Inspiration
Develop your skills
Part 1 Using transport and vehicles as the theme, Tim O’Brien demonstrates how to draw ellipses accurately
Learning objectives
■ Understand how to draw an ellipse
■ Draw an ellipse using perspective
■ Transfer these skills to drawing transport topics
Vengeful Beauty,
oil on canvas, 24x36in. (61x91.5cm). A DH Mosquito takes off against an angry sky, a backdrop that highlights the sun’s reflection on the spinning propellers
Bentley
– an ink and wash drawing of a Bentley I photographed at a classic car show
An ellipse with its major and minor axes
Oh no, the dreaded ellipse – the nemesis for many who thought drawing vases, cups and saucers was hard. With plenty of practice, however, ellipses will help your drawings become more realistic, as they are crucial to the perspective of your subject, especially if you want to include a form of transport in your drawing or painting.