines. A contour line is the outside edge of an object. But it’s also used to describe the inside shape of an object as well.

We can start by dividing the circle in half in both directions. But this makes the object appear flat. So we need to add those contour lines to the interior of the circle.

Sphere-Contour-Lines

Anything above the centerline will curve up. And anything below will curve down. The curve should match the curve of your circle.

The same principle can be applied for the other direction of the circle, with the contour lines curving to the left and right.

So, in looking at our sphere with some contour lines drawn in we can see which areas stick out the furthest, and which areas will be hidden in shadow.

How to Shade a Sphere

When shading your circle to create a sphere, keep the contoured drawing in mind. And think about what those lines are actually representing.

First you need to decide where your light source will be coming from. This will determine how your shading will be applied.

For this example the light source is coming from the upper left. You can draw an arrow, light bulb, or sun to represent this if you want.

So with that in mind, let’s think about how the contour of the sphere is. We know that the center divide in both directions are the points that stick out the farthest.

Therefore, anything past that point, in the direction away from the light source, will be in shadow. Because a shadow is created by the light source being blocked.

So your darkest area will be the section closest to the center divide and on the opposite side of the light source.

Shading-a-Sphere

I find it easiest to shade the darkest area first, and then work outward from there. So begin by shading in that section right below the center point.

You’ll also want to lightly mark where your lightest area will be as well. This will be the area closest to your light source, and placed slightly away from the edge of your circle.

The area between your highlight and darkest shadows should be a gradation between the two points. We cover how to do this in our post on How to Create a Value Scale . Learning how to create different values will benefit you when learning how to draw a sphere.

The easiest way to make a nice graduated sphere is by working back and forth between using your pencil and a kneaded eraser.

You can also use a blending stump to smooth out your pencil lines.

How-to-Draw-a-Sphere

You can also add a cast shadow on the side opposite from the light source. Also note that there will be a reflection of light off of the surface creating a lighter area at the bottom by the cast shadow.

Final Thoughts About Drawing Spheres

Learning how to draw a sphere, and add proper shading, will help you with any future drawings that involve 3D circular objects.

By understanding how to illustrate basic shapes and forms you can make your drawings appear 3D.

So although you may think learning how to draw a sphere is pointless or boring, you’ll benefit from understanding how to do it in future projects.

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More Drawing Tutorials

  • How to Draw a Cube
  • Learn to Draw a Cylinder
  • Elements of Art
  • Using Space in Art
  • How to Shade with Pencil

drawing exercise sphere

Roshanda is an art education blogger who is on a mission to coach and encourage as many aspiring artists as possible through the use of her blog. Learn more about her on the About Me page and connect with her on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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How to Draw a Sphere

Last Updated: January 11, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Kelly Medford . Kelly Medford is an American painter based in Rome, Italy. She studied classical painting, drawing and printmaking both in the U.S. and in Italy. She works primarily en plein air on the streets of Rome, and also travels for private international collectors on commission. She founded Sketching Rome Tours in 2012 where she teaches sketchbook journaling to visitors of Rome. Kelly is a graduate of the Florence Academy of Art. This article has been viewed 122,947 times.

A sphere is different from a circle because it is 3-dimensional, or 3D. Drawing a sphere can be tricky due to the shading and highlighting involved to make it look 3D. However, all you need are a few simple tools and some imagination to correctly draw a sphere.

Step 1 Gather the materials you need to draw the sphere.

  • Sketch pad or paper
  • Cotton balls or tissues
  • Circular object

Step 2 Trace your circular object on the paper.

  • Tracing the circular object allows you to focus on shading the sphere rather than on learning how to draw a perfect circle.

Step 3 Choose where your light source will be.

  • Leave the circular or oval-shaped spot untouched, below where the arrow points from the direction of the light source.

Step 5 Smooth the shading with a cotton ball or tissue.

  • Remember to leave your highlight spot untouched, so also take care not to smear graphite into that area.

Step 6 Add more shading to areas of the sphere that the light source minimally reaches.

  • This shading is called the mid-tone. Around the middle of your sphere, you should have about medium tones of shading.

Step 7 Repeat smoothing out the shading with a cotton ball or tissue.

  • As you get further from the light source, the shading should get darker. However, they should not be as dark at the space directly below the sphere.

Step 9 Smooth the darkened shading again.

  • Shade the border moderately dark, and taper it into a crescent shape before tapering off on the other side. Keep this darkest area of shading close to the bottom edge of the sphere; it should be no more than ½ centimeter in thickness.

Step 11 Rub your cotton ball or tissue over the dark crescent at the bottom to smooth it one last time.

Drawing a Sphere With an Egg Cup

Step 1 Prepare your materials on your desk or table.

  • Blending tool, cotton ball, or tissue

Step 2 Place your egg cup upside-down on the paper.

  • Remember that one side of your sphere will have the core shadow, which is the darkest part of the sphere, where the light source cannot reach.

Step 3 Trace the outline of the egg cup with a light line.

  • For a shadow that emerges from the left side of the sphere, your light source should be in the top right corner. Conversely, for a shadow that emerges from the right side of the sphere, the light source should be in the top left corner.

Step 5 Mark a light guideline, with a ruler, from your light source to a spot about 1 centimeter inside the circle.

  • The shape can be described as an eclipse. Keep this in mind as you read further instructions.

