Hourglass to draw. Drawing an hourglass in Photoshop

1. The command called Ellipse Tool (F7) is designed to create circles. In order for our circle to be even, we need to hold down the Ctrl button for a while, and then transfer it to another line Arrange-Convert to curves (Ctrl+Q). The lowest point of the figure goes lower.

2. The resulting oval shape should be copied and slightly modified so that it looks even more like component hourglass vessel. In addition, this oval will be useful to us in subsequent stages of work.

3. Now the first two shapes need to be fixed and copied at the bottom. A combination of the following Pick tool and Ctrl commands will help us with this. At this stage, they can be lengthened at the top. All these machinations are depicted in detail in the figure above. Only slight stretching of objects is applied, since we will be looking at the finished image from a position from above.

4. Using the Elipse Tool (F7), we will draw a new oval shape, then copy it and add it to big picture, and from above using Rectangle Tool Let's also place a rectangular figure.

5. The square will need to be trimmed in circles, so alternately fix the circle and square area using the Shift and Trim buttons. Similar actions will need to be repeated with another circle.

6. After fixing the resulting object and oval shapes, execute the Weld function. The result will not take long to arrive. You will also need to refine the merging of the shapes, getting rid of the extra points. In some cases, their format may need to be changed.

7. Internal ovals must go through all the same steps and operations. The contours of the sand flask have already begun to be visible, but we will still consider its outer and inner ovals as separate elements to be worked on. To begin with, in the inner flask you should make small hole. There is no need to delete the figure.

8. Go back to the Elise Tool(F7) to draw an oval, then copy it, placing the duplicates at the top of the screen. How more value the height of the circle, the narrower its shape should be. Next, we complement the image with a pair of rectangular areas.

9. We save the five resulting figures for ourselves and leave them alone for a while.

10. Now we work with the upper part. The lower oval shape needs to be connected to a large rectangle. We have already used this function before. Then you will need to make a single whole from a medium oval shape and a small rectangle. The result should look something like the image below:

11. Use the Fountain Fill Dialog (F11) function to load or open the palette.

It is important that the objects are located in exactly this sequence, otherwise the top oval will never turn out to be the topmost element. This can be prevented by shifting the layer using a combination of the Shift+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Up(Down) commands. You shouldn't get too hung up on the filling, as you'll have to work with it later.

12. Return to the bottom of the work area. You could just copy top part, at first glance, but due to the discrepancy between the horizon lines, in this case we will not get an effective result. We begin to draw all the necessary objects again, using previously saved shapes. Now the oval can be well stretched in height and copied to the center. It’s time to cut a hole in the large oval, which is marked in the figure yellow. The inner oval remains unchanged for now.

13. Make a duplicate of the ring and cut down its dimensions. We again have a division of figures into a large and small ring. By using free form cut off the first ring. The example used a previously saved oval. Special attention should be given to the corners.

14. Use the Intersectin function to cut the second ring with an oval. We also get the form shown in the figure green. After this, the objects will need to be combined with each other.

This is done to show the refraction of glass, as is the case with patterns on a glass bulb.

15. In a similar way we form bottom element hourglass stands. If you get everything right, the bottom oval will be slightly wider than the top oval.

16. We continue to work on the design of the stand. It is better to use a combination of already formed shapes to obtain a symmetrical figure. We take out the preserved oval from the bins and lower it down.

17. There’s still quite a bit left! Fill the inner flask with color, applying transparency to it like the Interactive Transparenci Tool. Do not forget that at this stage the flask is not yet filled with sand.

18. Only after this we move directly to drawing the sand filler. We form an oval shape again, only this time at an angle. Then we create a small rectangle and attach it to the small flask using the Intersect function. We complete the work on the local points and apply a fill in the color of sand. By extending the object in the southern direction, we get a falling stream of sand. You can also draw several individual grains of sand for clarity.

19. Draw a little sand at the top of the oval and fill it dark shade, using the Interactive Blend Tool command, and below we will add a miniature mound of sand, which has already had time to pour out. You can make it easier by using a gradient fill.

