Drawing with shapes: the circle, oval and rectangle method

Drawing with shapes means starting every drawing with simple shapes (circles, ovals, rectangles, triangles) and then adding details. A cat is a circle head on an oval body with triangle ears. A robot is rectangles and circles. Once kids learn to see shapes inside things, they can draw almost anything, and their drawings get better proportions right away.

The five shapes

• Circle: heads, eyes, wheels, balls.
• Oval: bodies, eggs, noses, feet.
• Rectangle and square: robots, buildings, books, boxes.
• Triangle: ears, spikes, teeth, hats, roofs.
• Bean or teardrop: bodies, ghosts, drops, tails.

How the shape method works

1. Look for the biggest shape. Usually the head or body.
2. Draw it lightly.
3. Add the next biggest shapes. Legs, ears, arms.
4. Add small details. Eyes, mouth, patterns.
5. Go over the lines you want to keep, and erase the rest if needed.

This is exactly how step-by-step lessons are built. In a How to Draw book, the first step is usually a big shape, and each step adds smaller ones. See how a How to Draw page works.

Examples

• Owl: a big oval body, two circles for eyes, a small triangle beak, two triangle ear tufts.
• Robot: a square head on a rectangle body, rectangle arms, circle eyes, a triangle antenna.
• Monster: a bean body, one huge circle eye, triangle teeth, oval feet.
• Pig: a circle head, an oval snout with two dots, triangle ears.

Shape games

1. What could it be? Draw a shape and turn it into three different things.
2. Shape spotting. Find shapes in a picture book or around the house.
3. Shape dice. Roll for a shape, then draw a character that starts with it.
4. One-shape creatures. Draw a creature using only circles.
5. Try a shape online. Play the try a shape game.

Why it works for kids

Shapes are familiar, so starting with them feels easy. They also fix the most common problem in kids’ drawings: things ending up the wrong size. When the big shapes are right, the details fall into place. See common drawing mistakes.

In the classroom

The shape method is perfect for a quick warm-up or brain break. See indoor recess activities. For International Dot Day, every drawing starts from a circle: see Dot Day drawing ideas.

The book that helps

The Shape Drawing Challenge is all about turning one shape into many characters, and Baby Robots shows how far squares and circles can go.

Shape Drawing ChallengeSee it on Amazon

How to Draw: Baby RobotsSee it on Amazon

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