Step 9 Repeat Steps 7 and 8 above, moving closer to the middle of the circle, three more times.

  • They will be used for mid-tone, or gradual shading of the sphere to help give it its 3D appearance.

Step 10 Freehand a few more mid-tone outlines on the side of the circle close to the light source.

  • Lightly draw them in freehand form, using the shape of the small oval (i.e. the highlight spot) and expanding outward until you have three increasingly large ovals.
  • It is acceptable to leave a gap between the largest oval and the middle-most eclipse from the egg cup.

Step 11 Shade the bottom-most eclipse as darkly as possible.

  • When you get to the highlight spot, it should be completely untouched.

Step 13 Blend the tones together with a blending tool, a cotton ball, or a tissue.

  • Work from the lightest part—the highlight spot—to the darkest part to avoid pulling led from darker areas into lighter ones.

Drawing a Sphere With a Model

Step 1 Collect the materials you will need to help you draw a sphere.

  • A spherical object
  • Kneaded eraser

Step 2 Set up your spherical object as a model.

  • You do not need to use a ruler for this, although you can if you would like to do so.

Step 4 Sketch the boundaries of the sphere.

  • Sketch four very light, short lines in an open square shape. They should not connect with each other; rather, they should signify the four sides of the square.
  • The lines need to be extremely light so that they are easy to erase later when touching up your drawing.

Step 5 Indicate the horizontal and vertical axes within the boundaries.

  • You can use comparative measurement to do this, meaning that you can create the size of your boundaries and axes by comparing the size of your model sphere to your pencil. Hold your pencil vertically so that it covers the sphere from top to bottom. Hold the tip of the pencil at the top of the sphere, and place your thumb on the pencil where it hits the bottom of the sphere. Lay your pencil on your paper without moving your thumb. Compare this height to the vertical axis you drew on your paper and adjust accordingly, if you choose. Repeat the process, except now measure the width of the sphere. Compare it to the horizontal axis you drew and, again, adjust accordingly if you would like.

Step 6 Compare the width and your height of your axes.

  • Using your pencil, place it along the vertical axis with the tip at the top. Just like before, place your thumb at the bottom of the axis. Now, turn your pencil horizontally and compare that distance to the horizontal axis. Adjust the axes if one is longer than the other.

Step 7 Draw the contour of the sphere using the boundaries you made in Step 4.

  • Add a first series of contour lines, in the suggested shape of an octagon. These lines will just barely intersect on the ends.
  • Then, draw a series of smaller contour lines within the first set. This new set does not need to intersect, as they are adding to the rounded shape of the contour.

Step 8 Sketch transitions from one plane line to the next to make curves.

  • These help add to the circular shape you are creating.

Step 9 Clean up the edges of your contour with your eraser.

  • Flatten your kneaded eraser to help you do this. It will make a thin, flat edge so that you can cleanly erase the stray marks and thickness of your new circle.

Step 10 Decide where you want your light source to be.

  • If your light source is in the top left, then the curved line should follow along the lower right side of the circle. Visa versa, if it is in the top right, then the curved line should be placed along the lower left side.
  • This curved line is the start of the core shadow.

Step 12 Erase the horizontal and vertical axes after you draw the curved line.

  • Keep this very dark shadow limited to the bottom of the sphere, with each edge tapering off just as it starts to creep up the sides of the sphere.

Step 14 Fill in the form shadow.

  • Smooth the shading with a blending tool, a cotton ball, or a tissue when you are done shading the area.

Step 15 Continue shading from dark to light, working your way from bottom to top.

  • As you move toward the top of the sphere, you will shade in what is called a half-tone. This is a lighter shading than what you did on the lower half of the sphere, opposite of the light source.

Step 16 Leave the highlight spot near the light source on the sphere.

  • The shading all around the highlight spot needs to be very lightly done to reflect that the light source reflects off of that area.

Step 17 Blend in the shading so that the tones merge together.

  • Remember to go from light-to-dark so that no excess graphite is smudged from dark areas into lighter ones.

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • Place a piece of tissue below your wrist to avoid smudging your drawing and shading with your skin. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

drawing exercise sphere

You Might Also Like

Draw a Shaded Sphere

  • ↑ https://blog.udemy.com/how-to-draw-a-sphere/
  • ↑ Kelly Medford. Professional Artist. Expert Interview. 10 March 2021
  • ↑ http://www.thedrawingsource.com/sphere-drawing.html
  • ↑ http://www.thedrawingsource.com/sphere-drawing-tutorial.html
  • ↑ http://www.thedrawingsource.com/shading-a-sphere.html

About This Article

Kelly Medford

To draw a sphere, start by tracing a circle. Then, to create shadow and round out your sphere, choose an imaginary light source, and draw an arrow pointing from that direction. Color in the circle lightly, leaving the spot right below the arrow blank, since the brightest spot will be closest to the light source. Continue adding smaller, darker layers along the opposite edge of the light source, then use a tissue or a cotton ball to blend out your shading. Finally, draw a dark crescent shadow below the darkest point, and color it darker than any of the shading on your sphere. To learn how to use guidelines to draw a sphere even more precisely, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to draw a sphere: A flexible approach to a valuable form, 2024

Welcome to how to draw a sphere.

Hello and welcome fellow artists!

Thank you for visiting this article on my site to learn how to draw a sphere!

