Perfume bottle compositions
Fifteen different arrangements of the same two cuboid perfume bottles, each drawn in perspective and shaded to show it is 3D. Set up your two bottles, browse and regenerate the ideas, turn the view, then draw your own.
The brief
Task
- Draw 15 compositions, each featuring 2 cuboid perfume bottles.
- The two bottles can differ a little in size, but the same two bottles appear in all 15.
- Arrange the bottles differently in every composition.
Remember
- The bottles stand (or lie) on a table, but you don't need to draw the table or the shadows.
- Shade the bottles so they look 3D: each face of a cuboid gets its own tone.
- Keep the light coming from the same direction in every drawing.
Ways to make each one different
- Position: side by side, one behind the other, far apart, touching.
- Angle: square-on, turned, turned opposite ways.
- Pose: standing, lying down.
- Viewpoint: from above, at eye level, close up and cropped.
Your two bottles
Match these to the two bottles you are drawing. Sizes are in centimetres. Every composition uses these exact bottles.
Bottle A
Bottle B
15 compositions
Each idea uses a different arrangement. Click one to see it large, drag the large view to turn the camera, and press Regenerate for a new version of the same idea. Lock the ones you like before regenerating the rest.
Drawing and shading a cuboid bottle
- Same bottles every timeMeasure your real bottles (or decide on proportions, e.g. A is 2½ times as tall as it is wide) and keep them the same in all 15.
- Verticals stay verticalFor a standing bottle, all upright edges are vertical. Only the edges going back into the picture slope towards the vanishing points.
- Three faces, three tonesYou usually see three faces of a cuboid. Give each one its own tone: lightest facing the light, middle, darkest facing away.
- One light directionPick where the light comes from and keep it for all 15, so the same faces are light and dark in every drawing.
- Overlap shows depthThe bottle in front hides part of the one behind. Draw the front bottle first, then only the visible part of the back one.
- Make the glass shineLeave a thin white strip down the lit face as a highlight. It instantly reads as glass.
- Caps line upThe cap sits in the centre of the top face. Draw the top face first, find its centre with the diagonals, then build the cap from there.
- Lying downWhen a bottle lies on its side, its length goes back into the picture: the end faces get smaller with distance.
A4 portrait. The examples sheet shows all 15 current compositions as a reference; the blank sheet has 15 numbered frames to plan or draw in; the large page prints the selected composition with its notes.