How to Draw a Ball

Drawing a ball may sound like something very simple, yet if you try it, you may discover that there are certain rules that must be followed. You need to know them if you want to draw a perfect ball! 

In this tutorial, I will show you how to draw a soccer ball, a baseball, a football (the American one), a basketball, a volleyball, and a tennis ball. Just follow my steps to draw any ball you wish!

What You Will Need

Because there’s a lot of geometry going on in these drawings, you’ll need some precise tools:

• ruler
• compass
• pencil
• eraser (optional)
• fineliner (optional)

1. How to Draw a Soccer Ball

A soccer ball looks deceptively simple to draw, but it really isn’t—it’s a truncated icosahedron, a solid with 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons. And all these pentagons and hexagons have to fit nicely next to each other, so you can’t just eyeball a hexagon and then stick the other shapes around—some geometrical tricks will be required!

Step 1

Use a ruler to draw the radius of the circle that will become the base of the ball. Sketch all these guide lines lightly if you want to remove them later.

Step 2

Place your compass on one end of the line and draw a circle.

Step 3

Use the ruler to divide the circle into quarters.

Step 4

Place your compass on the edge of the circle, on the outer end of that first line. Draw an arc across the center of the circle and its sides.

Step 5

Use these markings to draw a vertical line crossing the radius in half.

Step 6

Place your compass in the middle of that line and draw an arc across the bottom of the circle and the horizontal diameter.

Step 7

Place your compass on the bottom and draw an arc through that new point and the edge of the circle.

Step 8

Place the compass on that new marking on the edge and draw an arc across the bottom.

Step 9

Use the ruler to draw horizontal lines through these two last points.

Step 10

Place the compass in the center of the circle and draw a big circle next to the edge, then a smaller one, and then the smallest one, at a bigger distance.

Step 11

Use the ruler to lead lines from the center towards the points we’ve placed earlier on the edge.

Step 12

Connect the lines inside the smallest circle to draw a pentagon.

Step 13

Use the ruler to draw lines parallel to each “ray” coming from the little pentagon.

We’ve made a pretty star by accident!

Step 14

We’ve created two sections next around each “ray”. Cut each into half.

Step 15

Imagine points on the crossing of the lines and connect them to create more pentagons, this time in perspective.

Step 16

Finally, take your fineliner (or simply press harder) to draw dark, final lines over the sketch. Outline the pentagons and hexagons in a slightly rounded way to make them look like thick, separate patches. Fill all the pentagons with black.

2. How to Draw a Baseball

Step 1

Draw a circle with two perpendicular diameters, as explained in the previous section.

Step 2

Draw two symmetrical arcs on the top and bottom.

Step 3

Draw a similar arc above/below.

Step 4

Draw another arc on the opposite side, this time at a slightly bigger distance.

Step 5

This is where the parts of the ball’s surface connect. Draw a rounded “cutting” between these parts.

Step 6

Draw holes along the higher arc. Make them smaller and denser close to the edge.

Step 7

Draw little arcs across the band. Imagine they envelop a little “hump”.

Step 8

Draw them on the other side, too, remembering about the perspective.

Step 9

Draw similar arcs below, on one side of each of the previous ones.

Step 10

Add holes to them, too.

Step 11

Thicken the thread.

Step 12

Draw little arcs between the separate parts of the surface to show how thick they are and how tightly they are bound.

Step 13

Finally, darken the lines you want to keep and erase the guide lines.

3. How to Draw a Basketball

Step 1

Draw a circle with perpendicular diameters as described in the previous sections.

Step 2

Draw a narrow ellipse around the horizontal diameter.

Step 3

Draw a rounded curve from the bottom…

… and a slightly less round curve to the top.

Step 4

Do a similar thing on the sides, this time going around the ball instead of going towards the top.

Step 5

Outline each curve to create a thick band.

Step 6

Draw a “dent” on each band.

Step 7

Outline the final lines with something darker and erase the guide lines.

4. How to Draw a Football

Step 1

Draw a circle with two perpendicular diameters as in the previous sections.

Step 2

Divide the upper vertical radius into thirds.

Step 3

Take the compass and measure one of the thirds. Use this length to draw a circle on each side.

Step 4

Outline all the circles with gentle curves, creating the basic shape of the football.

Step 5

Draw similar curves inside the outline, on the top and bottom. Keep them asymmetrical!

Step 6

Draw two thick bands on the sides, bending to the perspective.

Step 7

Draw a band along the upper curve.

Step 8

Cut a section of this band, around one third from the end.

Step 9

Draw a wider band around it.

Step 10

Draw eight slight curves across the band, within the section we’ve cut earlier.

Step 11

Draw hole on each end of the curves.

Step 12

Draw the lace between the holes.

Step 13

Outline the shape of the stitches around the laces.

Step 14

Draw the final, dark lines and erase the guide lines.

5. How to Draw a Volleyball

Step 1

Draw a circle with a horizontal diameter as described earlier.

Step 2

Place your compass on the outer end of the diameter and draw an arc across the center of the circle.

Step 3

Draw a vertical line through these markings.

Step 4

Connect both ends of this line with the center. Now we have three radiuses that divide the circle into thirds.

Step 5

Draw a curve over each radius.

Step 6

“Copy” the rhythm of each curve towards the edge of the circle.

Step 7

“Close” each of the bands next to the original curves with a slight curve.

Step 8

Outline the shape of the ball, creating indentations between the bands.

Step 9

Finish the drawing by darkening the final lines and removing the guide lines.

6. How to Draw a Tennis Ball

Step 1

Draw a circle with perpendicular diameters as explained earlier.

Step 2

Draw a thick teardrop shape inside this circle.

Step 3

Draw a curve towards the edge of the circle, starting from the point where the teardrop crosses the horizontal diameter.

Step 4

Draw a curve on each side of this curve to create a band.

Step 5

Indent the surface a little around these bands.

Step 6

Finish the ball by darkening the lines and removing the guide lines. Don’t forget to add the characteristic fuzz!

Good Job!

Now you know how to draw a ball step by step. If you want to try other simple tutorials based on geometry, we’ve got you covered:

• Winter
  How to Draw a Snowflake
  Monika Zagrobelna

• Geometric
  Geometric Design: The Basics
  Joumana Medlej

• Drawing
  How to Draw All Crystal Shapes
  Monika Zagrobelna