I’ll go step-by-step through a few methods for sphere drawing, and most of them focus on drawing spheres not lighting spheres. There’s a distinct difference between drawing forms and adding light and shadow to them.

Drawing solid forms should always come first, then light source, shadows, highlights, etc can come into your picture plane. The goal is to have a solid drawing first, with form space you understand. This makes adding light and shadow so much easier.

I don’t shoot for perfect spheres in all of my examples because there are lots of sphere-like or ovoid forms whose drawing process is nearly identical to spheres. These sphere-like forms are basically variations of a sphere, and it helps to know how to construct those as well.

Let’s dig in! We’ll start by looking at what defines a sphere.

Learning about spheres: The technical stuff and gubbins

Don’t worry, I won’t get too mathematical on you, I promise.

Just as every point on a circle is equidistant from its center, so it is with a sphere. The major difference is a sphere is a three-dimensional form , while a circle is a two-dimensional shape . Shapes, edges, and vertices, and depth create forms, which we also call objects.

So, a sphere is a geometric three-dimensional form whose surface is composed of points that are all equidistant from its center. In general, we use the terms sphere and ball interchangeably, and that’s fine.

Exploration and study: Natural and man-made spheres

We need reference photo materials! We all know what a ball, sphere, sphere-like, and ovoid forms look like, so the value of a reference photo here isn’t really for learning how to draw a sphere. Its value is as a source of inspiration. After learning how to draw a sphere, we’ll want to add surface texture and light–which is where the reference photos come in handy.

Natural Spheres_How to draw a sphere ref board 01

Shape breakouts and natural variations

Most objects we see in day-to-day life are spherical or spheroid. That means things like apples, oranges, grapes, water droplets, the human skull, etc are three-dimensional forms that are round, or more or less round. They are not perfect spheres, but they’re visually close enough to be referred to as spheres or spherical.

Here’s a reference board for spherical/spheroid and ovoid objects:

how to draw a sphere_spherical-spheroid-ovoid forms

How to draw a sphere step-by-step tutorials

There are three methods I’ll cover here that are strictly drawing only–meaning no tonal value, or light and shade, is used to create the spheres. The first two methods demonstrate how to draw freehand spheres, while the third covers sphere drawing in perspective.

The fourth method I’ll cover here goes step-by-step through how to draw a sphere using light and shadow, both digitally and using graphite. I will demonstrate how to add a light source, form shadow, mid-tone (or half tone), a core shadow, a cast shadow, and a highlight to a flat circle shape to model a sphere. I’ll also demonstrate cast shadow placement using the angle of the light rays from the light source.

In this first method, we’ll draw a sphere by using ellipses to add the illusion of depth to a flat circle shape.

how to draw a sphere_depth with ellipses method 01

Draw a circle of any size you like, and try to make it as round as you can.

Draw horizontal ellipses within your circle. The band of each ellipse should look and feel like it’s wrapping around the surface of the sphere you’re creating.

This feeling of a contour line wrapping around a form is what ultimately gives our sphere drawing a sense of three-dimensional depth on our picture plane (paper).

how to draw a sphere_depth with ellipses method 02

Next, repeat the same process from step 2 with vertical ellipses wrapping around the sphere from top to bottom.

The way your ellipses wrap around the edges, or outline, of the circle you started with, is very important.

The illusion of depth is created by giving the viewer the feeling the contour lines are wrapping around the form. This creates a sense of depth because it shows plane changes/turns on the form.

2D forms have no depth, so they have no plane changes to indicate a presence in 3D space. Plane changes are the realm of three dimensions.

how to draw a sphere_depth with ellipses method 04

Once you’re happy with the sense of depth created by your ellipses, begin darkening the contour lines on the front-facing side of your sphere.

Darkening the contours on the front side, while leaving those in the back lighter, will add a greater sense of depth through value. Darker tones appear to come forward, while lighter tones appear to recede into the background.

To make this process as clear as possible, I created a video to demo the sphere drawing process for this method.

Another method for how to draw a sphere more or less does away with using a circle shape as a starting guide. I don’t find this next method as intuitive or helpful as the method above, but it is another option to consider. It begins with ellipses instead of a circle.

How to draw a sphere: Form dissection

I created the next few videos to demonstrate the form dissection part of how to draw a sphere. When we need to draw something broken, split open, cut up, etc., visual dissection drawing skills come in handy. It’s also useful for investigating and drawing internal shapes and forms, like the juicy insides of a sliced orange or the bloody bits of a battle wound or a sliced-off limb.

The most important thing to remember about the dissection of any form is to do it along believable contour lines, even if you’re not going for a clean look.

Sphere drawing in Perspective

If you’ve visited any of my other how-to-draw articles, first of all, Thank you!

Second, you will have noticed that part of the way I craft these lessons is to demonstrate how to draw the subject in perspective. Perspective drawing is one of the fundamental drawing skills , so I give it a shout-out in each of these articles.

Next, I’ve created a video to demonstrate how some of the process for how to draw a sphere in perspective. As you’ll see in the video, the process is simple but requires quite a bit of repetition.

Below are some images from the video to act as another reference for how to draw a sphere in perspective.

how to draw a sphere in perspective 01

How to draw a sphere with Light and shadow

The first thing to know about how to draw a sphere with light and shadow is that there isn’t a lot of drawing involved, per se.

