How to Draw a Lock Step by Step

This tutorial shows how to draw a lock in four easy steps with illustrated examples and quick instructions.

The lock show in the example is a simple and slightly stylized padlock that consists of the main body, a shackle and a keyhole. You can see the main stages of drawing it in the example above.

It’s recommended you start the tutorial in pencil and make light lines just in case you happen to make a mistake. You can darken them once you have all parts of the lock outlined.

For drawing a key see:

How to Draw a Key Step by Step

Step 1 – Draw the Body of the Lock

Begin by drawing the main body of the lock. Give it rounded corner with a straight top and sides but make the bottom slightly rounded.

Draw is so that it’s width is slightly greater than it’s height.

Step 2 – Draw the Shackle

On top of the body draw the shackle shaped like an upside down letter “U”. Try and make it of even width through it’s entire length. Also be careful not to make it of reasonable thickness in relation to the body. If it’s too thick or too thin the drawing can look odd.

Step 3 – Draw the Keyhole

Generally padlocks of this type have the keyhole on the bottom. However, this is a slightly stylized drawing so the keyhole is simplified and placed in the middle of the lock.

Draw the top of the keyhole shaped like a circle that has narrower strip running down from it that then ends with a rounded bottom.

While adding the keyhole can make the drawing look a little more interesting you can also leave it out if you want a more realistic looking padlock.

Step 4 – Color the Lock

First color the body of the lock and an orange/brown and fill in the shackle with grey.

To make the lock look a little less flat add some basic shading on to top of the color. You can do this using a regular pencil.

Significantly darken the keyhole and slightly darken the sides of the lock. Also, add a dark strip through the middle of the shackle. This will usually be created by a the lock reflecting it’s surroundings.

Conclusion

This tutorial shows how to make a simple line drawing of a padlock and how to then add some basic color and shading.

By giving the lock a shape that is very characteristic of such an object you can make even a stylized drawing easily recognizable. You can further add to this by also giving it the colors that are common for such items. Finally, you can also make the lock appear more three dimensional by adding some very basic shading.

Hopefully you’ve found these tips helpful.

If you like easy to follow step by step tutorials also be sure to try the following:

• How to Draw Scissors Step by Step
• How to Draw a Bike Step by Step
• How to Draw a Lighter Step by Step