Old-school robots have boxy shapes and rigid mobility.
Robots are part science fiction, part real. While robotics are used in many facets of modern life, from assembly lines to self-propelled vacuum cleaners, the kind of robots we seen in science fiction moves are still a fantasy. Because of this, when drawing a robot, it's adornments and capabilities are limited only by your imagination. You can learn to develop your own cool robot art by practicing several basic steps.
Instructions
1. Develop an idea for the robot. Brainstorm its function and shape. Robots can look like people, animals, baseballs, dragons or any other object. They can be any size, from microscopic to gigantic. It may look more like a boxy 1950s sci-fi robot, or a futuristic cybernetic creature. Write down or sketch basic ideas to develop a vision.
2. Sketch the robot's structure. Draw a skeletal framework in pencil to place its major parts such as the main body, wheels, appendages, wings or head. Focus on the placement and proportions of the various parts without concern for details yet. Outline any fantastic arms it may have to repair microscopic cells, fire missiles or take rock samples on distant planets. Older style robots will have simpler, boxier angles. Newer, more modern style robots have more dynamic mobility, so you have more freedom to draw curved structures like those of animals.
3. Outline the sections of its body onto the structural lines. Robots are precisely engineered so their parts will have straight lines and curves. Draw its appendages in segmented cylinders or blocks using repetition as if its parts were built on an assembly line. Its head may be one large sphere shape or it may consist of many smaller interlocking pieces. Draw the largest pieces first. Use variations on basic three-dimensional geometric shapes like boxes, spheres and pyramids. Your robot may have distinct sections like those of an ant or spider, or it may be a single unified shape like a snake or orb.
4. Connect the body segments together. You may draw rods using straight, parallel lines or segments of cables using parallel twisting lines. Juxtapose different kinds of lines to create more interesting sections. Exposed areas where parts are connected are opportunities to add details showing the inner workings of the robot. For example, draw twisting springs and wires around straight rods and antennae. Draw many repeating shapes.
5. Draw details on its outer shell. Draw repeating sections of plating such as repeating V shapes along its back or front. Repeating sections of plating suggest dynamic mobility, despite being manufactured out of rigid pieces. Draw symmetrical pieces on each side. If your robot is extremely digital and high tech, draw display screens on various parts and use more dynamic curved plating on its exterior. Use repetition and symmetry to create a dynamic and super-cool look.
