How to Draw a Circle

Even If You're Not an Artist

How to Draw a Circle

As an art teacher, I cannot even begin to tell you haw many times a day someone will come up to me and say, "I need to draw a circle. Got anything I can trace?"

This usually comes after ten minutes or so of thunderous paper crumpling and countless trips to the now overflowing garbage can. And graphite smudges on the forehead and cheeks are always a nice touch.

Now don't get me wrong. There are times when a perfect, and I mean perfectly flawless, circle is needed. So using a stencil, compass, or tracing around a soda can are all perfectly acceptable and legitimate ways of getting that circle. That type of work, though, is generally done on the computer, not by hand so much.

But sketching is another matter. Sketching is meant to be free-flowing, spontaneous, intuitive, and fun. It's also must be done by a human. It's all those little imperfections and free-flowing lines that give the sketch its beautiful expressive qualities, and in the best works of art, a presence.

But all too often those expressive qualities are blocked by the all too mighty "I can't draw a circle" shield. The real problem is not that most people cannot draw a circle, but that they keep telling themselves they can't. The more they tell themselves they can't draw a circle, the truer it becomes.

It's time to destroy that nasty old "I can't draw a circle" shield you may have been hiding behind and proceed with the confidence to freely express yourself. But as with most things, practice is key.

So here's how you (yes, I mean YOU) can draw a circle with confidence:

First, get your supplies ready - paper, pencil, marker, whatever you want to draw with, and be sure you have a firm steady surface to draw on.

Then you need to close your eyes and get a good clear picture of the size circle you would like to draw. Not an object, like say a basketball or an orange, but just the circle you would like to draw.

Once you have the image front and center in you mind, open your eyes and picture that circle on your paper.