Why ellipses are easy to draw

The ellipse is one of those things that fail nine out of ten times. Even the greatest artists didn’t know how to do it the right way. We have a FREE cheat sheet that will show how.

The ellipse: so difficult, yet so easy! Here is how to do it…

Here are three examples of great artists. Their ellipses speak for themselves. There must be a better way to make ellipses and yes, there is…

Camille Pissarro – Still Life 1867
The ellipse of the glass is perfect, but the bowl…
Cezanne – Still life Bowl and Milk jug.
The top and bottom ellipses are not lined out properly, the ellipses do not share a common centerline.

These are some characteristics of Ellipses…

Ellipses have a few characteristics: they are beautifully oval-shaped, they have a symmetric shape. It means when we split them in half, both the part on the left and the part on the right are equal in size and shape. Furthermore, they have beautifully rounded corners on the left and on the right. They have no sharp corners. Last characteristic: the left and right corners are lined out at the same level.

What when multiple ellipses are needed?

You know the situation where we need more than one ellipse above one another. I mention a still life setting with a cup and saucer or a coffee pot. A jug or a bottle are a few other objects that pose this challenge.
In fact, this is very easy: when an object has multiple ellipses that are above each other they all share the same centerline. So first draw a centerline through the object. Next create the ellipses.

Vincent van Gogh – Still life with Coffeepot 1888
The ellipses are not symmetric, and do not share a common centerline.

Here you can download the FREE cheat sheet that will help you to make the perfect ellipse. Further instructions are on the cheat sheet. Download below.