20. It's time to finalize the highlights. This is not necessary, but the more there are, the more colorful your creation will look. We duplicate the inner bulb and give its shape slight deformations in order to obtain a glare effect. The oval, which we saved before and have used more than once, will help to significantly simplify the work.

Having decided on specific points deformations, draw small highlights, and then do not forget about interactive transparency.

21. Let's work a little on the fill and shadow effects.

To do this, create an oval shape and apply the Interactive Drop Shadow Tool to it. After separating the shadow, you can remove the auxiliary oval.

Don't forget about shadow effects in the upper part of the stand.

You can also add thinned support legs. You can draw them by combining ovals and squares.
Finally our hourglass purchased their perfect shape. Of course, it can be improved even better, but this is a matter of perseverance and patience. All in your hands! Adding colorful patterns on glass, additional color elements and decorations for the body is welcome. Successful creative work to you!


An hourglass is commonly used as a souvenir or as a timer for short-term medical procedures. The fragility of the design and the impossibility of making a model for a long interval led to the fact that in most cases they became a decorative detail of the interior. But the sight of running colored grains is calming, and the skillfully made finishing and original shape of glass containers have made this cute accessory so beloved by adults and children. That’s why it’s so interesting how to draw an hourglass, because it’s a worthy object to draw for both an adult and a young artist.

Example in color

The simplest design consists of two glass flasks connected by a thin isthmus through which fine-grained material flows. To ensure the stability of the structure, reinforcing structures and stands to protect the glass are used. To master the step-by-step algorithm of how to draw an hourglass with a pencil, the simplest artist skills are enough.

It's worth starting with a strengthening stand. The figured strip consists of two blocks with a thin constriction in the middle. It is not important that it perfectly matches the layout or sample - it is enough that it is thin and a little carved.

Let's draw exactly the same second plank. The distance between them is such that glass containers for the filler fit.

Draw a glass figure for dust, consisting of two elements. The pre-prepared material is very thin, sifted through cells of the same diameter, washed in special liquids and calcined, tinted in bright colors for greater effect.

Most often we see hand-drawn clocks when we wait for the Windows OS when the system is busy. To complete the image - draw sand flowing from one flask to another. There are fixing circles at the top and bottom, which are connected by strips.

The best part is to color the picture. Fill the wooden parts with light brown, and the insides with light yellow. A cute hourglass for your home is ready!

The largest hourglass of our time was in Russia; its container could easily fit a 5-meter car, and the total height of the structure was almost 12 m, and its weight was more than 40 tons.

Black and white example

The advantage of such a device is its simplicity. The simplest design consists of a glass hollow bulb with a narrow neck and round disks for great structural strength. Therefore, it is best to try how to draw an hourglass step by step on just such a model.

It's interesting that the filler for different models may be sand, dust, crushed shells and other hard materials, mainly stone or metal. The main thing is the smallest homogeneous fraction. First we draw circles to fix the flask.

Based on the diameter of the stand, we draw a glass element of the structure, which slightly resembles a figure eight cut off at the edges. It is curious that the longest time that the hourglass has been cut off is 1 year! Such hulks (height more than 8 m) are found in Japan.

We finish drawing the lower disk for the device. In the flask itself we draw sand pouring from the upper vessel to the lower one. Now the simplest hourglass is ready!

The fragility of the design is due to the fact that the material of the flask is glass, and to the fact that over time the isthmus expands due to the impact of hard sand and the self-fragmentation of filler grains into different types of fractions.

In this tutorial I will teach you how to create an elegant hourglass in Photoshop. Using simple techniques and taking into account lights, shadows and reflections, you can get a perfect result with photorealistic details.

Final image
As usual, here's the final image we'll be creating:

What you will need to create this image:
Wood texture.

Step 1. Create a new document with a size of 1900x1440 pixels, fill the background with color # ededed. Tool Feather (Pentool) outline the top of the hourglass. Make sure to draw in shape layers mode.

Step 2. Lower fill (fill) this layer to 0%. Apply a layer style with color #bdc1c2 and with opacity 25%. Name this layer “outer glass”.

