So, someone posted a message not too long ago wanting to know how to draw a pointe shoe. I figured rather than hide it away as a comment I'd put it here on the board to help others who might also want to know how to draw something. The procedure for this is pretty basic, but it does take practice and you have to really notice objects and their general shapes and such. So, I made a little tutorial to show step by step how you would draw a pointe shoe, the numbers below kind of give a very brief explanation of each picture.



1. Draw the outline of the opening of the shoe. This is the foundation for the rest of the shape of the shoe. If you can't get this shape right, the rest won't look right.

2. Draw the basic outline of the shape of the shoe. If you're looking at a picture with ribbons or something else in the way, just forget about them, draw what's underneath (I'm sure we can imagine what it looks like under there, we've all seen one).

3. Draw the opening of the second shoe. Once again, the shape is very important. Note the difference in angles between the first shoe and what will be the second shoe. Different angle, different shape.

4. Draw the shape of the second shoe.

5. Add some basic shape defining lines to give the shoe a sense of depth. Nothing too major here, and try to make these lines very light so the shading will cover them (don't worry about it if you don't plan on using shading, make them as dark as you want).

6. Draw in the ribbons. Pay particular attention to the shapes and folds. Don't worry about drawing over any other lines, just draw the ribbon right over the edge of the shoe.

7. Look over your drawing so far and erase any parts of the shoe that are underneath a ribbon (the ribbon should be resting on the shoe, so any lines that represent a part of the shoe covered by ribbon, erase them).

8. Shade in the drawing (or if you prefer, color it in). Really pay attention to where the darkest and lightest parts of the shoe should be. Erase your outlining shapes as you go (or leave them there if they're light enough to hide). Try to blend the shading in with the outline of the shoe to make it look more 3 dimensional.

Additonal tip: I prefer to draw the initial shape of the object (i.e. everything up to step 8) in a very light pencil (4H or lighter), that way any shading I do will cover up all the edges and give the drawing a much cleaner look when you're finished. Well, good luck, and have fun drawing!!

Hi
Great tutorial! Finally I can learn to draw pointe shoes
~Miriam

wow that's really helpful!!
point shoes are just one of those things that no one can draw!! lol ( now i can!!)
Love maria.xx

hey thats awesome!!
i dunno what i was doing wrong before coz mine sure didnt look that good!

that really helped i was really stuck trying to draw them !!!!

good tutorial, but I'm hopeless

Great tutorial! Maybe there is hope for me! But I don't think I'll hang up my camera just yet!

that is a very helpful i dint know how to do this before you showed me.

great tuturiol.

Great karma for you

great! thanks! i think i need a lot more practice though...

hiya
thanks that really helped me

hiya
thanks that really helped me

great idea for a post! thanks for sharing

Those pointe shoes look REALLY good. Thanks for sharing! Karma for you!

*~Cadbury Eater*~

The one that leaves chocolatey smears wherever she roams. The one who eats members who taste like Cadbury. The pyromaniac who burns down hershie factories. Basically the one that unleashed utter pandeoumonium and catastrophe.
FEAR THE CADBURY_EATER!

wow thanks for the tips!!!!

Wow thanks for posting I am sure you have just saved many pointe shoe drawings from this post! This is something I find really hard to draw so thank you a lot!

I love your shading and coloring. what medium do you use? it looks very real, I admire that dedication and patience keep up the work you'r good.

That's excellent. Thank you very much for the Tutorial, I've always wanted to know how to do that.

Excellent tutorial! Haha now i can draw pointe shoes that actually look like pointe shoes lol

MY TWO LOVES IN LIFE ARE DRAWIN AND DANCE, YOUR STICKY IS VERY INFORMITVE. THANKS

Thank-you for this. I'm not the greatest drawer in the world...I now have some basic instruction for my fav. thing to draw!

thanks babe -this is the first time i have been on the art section and this is the first post i read -its amazing i love it i do AS level textiles so thanks i think it will really help. xxx

Thanks for sharing! You make it seem so simple. I tried drawing one once and somebody said it looked like a legging with ribbons.

wow! before my pointe shoes looked like pink squashes! that really helped. sorta. it still isnt as good as it could be. i'll stick to theater. yeah.