About this tutorial

Today’s tutorial “How to Draw Water” is by the illustrator, Ui Shigure.

It explains how to draw a tricky object: water.

 

Water fundamentals

● The relationship between water and light

 

Before we begin drawing, let’s take a look at the relationship between light and water.

When light shines on an opaque object, a shadow casts on the opposite side of the light source.  

 

However, with transparent objects like water, the shadows are reversed and cast in the direction of the light source.

 

This is the main characteristic of drawing water.

 

Transparent water also reflects its surroundings, so highlights on the water's surface also reflect in the direction of the light source.

 

These are the fundamentals of drawing water.

 

 

 

● How to add realism when drawing water

 

There are two points to keep in mind when creating realistic-looking water.

The first is to draw objects that show through the water.

You can increase the water's sense of transparency by drawing objects on the other side of it.

Keep in mind that after drawing the object, you also have to draw their reflections on the edge of the water.

Since water isn’t flat, it reflects objects to its opposite side.

 

The second point is drawing inside of the water.

Use darker colors for shadows here to give it even more of a realistic feel.

 

Water movement

Let’s try to mimic the movement of a spherical waterdrop.

Think about the shape water takes as it drops.

(1) First, the water slowly forms into a droplet as it moves from the sides to the center.

 

(2) As it progresses towards the center, it slowly forms into a bulging sphere.

 

(3) Gravity pulls the sphere down, and it starts to fall from the surface. At the same time, the water left on the top will move in a wavy fashion.

The water drop will accelerate and separate as it falls.

 

(4) Since water has high surface tension, the tendency of a fluid to shrink into the smallest surface area possible, it falls in a rather large sphere.

A falling droplet of water is a good shape to play around with.

 

(5) What happens to a falling waterdrop? It eventually hits the ground and changes into a tube-like form.

This shape is called a “wall.”

 

(6) The “wall” collapses instantly, and its shape changes into what's called the “milk crown.”

 

(7) The “milk crown” also dissipates within an instant.

 

(8) In reaction to this, the water then gathers to the center and rises upwards.

 

(9) It repeats this once or twice as it settles on the ground.

 

Understanding water movement allows you to effectively use it in many situations such as rain, puddles, sweat, and glass.

 

Drawing clusters of water

Finally, let’s look at how to draw clusters of water.

Water is a substance that is strongly subject to gravity, meaning the stronger the gravity, the more complex it becomes.

Consider this as we cover the following three water movement patterns.

 

 

 

● Water shooting upwards

 

Upward shooting water is powerful at first, but it quickly dissipates and falls under the weight of gravity.

Draw the water in a curve as it falls to make upward shooting water more realistic.

 

 

 

● Water spraying horizontally

 

Horizontally spraying water is similar to upward shooting water in that it is initially powerful but quickly dissipates.

After that, it will spread and fall at random.

Draw small sprays and splashes to make horizontal spraying water more realistic.

 

 

 

● Water falling down

 

Water falling downwards, like from a faucet, is only affected by gravity, so it falls in a straight down.

An upwards turned faucet creates a soft arc as the water falls.

For these, adding wave motions to them gives them more movement.

 

That is all for my tutorial on drawing water.

Water is one of the harder things to draw because of its transparency and freedom of movement. Mastering it will broaden your artistic repertoire and take your art one step further!

In addition to this tutorial, I also recommend watching the movements of the water around you and take pictures of it for reference.

Please do try it out!

 

Over 200 free lessons are available on the drawing course website Palmie! Don’t miss the opportunity to check it out!

 

・ Artist profile: Ui Shigure

It is a pleasure to meet you! My name is Ui Shigure. I usually draw students and young girls. I’m still learning myself, but I hope I can be of assistance to you.