Step 3. Duplicate the “outer glass” layer, right-click on the duplicate, select “clear layer style” to remove all layer styles. Press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T to cause free transformation. Click on the icon Maintain Aspect ratio between the width (width) and height (height) parameters. Set the height to 98%. Name this layer “inner glass” and apply a layer style to it inner glow with these settings:

Step 4. Duplicate the “inner glass” layer, group all the layers and merge the group into one layer. Name the layer “upper glass”. Now create another shape inside the top glass using shape layers mode. Apply a layer style to this shape inner glow color #43494a, size 125 and opacity 75%. Name this layer “glass shadow”.

Step 5. Now we will create lights and reflections, for this create a shape using Feather (Pentool) . Fill the shape with white and set the layer's blending mode. Soft light (Softlight) and opacity 40%. Name this layer “reflection top”.

Step 6. Create two more shapes to make other reflections, set their colors to white, name the layers “reflection top left” and “reflection top right”.

Step 7. Draw the bottom of the hourglass by following steps 1 - 4 and 6. Create another shape for the reflex on top. Change its color to white and its blending mode to Soft light (Softlight) with opacity 40%.

Step 8 Now we need to do middle part hourglass. To do this, press the key P to call the tool Feather (Pentool) . Create a form, set its fill to 0%. Hold down the Ctrl key, click on the layer thumbnail with the left mouse button, take a soft Brush (Brush) and color #d2d2d2 walk along the left and right sides. Name this layer “middle”.

Step 9 Merge the “outer glass” layer with the “inner glass” layer for both the bottom and top parts into one single layer. Create a mask for this layer and hide the edges in the central part. The hourglass will look like this:

Step 10 Now we will draw sand inside our hourglass. To do this, create a new document with a size of 1000X1000 pixels, fill it with color #b0926c. Let's go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise (Filter>Noise>Add Noise) and add about 28% noise. Name the layer “noise”.

Step 11 Move the “noise” layer into the working document, select the tool Feather (Pentool) and create a sand mold at the bottom of the clock. The fill is 100% this time. Change the color of the shape to #b0926c, name this layer “lower sand”. Move the “noise” layer above the “lower sand” layer, press Alt+Ctrl+G to create a clipping mask. You can also do this by going to Layer>Create clipping mask (Layer>Create Clip Mask).

Step 12 It's time to add some shadows. To do this, take a soft Brush (Brush) color #a08d76, go over the areas where you want to create shadows.

When everything is done, you will get this result:

Step 13 To create light, choose a soft Brush (Brush) color #c7b59d and with opacity 60%, go over the areas where you want to create highlights. Create another layer and paint over the top part of the sand, set the layer blending mode Screen (Screen) .

Step 14 Repeat steps 11 - 13 to create sand for the top of the clock, giving it a natural look. Create another piece of sand in the middle of the hourglass using steps 11 - 13.

Step 15 Now to create falling sand, select the “noise” layer and select the area with the tool Rectangular selection (Rectangular marquee tool). Press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+ J to place the selection on a new layer, then Ctrl+ T to trigger free transformation. Stretch vertically, right-click inside the frame and select Deformation (Warp), Shape the rectangle into the shape of falling sand. Add some shadows so that this part matches the rest of the sand. You will get the following result:

Step 16 To create reflexes in the middle part of the hourglass, take Feather (Pentool) and draw them carefully. Put all these reflexes in separate group, call it “white reflections”. Create another group, call it “shadows”, now create some dark shadows in the central part of the hourglass using the Pen tool ( Pen tool) color #282828 .

Step 17 Now let's create sand reflections on both sides of the hourglass. For this purpose the tool Feather (Pentool) create a shape with color #ccc3b5. Set this layer's blending mode Chroma (Color) and opacity 20%.

Step 18 Create another shape with color #543f25 using Feather (Pentool). Set its opacity to 30%. Hide unwanted areas using a layer mask; Name this layer “lower sand reflection”. Duplicate the layer, transform it so that it becomes a little smaller, set the blending mode Hard light (Hardlight) and opacity 20%. Create another form white, set its opacity to 5% and name it “sand reflection white”.