I consider drawing to be the use of line marks and segments, shapes, forms, etc., which is a bit different than adding value/tones through shading. I think of light and shadow more like painting and coloring, which is why I’m not terribly fond of covering them in how to draw articles. I’m always concerned that it will cause confusion, but it is all connected so we gotta get into it at least a little.

Please try to bear in mind, for how to draw a sphere and anything else you draw, that you always want a solid drawing with solid forms first . Light and shadow, tones and shade, and color and paint all come after you have solid forms.

Okay, I promise I’m done ranting about it. For now ?.

Know your light source

When you’re comfortable with how to draw a sphere, the next step is to add a light source to create light, shade, shadows, and the other values and tones.

First things first, you must know a few things about your light source.

Without diving into the Fundamentals of Light , the four things you must know (or invent and decide on) about your light source are its angle in relation to your object, its height, its color/temperature, and its intensity.

To help you practice, I recommend keeping it simple so there are fewer variables to juggle. I suggest sticking to black and white for now and using a simple light of average intensity. That leaves the height and angle of your light source to play and experiment with.

Here are a few references to help with visualizing your light source.

drawing exercise sphere

Form shadow and cast shadows

When lit, all forms will have at least three shadows: a form shadow, a cast shadow, and an occlusion shadow. Of course, in reality, the tones/values are much more involved than that.

Here are a few diagrams to illustrate most, if not all, of the areas and terminology involved in how to draw a sphere with light and shadow.

how to draw a sphere_light and shadow diagram 01

Lighting your sphere drawing step-by-step (digital)

Now that we’ve very roughly covered a few lighting basics, let’s dive into some demonstration. From experience, I believe the fundamentals of light are more easily practiced with digital tools–they’re much more forgiving. So, this example has been created in Photoshop.

Basic Light and Shadow Demo 01-plain circle

Start with a medium-size flat circle. It helps to use one with some tone rather than a white circle. Here I’ve used a mid-tone gray circle.

In the case of how to draw a sphere with light and shadow, we need to start with a toned flat circle and build the depth with light and shade. Normally, I would not start lighting without a form.

We have a shape to add depth to, now it’s time to decide on the light source.

I chose to emulate the sun here, keeping the source up high, at about a 45-degree angle to the object, far away, and intense.

Basic Light and Shadow Demo 02-add light source and light guide

With the light source set, let’s make the first rough light pass on the object.

The focus here is on determining where your sphere’s terminus/terminator will be by judging where the plane change happens–where the sphere would begin to turn away from the light.

Now it’s time to get into the shade and shading part.

Light helps us see forms, while shade and shadow give us form definition .

In this step, select a dark grey (about 80-85%, or a 2b pencil to 4b pencil if you’re working traditionally) and begin blocking in the form shadow.

The form shadow will begin at the terminus/terminator and cover all parts of the form facing away from the light.

Basic Light and Shadow Demo 04-add form shadow-terminus-core shadow

This is also a good time to start blending in your halftone/mid-tone. The halftone/mid-tone area is where the form has started to turn away from the light but hasn’t turned enough to be in shadow. So, this area is roughly half the value of both the center light and form shadow combined.

It helps to remember these are all first passes . It will be necessary to go back over each area to darken, lighten, blend, and adjust as needed.

Basic Light and Shadow Demo 05-add cast shadow-occlusion shadow

With your form shadow roughed in, it’s time to add your cast shadow.

The shape and angle of your cast shadow are determined by the shape of your form and the angle of your light source.

It’s okay you’re a little off at first. I’m pretty sure my example here is slightly off, but it works.

A written explanation gets confusing, so I’ll include a diagram for placing cast shadows after this step-by-step tutorial.

Learning how to draw a sphere with light and shadow is a really good exercise for learning about the other important shadows, like the core and occlusion shadows.

You’ll see in the diagrams from steps four and five that I’ve labeled the core shadow. The terminus/terminator is where the light no longer reaches and the form shadow begins. Right next to that is the core shadow, the darkest part of the form shadow.

Occlusion shadow areas are places where the light cannot reach at all–they are occluded, obstructed. Occlusion shadows can be present on or inside of forms as well as part of cast shadows. Wherever the light does not reach, you should have occlusion level darkness of tone/value.

The last step in how to draw a sphere with light and shadow is to add the reflected or “bounce” light.

Reflected light happens when light from the source bounces off other surfaces and is reflected back onto the object–in this case on its form shadow area.

Basic Light and Shadow Demo 06-add highlight-reflected light

How to determine cast shadow placement

Next, I’ve included a few images to demonstrate how to locate and place the cast shadow for a sphere. Here we’re looking for where the light rays meet the outer contours of the sphere and intersect the ground plane.

how to draw a sphere_cast shadow placement 01

How to draw a sphere with light and shadow using pencils (traditional)

Not everyone is interested in working digitally, so I thought it would be helpful to demonstrate how to draw a sphere with light and shadow traditionally as well.

If you’d like to follow along with this demonstration, you’ll need a few pencils. I recommend a blend of the soft and hard leads: 4h, 2h, and h pencils; as well as an hb pencil and a 2b pencil. 4b and 6b pencils will help in the shadow areas. I like to go all the way up to 8b because I love velvety shadows, but usually, 6b is dark enough. I have articles about graphite pencils and drawing tools if you need more information in those areas.

As a rule, I don’t use a blending stump, cotton swab, or cotton ball for this kind of exercise. They smudge more than they blend, so I avoid them.

