How to Draw a Pumpjack

An oil pumpjack may look like a confusing collection of different parts that are difficult to keep track of while drawing. In this tutorial, we will show you how to draw a pumpjack, depict all its important elements, leave out those that are not necessary, and convey volume using simple techniques.

If some elements in your drawing turn out slightly longer or shorter, that is perfectly fine, since real oil pumpjacks can also differ quite significantly from one another. The main thing is to follow the basic principles.

How to draw a pumpjack step by step

Step 1: Outline the beam and horsehead

Outline the moving arm of the oil pumpjack, which resembles a pickaxe or a hammer. Draw the long beam sloping downward to the right as a narrow rectangular shape. At its raised left end, sketch the horsehead with a curved outer edge and a straight diagonal inner edge.

Step 2: Sketch the supports and machinery

Now sketch a few components beneath the moving arm you just outlined. Mark the base with a long horizontal line. From beneath the middle of the beam, draw the support slanting down toward the left and a diagonal brace extending toward the machinery on the right. Sketch the lower mechanism as a group of rectangular forms. Add a circle beside it and an inclined shape leading toward the base.

Step 3: Refine the beam and horsehead

Using long, straight lines, carefully refine the outlines of the pump’s upper section. Add a second line just below the beam’s lower edge to show its thickness. Trace the curved horsehead and indicate its narrow side surface along the left edge. From its lowest point, draw a vertical line down toward the ground. Finish this line with a small rectangular fitting and several short crosswise marks.

Step 4: Define the supports and base

Use clear, straight lines to draw the tall support beneath the beam and the diagonal brace extending down to the right. Add closely spaced edges to show the thickness of both parts. Outline the base as a shallow rectangular block with visible top and front surfaces, and mark the small circular joint beneath the right end of the beam. Erase unnecessary guidelines around the finished supports.

Step 5: Detail the pumpjack’s lower machinery

Now refine the machinery on the right. Draw the upright connecting bars beneath the end of the beam, the crosspiece between them, and the rounded joint at the lower end of the longer bar. Outline the curved form behind the bars and the housing below it. Add spokes to the small wheel, then trace the inclined component beside it and its lower support. Erase construction lines where one part passes behind another.

Step 6: Shade the oil pumpjack’s surfaces

Only the shading remains to complete the oil pumpjack drawing. Use dense hatching to add shadows to the areas that receive the least light. The difference in tone between adjacent planes will show the thickness of these metal parts.

An oil pumpjack has several large, protruding forms that create the overall appearance of this object. Here we showed you how to position them correctly in space.

This is already enough for anyone looking at the drawing to recognize what it depicts. You can also add more tone to the areas we left unshaded and deepen the shadows. This will make the entire form look even more three-dimensional.

The methods of creating volume and form work here in the same way as in simpler tutorials, such as when drawing a pump or any other mechanical object.