Step 19 We're almost done creating the hourglass, we just need to add some details and shadows. The reflexes in the middle part are completely ready, so pay more attention to the part shown in the screenshot below. Create more shadows and reflections as in step 16. Change the opacity of the layers if necessary.

Step 20. Create light on the hourglass by selecting it (Ctrl+click on the layer thumbnail with the shape) and brushing with white Brush (Brush) with opacity 10%.

Step 21 Let's now create a wooden hourglass stand. To do this, create Pen (Pentool) shape with color #766044 , name the layer “base”. Open the file with the wood texture, transfer it to the working document, placing it above the layer with the stand, and apply a clipping mask, blending mode - Overlay (Overlay). Big soft black brush (brush) draw a shadow on the stand.

Step 22 Create an ellipse with color #85643d, name this layer “base surface”, apply an inner glow layer style to it. Open the wood texture file, then go to Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates (Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates), Select Rectangular to Polar. Move this layer into our working document, place it above the “stand surface” layer, apply a clipping mask. Name this layer “wood polar”, duplicate it, set the duplicate’s blending mode Overlap (Overlay) and opacity 60%.

Step 23 Our hourglass is almost ready, all that remains is to add a shadow to the stand. Take a soft black one brush (brush), Press F5 to bring up the brush settings window, set the Roundness parameter to 30%. Draw a shadow on the stand. Group all layers and name the group “hourglass”.

Step 24 Now you need to create a table on which the hourglass will be placed. Create a rectangle with color #d4b383, name the layer “desk”, place a wood texture in it with an opacity of 60%. Name the layer “wood texture”, duplicate it and set the duplicate’s blending mode Soft light (Softlight) , opacity 60%. Duplicate the “desk” layer, place it above the texture layers and set the blending mode Soft light (Softlight) . Rename this layer to “desk color”. The table should now look like this. Group these layers and merge them into one, make a duplicate layer. Next go to Filter>SizeExistence>Gaussian Blur (Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur), apply a radius of 2.5. Using a mask, hide the lower parts of the blurred table.

Step 25 Let's now make a wall. Create a gradient from #bd4300 before #cb8602. Create a new layer below all the others and fill it with a radial gradient. Next we go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise (Filter>Noise>Add Noise) and apply 4% noise.

Step 26 Create another layer filled with a radial black and white gradient. Set its blending mode Soft light (Softlight) , opacity 40%. Take a big one brush (brush) and color #b88d71 paint the sides of the wall to darken it.

Step 27 Tool Rectangular marquee tool create four white rectangles for the window. Group them and name the group “window”, copy it and merge it into one layer, call it “window glass”. Click Ctrl+ T and transform the “window glass” layer, apply a blur with a radius of 5 pixels, set the blending mode Soft light (Softlight), opacity 70%.

Step 28 We're almost done with the tutorial, all that's left is to add lighting. Copy all layers and merge them, name this layer “hourglass scene”. Go to Filter>Render>Lighting effect, apply the following settings:

Use a layer mask to hide the lighting effect on the table and also create a reflection from the hourglass.

We're done!
You can see the final result below. I hope you enjoyed the lesson, I would be pleased to hear your feedback regarding the execution technique and the final result:

(click on image to enlarge)

Let's draw time, or rather its shell in the form of an hourglass, for this we will need time itself, Corel and a lot of patience!

1. Using the Ellipse Tool (F7), draw a circle to even circle hold down Ctrl, then convert the circle to a curve Arrange-Convert to curves(Ctrl+Q)
Taking the bottom point, lower it down, like mine!

2. Copy this oval (Shift+ drag the Pick Tool to the middle of the object) and modify its shape a little - make it a little dumber (by the way, copy this inner oval and put it somewhere in the corner, we will need it later!)