How to draw a sphere from Imagination!

Here is where those lovely references from the beginning of this article come in handy! While important, sphere drawing on its own isn’t the most exciting exercise. With some imagination and reference, you can create some fun and awesome things from spheres.

How to draw a Sphere, signing off!

Well, this one was quite a few mouthfuls, wasn’t it?

Thank you so much for reading how to draw a sphere and spending some time with me here. I appreciate you hanging in there and I hope you found this helpful and valuable to your artist journey.

I’m always trying to improve and come up with more useful articles to write, so if you have any feedback or questions for me, please reach out to me in the comments below.

Take care, stay safe, and happy drawing!

More how-to-draw articles on CecelyV.com:

How to draw a circle

How to draw a cube

How to draw a mushroom

How to draw a banana

How to draw a pumpkin

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  • Shading a Sphere

Sphere Drawing Tutorial Part 3: Shading a Sphere

drawing exercise sphere

Shading a sphere is one of the most fundamental, useful skills for a representational artist to learn.

Because when you draw the figure or portrait, you are shading basic forms that are combined in different ways to create the more complex forms of the human body.

If you take the time to practice this exercise and learn the theory behind shading a sphere (such as the elements of form and value drawing ), you will have a much easier time applying your skills and knowledge to drawing the figure and portrait. For now, let's focus on shading a sphere. The more “professional” term for shading is rendering, and it is probably the most rewarding stage of the sphere drawing process.

drawing exercise sphere

F R E E  D O W N L O A D At the end of this article, download a free  Shading a Sphere Infographic !

Rendering a Sphere

drawing exercise sphere

In the previous lesson, (Sphere Drawing Tutorial - Page 2), we worked on creating a realistic environment for the sphere. Now that the background looks believable, it is time to turn our attention to drawing the actual sphere, beginning with the form shadow (the shadow on the sphere itself ).

drawing exercise sphere

I begin rendering the sphere by filling in a general tone for the form shadow. I even it out with a bristle brush (link coming soon), being careful not to lose my original drawing.

drawing exercise sphere

Keep working from dark to light. Determine what the darkest value is on the sphere. In this case, it is the core shadow - the dark band that occurs where light can no longer reach the form.

Once you establish this dark value, you will have a variable to which you can compare the rest of the values on the sphere.

drawing exercise sphere

Before you even out the transition between the core shadow and the rest of the form shadow, notice the complexity of this area:

In area A, the form shadow is darker than the background, while in area B, the form shadow is lighter than the background (due to light reflecting back into the sphere).

drawing exercise sphere

Keep this dark - to - light gradation of the form shadow in mind as you draw it...

drawing exercise sphere

...as well as the gradation from the core shadow to the rest of the form shadow.

drawing exercise sphere

As you continue rendering the sphere, constantly compare the values of the sphere to its surroundings.

Turning the Form of the Sphere

drawing exercise sphere

As you begin shading the sphere, remember that you still have values to establish. The two remaining values are the highlight and the half-tone . You already have an accurate value for the highlight since you can leave it as the white of the paper.

The challenge is to draw an accurate gradation from the highlight to the half-tone, and from the half-tone to the core shadow. The gradation must represent the value relationships that you see on the sphere in order to look realistic.

drawing exercise sphere

I begin shading the sphere from the core shadow into the half-tone, using a rendering technique called the "airplane stroke".

drawing exercise sphere

Always keep in mind the form of the sphere. Pick up your sphere and examine it. Think about how you would sculpt its smooth surface. Imagine the light running off of the sphere like water. Do whatever you have to do to become so familiar with the sphere that you almost feel the form turn as you draw your gradation.

drawing exercise sphere

An important note about the half-tone is that it must be lighter than the reflected light on the sphere! Even if the reflected light looks like it is the same value as the half-tone, notice how much it darkens and merges with the rest of the form shadow when you squint. Drawing it as such will create a much more believable illusion.

drawing exercise sphere

Keep enveloping the form with tone. Squint at the scene often to check if you are achieving the effect of light that you are seeing. If your drawn sphere does not have the glow that you see when you squint at the scene, you are most likely overmodelling.

drawing exercise sphere

Continue rendering: even out the values by filling in the "gaps" where the charcoal is uneven.

The Finishing Touches of Shading a Sphere

Keep adjusting and evening out the values on the sphere. At this point I have lightened the sphere to try to achieve the "glow" that I see when I look at it.I also slightly lightened the reflected light, being careful to still keep it darker than the half-tone.

Finally, I evened out the values so that they mimic the sphere's smooth surface.

To what extent you refine your sphere drawing is completely up to you. It is a matter of...

drawing exercise sphere

Taste: whether aesthetically you like the smooth finish of the drawing above, or the "grainier" look of the one prior to that

Skill: the more knowledgeable you are about the subject you are drawing, and the more comfortable you are with drawing technique and your drawing tools - the further you will be able to take your drawing

And patience: this last stage of shading a sphere, the last 10%, can often be the most time consuming!

F R E E  D O W N L O A D Get the free  Shading a Sphere Infographic (plus, get a weekly newsletter and access the Members-Only Drawing Resource Library)!

drawing exercise sphere

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Sphere Drawing Tutorial: Page 1

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How to Draw a Value Scale

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Drawing Exercise: Shading a Sphere

This post may contain Blick & Amazon affiliate links which means I may receive a commission from purchases made through links. I will only recommend products I have personally used! Learn more on my private policy page . 

