How To Draw A 3D Ladder (Trick Art)

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder step finished artwork with 3D effect

I thought I’d have a little fun with my art this week! I watched a few YouTube videos where people were drawing trick art and 3D art. One of the greatest trick artists I’ve seen is Jon Harris. I think he has a half dozen videos on his channel drawing all sorts of ladders. Since the prompt for this week’s art date is “ladders”, I drew a 3D ladder! It was very easy, let me show you how to draw a 3D ladder.

My List of Art Lessons on YouTube

On my YouTube channel Rain Frances Art, I offer drawing and painting lessons. Some are time-lapsed and there are shorts there, but the majority now are real-time. Click on this link and it will bring you to my index page where you can browse through over one hundred drawing and painting lessons!

The Supplies I Used To Draw My 3D Ladder

You don’t need anything fancy for supplies. I used a piece of Dollar Store drawing pad paper. You just want to have a piece of paper that’s more thick than thin so that it will keep the fold. I used a pencil, an eraser, and a ruler.

For the ladder, I used my black Sharpie marker and for the shadow, I used a gray marker.

I always have an old paintbrush handy to wipe off eraser bits and dust from my page.

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder drawing supplies

My Drawing Process

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder step 1 drawing the ladder

I started by drawing two parallel lines to represent the shadow of the ladder. They measure 20 centimeters long and the width is the size of the ruler. After that, I drew a light guideline halfway down at the 10 cm mark. I drew it light because I intended to erase it. In the second and third photos, you can see that I drew the ladder at an angle, lining it up with that guideline.

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder step 2 drawing the rungs of the ladder

Next up, I drew the rungs on the shadow, every 2 centimeters. Aligning with the shadow rungs, I drew the rungs on the ladder itself. I think at this point, I had erased the guideline.

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder step 3 adding shading to the ladder

I used my gray marker to outline the shadow and my black Sharpie to outline the ladder.

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder step 4 folding the paper

To get the 3D effect, you need to fold the paper. I folded it along where I had that guideline at the 10-centimeter mark.

how to draw a 3d trick art ladder step 5 getting different camera angles to achieve the 3D effect

Lastly, I tried to get the right angle with my camera to have the 3D trick art effect. It’s really interesting how the drawing changes completely depending on the angle of the camera!

And there it is! I got the angle I was looking for. This drawing was a lot of fun!

Real-Time Art Lesson and Supply List

If you’d like to try drawing this 3D ladder, why not check out my real-time video lesson? It’s about a 15-minute lesson and it’s up on my YouTube channel.

Here are the supplies you’ll need: