How to Draw a Prism

Completed hexagonal prism drawing with clean edges, shading, and cast shadow.

As you already know, to correctly depict complex objects, it is often necessary to represent them as simpler forms, such as a prism. In this guide, we will show you how to draw a prism to help you train this skill.

Sketching this geometric shape is more complex than drawing a cube or a ball, as it has many faces and edges, but with our instructions, you can learn how to draw a prism without any problems.

How to draw a prism step by step

Step 1: Sketch the prism outline

First, sketch the general outlines. Create two horizontal lines that will go through the centers of the top and bottom faces of the prism. Next, connect them using two vertical lines that form the side edges of this geometric shape.

Sketching the prism outline with horizontal guides and vertical side edges.

Step 2: Add the guiding ellipses

To make it easier to draw the top and bottom faces, depict them as ellipses. This will help you keep the numerous faces and corners organized within a single form and aligned along a common axis. Following the rules of perspective, the top ellipse should be flatter than the bottom one.

Adding two ellipses to guide the prism's top and bottom faces.

Step 3: Draw the prism faces

Now, using the ellipses from the previous stage, draw the upper and lower faces of the prism, making all the edges and corners as accurate and clear as possible. You can check the drawing by holding it up to a mirror.

Drawing the hexagonal top and bottom faces inside the guiding ellipses.

Step 4: Connect the prism corners

Now draw the vertical edges of the geometric shapes by connecting the corners created in the previous stage. It is useful to draw the prism as transparent at first so you can check that the geometric figure is drawn correctly.

Connecting the prism's upper and lower corners with straight vertical edges.

Step 5: Clean up the prism

Erase any unnecessary construction lines and give the prism drawing a clean, crisp look. Now check the construction again. You can hold it up to a mirror or turn it around to see any errors more clearly.

Refining the prism with clean outlines after removing the construction lines.

Step 6: Shade the prism faces

Keeping in mind that we are drawing a three-dimensional object, start adding shadows. Notice how we have shaded the different faces of the prism. This helps give the geometric figure a convincing sense of volume.

Adding light shading to different faces of the hexagonal prism.

Step 7: Deepen the final shadows

Continue adding shadows, making them darker and more contrasting where needed. At the same time, draw the cast shadow on the surface where the prism rests.

Deepening the prism shading and adding a cast shadow on the surface.

Step 8: Complete the prism drawing

Check your artwork carefully. If everything is in order, proceed to more difficult tasks or try drawing the prism again to improve your result. If not, go back to the stage where you made the mistake and fix it.

Finished prism drawing showing shaded faces and a soft cast shadow.

At the end of the article, we want to remind you once again that the most important teacher for any artist is practice.

The more you draw, the more you improve your drawing skills. Yes, it’s just like in Morrowind or other classic games – the more often you use a skill, the more refined it becomes.