Want to add dimension to your drawing? Shading is a key tool in communicating shape. To get started is nice to start with some simple shapes, like a box, cylinder, or a sphere. Once you learn and understand how to shade these simple shapes you can extend to more complex shapes like fruit and a face.

Materials you'll need for this exercise:

Pencils of a variety of grades. 

Kneaded eraser

regular eraser

pencil sharpener

sketch pad with acid free paper 

Blending stumps

See all my art supplies

drawing exercise sphere

Step 1 - Find your reference.

I've compiled a some potential references on Pinterest . 

Step 2 - identify light source

In my example the light is coming from the top right and in front of the object. 

Step 3 - Draw the outline

It doesn't have to be perfect. I moved my arm in a circular motion to make the outline below.  I used a neutral grade (B or HB). 

drawing exercise sphere

Step 4 - Add the Midtone

Generally cover the whole sphere, except for the highlight. Not ideal that my edges are darker here, but that's ok. Used the same B pencil and held at an angle. 

drawing exercise sphere

Step 4 - Get in the shadows

Added the shadow on the surface the sphere is sitting on and on the lower/right half of the sphere. Use a softer pencil - 2b - 4b.

drawing exercise sphere

Push the shadows with a 6b+

drawing exercise sphere

Step 5 - Smoothen the transitions

Experiment with your grades to smooth the transitions. really fill in all of the spots where the paper is exposed (except for the highlight of course). Use a kneaded eraser to pick up spots that are too dark. 

drawing exercise sphere

Step 6 - Make sure you have all of the parts

The highlight, shadow, cast shadow (darkest part), reflected light, ...  Do some of them need to be darker/lighter.? Are some of your edges more or less crisp than your reference?

drawing exercise sphere

There you have it. You can shade a sphere. With practice, you can shade anything. 

If you want to start your painting journey, I've put together a list of all my go to supplies to get you started. 

< See More Drawing Tutorials  

Mackenzie Swenson

Understanding Form: Drawing A Sphere From Imagination

  • Description

In this lesson, artist and instructor Mackenzie Swenson shows you how to render a highly realistic sphere entirely based on logic and imagination! This kind of “conceptual drawing” is also known as “form drawing”, as it is a sculptural that uses an understanding of the subject’s surface and volume (“form”) to inform the rendering process.

First, Mackenzie explains how to set up your conceptual sphere on the page using a household item like an aerosol cap or the lid of a jar to draw a circle. She then shows you how to choose your light source and a groundline, followed by finding the shadow shape by using creating straight lines from the outside of the light source to the contour of the sphere and then the floor plane. Mackenzie shows you how to identify the curvature of the sphere’s shadow by choosing the depth of your light source, and how to connect the points on the floor plane to create a believable cast shadow. At this point, you will have a well-constructed linear block-in that is prepared for shading and rendering.

Mackenzie then explains a few important terms, starting with the contour, light-shape, and shadow-shape, as well as how to identify each of those elements in your drawing. She shows you how all shadows subdivide into “form” and “cast” shadows, and a few useful tricks for finding exactly where that line between light and shadow falls. The boundary on the form between light and shadow is known as the “terminator” because this is the point at which the light from the main light source terminates. To complete the discussion on terminology, Mackenzie describes how all areas in the light shape can be understood through their relationship to the light source by asking the question “how light-facing is this moment on the form?”

Once the terms are set, Mackenzie demonstrates the process of flattening your shadow (for more on this see “Instantly Improve Value Consistency in Pencil”) followed by rendering the light shape of the sphere by using strips of value gradations to move from the terminator to the most light-facing point on the sphere. Mackenzie follows this process through to completion, demonstrating how a conceptual understanding of light and form can create a highly convincing 3D illusion!

For this exercise, Mackenzie uses Strathmore Series 400 paper, Staedtler graphite pencils in grades HB and 2H, a Tombow Mono eraser, a kneaded eraser, a ruler, and a circular household item that is between 1 and 2 inches in diameter. Keep in mind that your pencils need to be extremely sharp to get the best results from this exercise. For additional instruction on how to effectively sharpen your pencils, see “Sharpening Pencils and Charcoal” with Savannah Tate-Cuff.

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Yonderoo

How to Draw Almost Anything

How to Draw a Sphere

How to Draw a Sphere

Welcome to this step-by-step guide on how to draw a sphere! Whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist, mastering the art of drawing three-dimensional shapes is essential. The sphere is one of the fundamental forms found in nature and art. With a few simple techniques, you can create a realistic and visually appealing sphere in no time. In this tutorial, we will explore the process of drawing a sphere using pencils and paper. So, let’s get started!

Materials Required

Before we dive into the steps, let’s gather the materials you will need for this drawing:

  • Drawing paper: Select a smooth paper suitable for drawing. A heavier weight paper will work best to withstand shading and erasing.
  • Pencils: You will need a range of pencils, preferably with different lead hardness, such as 2H, HB, and 2B. These will allow you to achieve various tones and shades in your drawing.
  • Eraser: Have a soft eraser handy to correct mistakes and lighten areas of your drawing as needed.
  • Blending tools: You can use blending stumps or a tortillon to create smooth transitions and gradients in your shading. A tissue or cotton swab can also work as a substitute if you don’t have blending tools.
  • Pencil sharpener: Keep your pencils sharp for precise and detailed work.
  • Compass or round object: While not necessary, using a compass or any round object as a template can help you create a perfect circle as the base for your sphere.

