How To Draw A Shell

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Conch shells are pretty neat. They can be used as horns and home decorations, and some people say that you can hear the sound of the ocean if you press a conch up to your ear. This wikiHow will teach you how to draw one.

Steps

1

Obtain a reference image of a conch shell. You could do a quick search for an online picture or use the one in this article. A real conch shell will also make a great reference if you happen to have one.
2
Sketch an oblong shape. This serves as a guideline for your conch shell. This shape doesn't have to be perfect or precise, but it should follow the general shape of the shell in your reference picture.
- Make sure that this guideline is drawn lightly so that you can erase it later but dark enough that you can still see and work with it.
3
Break your original shape into a few smaller shapes that show the flow of the shell's form. The shell in this article can be broken up into three rounded shapes stacked beside each other and a triangle on the end.
- These should also be drawn lightly.
4
Draw some curves to show where the major spirals are on the conch shell. These should be larger and spread apart near the bottom and get smaller and tighter near the pointy part.
- Make these curves are a little darker than your previous guidelines. You're going to be erasing those original guidelines soon, and you want to still be able to see the curves you added in this step.
5

Add some circular shapes to denote the little nubs that follow the spirals.
6
Refine your outline and make it neater. This is a step where you'll want to be a bit more precise when taking from your reference picture. Draw these refinements darker than your original guidelines, as they will become part of the final product.
- Erase what you don't need of the original guidelines when finished.
7

Draw some bending lines down the body of the conch shell to give it a 3D shape. These lines should fit on the shell as if someone had taken a piece of string and stretched it across the shell, dipping and rising along with the shell's form.
8
Add hill and valley-shaped lines to show the bumps in-between the spirals. Remember those circular guidelines you drew before? These new lines are going to go to the same places the circles were. Draw these lines about as dark as you drew the lines down the body of the conch. Erase the circles when you're done; you won't need them anymore.
- Dots can be used to show the bumps if they're really small.
- If you choose, you can also refine your spiral guidelines in this step. The lines that were once simple curves around the conch shell will become wavy and irregular.
9

Refine everything. Touch up the outline, nubs, and spirals of the shell. Continue fixing up the drawing until you're finished with the final product.
10

Color the drawing, ink it or leave it as it is.

Add New Question

Question

How do you draw sand?

Undertale4141

Top Answerer

Stippling is a great way to draw sand. Pick a sandy color, such as tan or grey, and draw a whole bunch of little dots for the sand.