3. select the first two objects and copy them down (select the Pick tool, hold down Ctrl and drag)
Let's extend the resulting objects a little from the top point - note, as in my drawing. By the way, mine is not very visible - yours should be sharper! We do this on purpose because we will be looking at our future watches a little from above!

4. Now use the Elipse Tool (F7) to draw an oval, copy it and place it as in my drawing, on top Rectangle tool Tool draw a rectangle!

5. Trim the square with circles - to do this, first select the circle, then the square (holding Shift) and click on the Trim button.
We repeat this all with the second circle.

6. Now select the two large ovals and the current object - and press Weld! Let's see what happened!
By the way, at this stage, when merging, you may end up with extra points; they need to be deleted, and if you need to change the type of point

7. We do the same trick with internal ovals! voila!
we already have a flask for sand - of course there is one, but I will call it two objects - a large flask and a small (inner) one
Take the inner “flask” and cut a hole in the larger one! But don’t cut it!

8. Now take the Elise Tool (F7) again, draw an oval (like mine), then copy it and place two copies at the top,
The higher the circle, the narrower it should be! Let's draw two rectangles, as in the picture!

9. Select the last five shapes, copy and drag them down the object (mirror them) - and forget about them for a while!

10. Let's focus on the top!
Let's combine the lower oval with a large rectangle - you already know how to combine objects!
Now let's combine a medium oval and a small rectangle. If you fill these objects, it will turn out like mine!

11. Fill the objects with the Fountain Fill Dialog tool (F11) or click on the palette on the side with the left mouse button!

If suddenly, your objects will be arranged in a different sequence so that the top oval is the top one
press Shift+Page Up (lowest Shift+Page Down) if you need to shift only one layer Ctrl+Page Up(Down)
Don't pay attention to the filling now - we'll talk about it later!

12. Now let's go down. Why don't we just copy the top part? Because the horizon line above the object below is visible to us more!
and the view there will be completely different!
I draw all the objects again and you use what you first dragged down to the storage room!
Take the oval, pay attention to how it is located and stretch it in height - now we see it more! Feel free to copy it into the middle!
Cut a smaller hole in the larger one. I'll color it yellow! We’ll put the smaller one on the side and use it later!

13. copy the ring and make it a little smaller - look like mine! To make it clearer, I will name the rings 1 (larger) and 2 (smaller).
Take ring 1 - draw any shape and cut the ring with it, I cut it with the oval that we set aside! Pay attention to the corners!

14. Take spare ring 2, arrange it like mine, then draw an oval and cut the ring with it, using Intersectin. I highlighted the resulting form in green. Now let's combine them!

What is this, you ask? This will be our refraction by glass! And if we had a background with patterns, it would also have to be refracted!

16. Well, we finish drawing the base of the stand using the same method as the top!. I’m using a combination of ready-made shapes here, because it’s important for us to make a symmetrical object! Let’s take the oval set aside and place it at the very bottom!

17. Well, it's almost ready! I fill the smaller “flask” and make it transparent with the Interactive transparenci Tool
I’m filling everything in so you can understand what we have! And this is a clock without sand!

18. Now let’s draw the sand itself! First, we draw an oval and tilt it—for me, the sand flows a little obliquely.
Then we draw a rectangle. First, select the small “flask”, then the newly created rectangle and click Intersect!
We adjust the points to a narrow shape and fill them with the color of sand! I extend this object downwards and draw a kind of falling stream of sand. You can draw the grains of sand directly - I don’t have time for that anymore!))))
Let's add a few grains of sand for decoration!

19.On the topmost oval of sand, draw a smaller one and fill it with more dark color and apply interactive blending - Interactive Blend Tool
Below we will draw a small hill of fallen sand! To be honest, I no longer have the strength to do this - I just fill it with a gradient fill!

20. And now the most important thing - we draw the highlights, everyone does this according to their laziness! The more highlights, the better! We can copy the smaller flask - and by deforming it at several points - we can also add highlights! It is very convenient to take it as its basis - because the highlights should follow exactly its shape! Here the oval set aside at the beginning of the lesson will be useful to us; it is also more convenient to adjust it to the shape of the flask!