Now that we have everything we need, let’s proceed with the steps to draw a sphere!

Step 1: Draw a Circle

Start by drawing a circle with a light hand. You can use a compass or any round object as a template for a perfect circle. If you prefer to draw it freehand, that’s perfectly fine too. Remember, the size of the circle will determine the size of your sphere, so make sure to choose the appropriate scale for your drawing.

Step 2: Divide the Circle

Next, divide the circle into four equal quarters by drawing two intersecting lines that cross at the center. These lines will act as guidelines to help us locate the light source and determine the highlights and shadows on the sphere.

Step 3: Determine the Light Source

Identify the direction of the light source in your drawing. This step is important as it will determine the placement of highlights and shadows. For example, if the light is coming from the upper-left side, the highlights will appear on the upper-left portion of the sphere, while the shadows will fall on the lower-right side.

Step 4: Add the Highlight

Using the knowledge of the light source, lightly shade the upper-left quarter of the circle where the highlight will be. This area will be the lightest part of the sphere, capturing the direct light.

Step 5: Shade the Sphere

Begin shading the remaining areas of the sphere, gradually darkening the values as you move away from the highlight. Use a light touch and build up the shading slowly to create a smooth transition from light to dark. Remember to follow the contour of the circle to maintain the spherical shape.

Step 6: Blend the Shading

To achieve a realistic look, blend the shading using a blending stump, tortillon, tissue, or cotton swab. This will soften the transitions between different shades and create a smooth gradation. Be gentle while blending to avoid smearing or smudging your drawing.

Step 7: Deepen the Shadows

Now, it’s time to deepen the shadows to add depth and dimension to the sphere. Observe the areas where the sphere intersects with the guidelines you drew earlier. These are the areas where the shadows will be the darkest. Gradually layer additional shading, paying attention to the values and maintaining a smooth transition.

Step 8: Refine the Details

At this stage, take a closer look at your drawing and refine any areas that need adjustments. Use a harder pencil, such as an H or 2H, to add finer details like the reflection of light or any other additional elements you may want to include.

Step 9: Add Highlights

To enhance the realistic appearance of the sphere, carefully erase small portions of the shading to create highlights. The highlights will be the brightest areas where the light is directly hitting the surface of the sphere. Use a kneaded eraser or a precision eraser for better control over the highlight shapes.

Step 10: Final Touches

Take a step back and assess your drawing as a whole. Make any necessary final adjustments and touch-ups to achieve the desired result. Pay attention to the overall tonal values, the smoothness of the shading, and the accuracy of the sphere’s shape.

Congratulations! You have successfully drawn a sphere using simple techniques. Practice this exercise frequently to improve your skills in shading, light, and form.

Drawing a sphere may seem challenging at first, but with practice and patience, you can master this fundamental shape. By following the step-by-step instructions provided in this tutorial, you have learned how to create a realistic and visually appealing sphere using pencils and paper. Remember to pay attention to light sources, shading, and blending to achieve a three-dimensional effect. Keep practicing, exploring different techniques, and experimenting with various materials to further enhance your drawing abilities.

So, grab your pencils and start drawing spheres to unlock a world of endless artistic possibilities!

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IMAGES

  1. Sphere Drawing

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  2. Sphere Drawing

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  3. 12 simple Warm-Up Exercises that will Transform your Drawing Practice

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  4. Sphere Drawing

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  5. How To Draw A Sphere Worksheets

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  6. How to Draw a 3D Sphere

    drawing exercise sphere

VIDEO

  1. Fun drawing exercise #howtodraw #how #drawingtutorial

  2. Drawing 3D Half Sphere on Line Paper

  3. Sphere Drawing #art #drawing #pencil

  4. Sketching Practice

  5. The Stippled Sphere

  6. Circle to 3D Sphere||shading tutorial for beginners

COMMENTS

  1. Sphere Drawing Tutorial Part 1

    Sphere drawing is an invaluable exercise when learning how to draw. When you draw a sphere, and other basic forms, you learn much of what you need to know to draw the figure and portrait, such as the basic drawing process, how light falls on form, how to see and draw subtle value shifts, and much more!

  2. How to Draw a Sphere with Labeled Shadows

    VIEW COURSE Locations of Value on a Sphere When you draw any object, you must consider your light source. The light within the scene dictates where locations of value will appear on the subject. By placing specific values in specific locations in our drawing, we can inform the viewer of the strength and location of the light.

  3. How to Draw and Shade a Sphere the Easy Way

    627,631 views 8.2K The EASY WAY to shade a sphere. SUBSCRIBE http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=weiworks Learn how to draw with pencils with my step by step dr...

  4. Draw a Sphere With Me

    The most fundamental drawing practice for beginners. Shading a sphere tutorial to improve drawing skills. Drawing Materials I Use: https://amzn.to/3GlziN5Dow...

  5. How to Draw a Sphere: A Step By Step Guide

    A drawn sphere is made up of different "parts," all products of the lighting you're trying to emulate in your drawing. These "parts" or "sections" are: Highlight: The highlight is the lightest part of your sphere, where the light source directly hits.

