How to Draw a Cannon Step by Step
This guide show how to draw a cannon with a step by step breakdown. The example is of the kind of artillery piece you could find on sail ship or atop a fortress. It’s also the kind that fires cannonballs.
As is common for such weapons, the cannon in the example is drawn with a metallic barrel and a wooden carriage. The steps first demonstrate how to add it’s various parts with their characteristic shapes and then illustrate how to color and shade the artwork in a simple but effective way.
Be sure to start the drawing in pencil as the guide is put together in a way which requires erasing. Also, try and keep your lines fairly light to make it easier to do so. Once you’ve defined all of the cannon’s parts, you can then trace over them with a thin black marker or darken them with the pencil.
Step 1 – Draw the Cannon’s Barrel
First, outline the barrel. Cannon barrels are often raised but in this case it’s positioned horizontally to make the part easier to draw.
In this case the cannon is facing to the left. Position the barrel to the left side of your drawing area to leave enough room on the right for the carriage.
Prior to drawing the barrel, make a horizontal guide line through where you wish to have it’s middle. This line can make it easier to see if the outline is relatively symmetrical and that the barrel is straight.
Draw the barrel starting with the muzzle. Make this wider towards the back and draw a straight line to define it’s edge. Past the edge, make the barrel’s shape slightly narrower and then wider again all the way to the back. Make the end of the barrel rounded.
After you have the barrel outline you can erase the guide line.
Step 2 – Draw the Carriage
Supporting the barrel, draw the carriage. Outline it overlapping the barrel’s outline. Define the front with a straight vertical line. Draw the bottom starting with a straight horizontal line that then transitions into a downwards curve around the middle. This should in turn transitions into another straight horizontal line a little lower down.
Draw the top of the carriage to be straight with rounded corners on both sides. It would then transitions towards the back as a series of little steps. These should then go into another straight horizontal line area that then turns into a slope at the back. Define the back of the carriage with a straight vertical line.
Once you have the carriage fully outline, erase the part of the barrel that it overlaps.
Step 3 – Outline the Wheel
Ship and fortress cannons usually have four small wheels (instead of two big ones like field cannons). In this example only the two viewer facing ones are visible. As with the carriages initial outline overlapping that of the barrel, draw these overlapping the outline of the carriage.
Define the wheels as a pair of circles with a larger one in the front and a smaller one at the back. Be sure that the bottoms of both wheels are on the same level. Drawing that of the smaller one higher up is a common mistake.
Erase the parts of the carriage where it’s overlapped by the wheels once you have them outlined.
For drawing other kinds of wheels see:
How to Draw a Bike Step by Step
Step 4 – Add the Cascabel
At the back of the cannon’s barrel add a little knob like part called the cascabel (used for attaching a rope or moving the cannon).
First, draw the narrower area before the knob (the shank). Define this with pair of cured lines in a way where it’s narrower in the middle. Next, define the knob with an oval-like shape.
Step 5 – Define the Planks
The carriage of this type of cannon is usually made of wood. To show that it’s not one solid piece draw some straight lines running across the main outline. This will create a an appearance of individual planks.
Step 6 – Draw the Trunnion
A cannon barrel generally tilts on trunnions, a pair of cylinders (one per side). In this case draw the visible trunnion as a circle. Position in the middle of the upper part of the carriage halfway between it and the barrel. Erase the part of the carriage’s outline that it overlaps.
On top of the trunnion draw a metal strap that holds it in place (called the trunnion cap). Draw the middle of the strap pretty much following the curve of the trunnion and the sides flat with the carriage.
Step 7 – Draw the Reinforce Rings
Draw the rings along the cannon’s barrel that reinforce it’s structure. You can erase little bit’s of the barrel’s outline when adding them. Start by drawing the thicker one at the back (called the “base ring”). Next, draw the narrower rings spaced out between it and the muzzle. In this example there are three of them.
Step 8 – Draw the Wheel Parts
Define the various parts of the cannon’s wheels starting with the axles in the center (the wooden shafts the wheel rotate on). Simply define these as a pair of small circles (one inside the main outline of each wheel). Next, draw a tire (a thin metal band) around each wheel. You can again show these by making another pair of circles inside the main outline of each wheel. However, in this case make them only slightly smaller. Finally, similar to the carriage, draw a line running through the middle of each wheel to show that they are made of a pair of planks. In this case the lines are drawn horizontally but because the wheels rotate you can show them at any angle. They also don’t have to be parallel to one another.
Once you’ve draw the details of the wheels you should have all parts of the cannon outlined. As mentioned at the start of the guide, you can now trace over your drawing with a thin black marker or darken your lines by pressing harder on the pencil.
Step 9 – Color the Cannon Drawing
To color the cannon make it’s metallic parts grey. These include the barrel, trunnion, trunnion cap, wheel axles and tires. Color the carriage and the rest of the wheels brown to show that they are wood.
An easy way to get the grey is to just use a regular pencil. Yo can use a pencil crayon for the brown.
When coloring all of the above parts leave thin white strips running along their tops. Also, leave a white strip along the front of the carriage, along the the front of each ring (running slightly less than halfway down) and along the top of each plank. These strips will show light reflecting from the cannon. In this case they are positioned as though the light is coming from above and slightly to the front of it.
To show that the wooden parts are not as reflective as the metallic ones, lightly go over the reflections with a bit of brown as well.
Once done coloring, add some shadows. Create these by once again using a regular pencil.
As already mentioned, in this case the light is coming from above and slightly to the front of the cannon. This means that the shadows will be cast downwards and slightly towards the back (opposite the light). To show this, darken the lower par of the barrel and add a thin dark strip running along the bottom of the carriage. Also, add a shadow below the cannon that is cast by it onto the ground. Make it’s shape similar to that of a thin oval. Position the shadows so that it starts slightly past the muzzle and end slightly past the back of the carriage.
The reflections and shadows will help give the drawing a more three dimensional appearance. The shadow on the ground will also help make it appear as though the cannon is actually sitting on a surface and not just floating in space (even without drawing the actual ground itself).
Conclusion
This guide shows how to draw an old style ship or fortress cannon. The kind that fire’s cannonballs. As is traditional for such cannons, the example is drawn with a metallic barrel and wooden carriage.
The guide first illustrates how to outline the cannon’s various parts and then explains how to color and shade the artwork.
Drawing the cannon with a shape and colors common to such artillery can help make it easily recogniable. Properly done shading in turn can help your artwork stand out and appear less flat.
For more step by step drawing tutorials, also see the following:
