Bikes are undeniably cool. Whether you’re a cycling enthusiast or simply appreciate their design, bikes hold a certain appeal. Many share the love of bike riding, from leisurely spring and summer rides to watching thrilling mountain biking videos year-round.
However, capturing the essence of a bike in a drawing can be surprisingly tricky. Many beginners struggle with proportions, often ending up with drawings that resemble abstract shapes rather than recognizable bicycles.
But there’s a simple secret that makes drawing bikes much easier: Shapes.
Yes, understanding how to break down complex objects into basic shapes like circles and triangles is key to drawing almost anything. And bikes are no exception! You don’t need advanced geometry skills to create a great bike drawing.
This guide will break down the process of drawing a stylized, standard diamond frame bike. This approach focuses on creating a recognizable bicycle illustration, perfect for beginners and those looking to develop their own artistic style. Feel free to use this as a starting point and explore different bike designs and artistic flairs. Drawing is about interpretation and personal expression, so have fun with it!
While bike terminology can be complex, we’ll keep things simple and focus on the visual aspects of drawing. If you’re curious about the technical terms, Wikipedia’s bike anatomy page is a great resource, but not essential for this drawing tutorial.
Let’s get started and learn how to create your own Simple Bike Drawing!
1. Start with the Wheels
The wheels are the foundation of your bike drawing. Begin by drawing two circles, aiming for them to be as similar in size as possible. You can make them perfect circles or slightly wobbly for a more hand-drawn look – it’s your artistic choice! The distance between the circles determines the bike’s wheelbase. For a standard bike, spacing them about half the width (radius) of a circle apart is a good starting point. This step sets the stage for a well-proportioned simple bike drawing.
2. Add Hubs, Gears, and Spokes
Adding the hubs and gears now will actually create helpful guides for the next steps in your simple bike drawing. Start by placing three dots: one in the center of each wheel and one slightly below and behind the rear wheel position. These dots will become the hubs and the chainring. Draw small circles around each dot. The front wheel (left in the example) gets a small circle for the front hub. The rear wheel (right) gets a slightly larger circle for the rear hub. The floating dot becomes the chainring with one or two circles around it. Typically, the chainring is larger than the hubs, but this is a stylized drawing, so feel free to adjust the sizes to your liking for your simple bike drawing.
Next, draw the spokes. Use the center dots as guides and draw straight lines passing through the center of each wheel to the opposite side. This creates the spokes. Drawing each spoke as a single line across the circle makes the wheels look balanced and less cluttered, which is ideal for a simple bike drawing illustration, unless you need highly detailed wheels for your artwork.
3. Construct the Frame
The frame is often considered the most challenging part of a bike drawing, but breaking it down into shapes simplifies the process significantly. The bike frame in this simple bike drawing is constructed from three connected triangles forming a trapezoid shape, highlighted in green in the example. The top and bottom lines of this trapezoid should be roughly parallel.
Notice that the leading sides of the two outer triangles are also parallel. This parallelism helps maintain proportion in your simple bike drawing.
Use the hub and chainring dots as guides to ensure your frame is correctly positioned around the wheels. Start by drawing the top line of the trapezoid, which will represent the top tube of the bike frame. You might need to experiment a little to find the desired height for this line. Once you have the top line, connect the chainring center dot to the rear wheel hub dot. Then, connect the rear wheel hub dot to the top line, using a slight angle. Aim for this point to be roughly above the middle of the rear half of the wheel. Complete the first triangle by connecting the chainring dot to the top point of the triangle.
For the next triangle, connect the chainring, the top point of the first triangle, and an imaginary point above the rear half of the front wheel. The final triangle shares the leading side with the second triangle, connects the top point to the front wheel hub, and extends downwards, leaving the bottom open.
Congratulations! You’ve completed the most crucial and potentially tricky part of the simple bike drawing – the frame. A well-drawn frame is essential for your bike illustration to be recognizable.
4. Add the Details: Saddle, Handlebars, and Pedals
Now, let’s add the details that truly make it look like a bike! We’ll use triangles and circles again to add handlebars, a saddle, pedals, and a chain to your simple bike drawing.
Handlebars are open to artistic interpretation. The example shows drop handlebars, which curve outwards and downwards. Use a triangle as a guide to maintain the proportions and angles. Extend the front fork (the vertical line from the front wheel hub) upwards to create the stem where the handlebars attach. Then, sketch a triangle (mentally or lightly on paper) to guide the shape of the handlebars. Circles can be helpful for achieving a consistent curve for drop handlebars.
The saddle can be visualized as a rounded pizza slice positioned above the rear wheel. Add curves and swerves to give it a more stylized look. The saddle connects to the extended seat tube (the angled line from the rear triangle), roughly two-thirds of the way along the saddle’s length, above the top tube.
To add pedals, keep it simple with a thin rectangle intersecting the chainring and extending slightly beyond its outer edge. Erase a small section on the top or bottom of the rectangle to create the illusion that one pedal is behind and the other in front of the chainring. Add small rectangles at each end of the pedal rectangle to complete the pedal detail in your simple bike drawing.
Finally, draw the chain. With a slight curve, draw a line from the top of the chainring to the top of the rear hub. Repeat this on the bottom, but extend a small mark downwards from the bottom of the rear hub to represent the rear derailleur. Connect the chain line to this derailleur mark and then up to the rear hub. Not all bikes have derailleurs, but it’s a common feature and adds a touch of realism to your simple bike drawing.
5. Personalize Your Bike!
You did it! You’ve drawn a bike! Give yourself a pat on the back. Learning something new, especially drawing a bike, which can be deceptively challenging, is a great accomplishment. You’ve also learned valuable drawing techniques, like using shapes and guides, and understanding that illustration is about exploration and personal interpretation.
The most exciting part of any drawing is adding your personal touch. Illustrations are a reflection of how each artist sees the world, even in simple subjects like bikes. Make this bike uniquely yours! Add a basket, a baguette, stickers, a riding companion, or even transform it into a tandem bike. The possibilities are endless. What does your dream bike look like? What colors would it be? Does it have a horn or tassels? Have fun and let your creativity flow!
Share your bike drawing and tag us on social media – we’d love to see your artistic creations!
Until our next creative adventure!