  6. PDF Learn to DRAW A SPHERE

    DRAW A SPHERE by Bob Davies Introduction Why would you want to draw a ball? It's not the most exciting subject matter in the world, even if you're a sports fanatic! Yet, the sphere drawing exercise is used in Ateliers all over all the world to help art students develop a very keen sense of observation.

  7. Learn to Draw : The Sphere 01

    Video Courseshttp://bit.ly/DrawingVideosStay connected on Facebook:http://facebook.com/drawingvideos

  8. How To Draw A Sphere

    First draw a circle. Then gradually narrow the circle until it turns into a straight line. Circle turning into an ellipse or a foreshortened circle. Spend some time drawing circles, ellipses, cylinders, and spheres. The exercises will help in human-figure and portrait drawing. Remember all these complex subjects are made up of shapes.

  9. Exercise 6.1 Shading of Spheres

    Exercise 6.1 Shading of Spheres. For this exercise, you will be taking the basic round shape of a circle and transforming it into the three dimensional (3D) shape of a sphere. You will be creating five spheres, each with a different type of shading. Draw five spheres using the five shading techniques used in the image below.

  10. How to Draw a Sphere

    To draw a sphere or any ball like form, start off with a perfect circle. Use a compass or trace something perfectly round like a can of soup. Draw lightly because you want the circle to disappear later leaving the sphere with no outlines. The sphere's cast shadow is nothing more than an elliptical shape positioned horizontally.

  11. How to Draw a Sphere

    Step 2: Creating the Field Base. When it comes to the question of how to draw a 3D sphere, it is important to create a visual field around your sphere. We do this by drawing a simple vertical line through the bottom third of the circle. This line immediately creates a sense of three-dimensionality in your sphere sketch by creating a contrast ...

  12. How to Draw a Sphere

    Step 2: Creation of the Field Base. When drawing a 3D sphere, it is critical to construct what is referred to as a 'visual field' surrounding your sphere. This is accomplished by creating a basic vertical line through the lower third of the spherical drawing. By drawing a distinction between the sphere and the other surface, this line ...

  13. How to Draw a Sphere

    Form in Art The elements of art are the fundamental principles used to create art. Form is one of the elements of art. The others are, line, shape, texture, space, color, and value. Form is the three-dimensional counterpart to shapes. A square becomes a cube. And a circle becomes a sphere.

  14. PDF Drawing the Value Sphere

    drawing board by Sadie Valeri Understanding how light falls on an object is fundamental to creat-ing believable illusion. drawing an imaginary sphere is a great exercise for learning how light and shadow behave on a simple object before you attempt more complex subjects. This lesson is also an opportunity to master pencil control and a light

  15. How to Draw a Sphere (with Pictures)

    1 Gather the materials you need to draw the sphere. This is a basic method for drawing a sphere, so minimal materials are needed. [1] Sketch pad or paper Pencil Cotton balls or tissues Circular object 2 Trace your circular object on the paper. You can use a small bowl, a glass, a mug, or another object with a circular shape or base. [2]

  16. How to draw a sphere: A flexible approach to a valuable form

    The first two methods demonstrate how to draw freehand spheres, while the third covers sphere drawing in perspective. The fourth method I'll cover here goes step-by-step through how to draw a sphere using light and shadow, both digitally and using graphite.

  17. How to Draw a Sphere (For Absolute Beginners)

    How to Draw a Sphere (For Absolute Beginners) Kerry Spence Art 28 subscribers Subscribe Subscribed 0 38 views 11 months ago Drawing Lessons Learn how to draw a sphere - even if you've...

  18. Shading a Sphere

    Sphere Drawing Tutorial Part 3: Shading a Sphere Shading a sphere is one of the most fundamental, useful skills for a representational artist to learn. Why? Because when you draw the figure or portrait, you are shading basic forms that are combined in different ways to create the more complex forms of the human body.

  19. Brush of Many Colors

    Step 1 - Find your reference. I've compiled a some potential references on Pinterest. Step 2 - identify light source In my example the light is coming from the top right and in front of the object. Step 3 - Draw the outline It doesn't have to be perfect. I moved my arm in a circular motion to make the outline below.

  20. Understanding Form: Drawing A Sphere From Imagination

    For this exercise, Mackenzie uses Strathmore Series 400 paper, Staedtler graphite pencils in grades HB and 2H, a Tombow Mono eraser, a kneaded eraser, a ruler, and a circular household item that is between 1 and 2 inches in diameter. ... Drawing A Sphere From Imagination Join Artist's Academy to continue watching for $9.00 per month / $92.00 ...

  21. How to Draw a Sphere for Beginners Easy

    Learn how to draw a sphere for beginners in this easy, step by step tutorial. Jeffrey Lowe will share with you tips and techniques for using a graphite penc...

  22. How to Draw a Sphere

    Practice this exercise frequently to improve your skills in shading, light, and form. Conclusion. Drawing a sphere may seem challenging at first, but with practice and patience, you can master this fundamental shape. By following the step-by-step instructions provided in this tutorial, you have learned how to create a realistic and visually ...

  23. Want to Draw Cheeks, Noses, and Chins? Start with a Sphere

    Kneaded eraser Mechanical graphite pencil Ruler Stump or tortillion The Nose The nose closely resembles a sphere. It is actually made up of three distinct spheres — each nostril and the ball of the nose. Create a line drawing of the nose. Then develop the patterns of light and dark with a pencil. Be sure to refer to the sphere.