How To Draw a Ship: A Step-By-Step Drawing Tutorial

This week’s Drawing Challenge is a ship drawing contest. Users have been challenged to draw large ships of any type that they can think of, so before submission begins, we wanted to post this step-by-step drawing tutorial to give users a leg up. Now, users will go in all sorts of different directions with this, as any ship from any era is fair game. Whether you are drawing a modern cruise-liner, a cargo ship, an aircraft carrier, or an antiquated naval vessel, however, there are certain drawing principles that are common to all of the above. Here is a 7-step tutorial to provide you with guidance and inspiration as you undertake your own ship drawing.

Step 1: Open the Drawing Tool

Select “Draw” from the main screen and then select “Draw blank” to start a new drawing from scratch. You have the option of choosing the precise width, height, and orientation of your drawing before entering your work space.

Step 2: Draw the Basic Shape

Draw a very rough outline of your ship, delineating the body and its perspective in the frame.

Step 3: Add Layer

Reduce the opacity and create a new layer. Trace a more precise outline, replacing rough strokes with clean deliberate lines, ensuring that your ship looks sleek and smooth.

Step 4: How to Color the Drawing

Color your drawing by using various brushes and colors in separate layers. Start with the base colors, then color in the smaller details in higher layers. Once your ship has a paint job that you can be proud of, merge all of your color layers into one.

Step 5: Light and Shadow

Add a new layer, and use darker and lighter tones of your base colors to add shading and light accents to your drawing. Spray-brushes and translucent brushes are especially useful for adding shading without overpowering your base colors.

Step 6: Add Final Details

Add final details, especially some of the finer and smaller elements that were left out of the outline, likes ropes and rigging.

Step 7: Add a Background

To finish your drawing, it’s time to flesh out the background. Paint the sky and the ocean, or the port where it is docked. Use the same approach from before, using outline, color, and shading in layers to ensure that your background matches your subject in terms of detail.