Drawing a Key

Today, we are meeting up to draw keys! They are an everyday object that might seem trivial, but they have many aspects and symbols. They appear in many stories: from the magnetic cards in science fiction movies to the ancient, ornate keys of old chests in a medieval castle. It's an object we see very often, whether in movies or comic books. So, it's important to know how to draw them.

Obviously, for this little tutorial, I am going to show you a common example. I have chosen a key that probably everyone has had before. It is flat and serrated on at least one side. Whether it's for your mailbox, your apartment, or even your car, in principle, everyone knows what I'm talking about.

There are endless variations for making keys, so have fun drawing them :D

 

OBSERVATION

Let's start with the most important part: observation.

I do not necessarily need to explain and dissect the structure of the key in detail here, because I'm sure you'll find it quite simple to understand. I will go into more detail in the drawing section. However, do not hesitate to take your time to thoroughly analyze and break down your model into simpler shapes.

These keys are always flat (more convenient/space-saving). They all have a flat round or square area, like in our example, allowing you to grasp them to turn in the lock. This area is generally pierced with a hole to thread the keys onto a carabiner.

Then comes the "real key." The long and flat part. In our example, it is a serrated and grooved area. It may also consist of small holes for a more elaborate key. The depth and width of the grooves, as well as the size and position of the different teeth, create a unique configuration that should only fit one lock (normally).

 

DRAWING A KEY STEP BY STEP

When drawing, you will quickly realize that EVERYTHING can fit into parallelepipeds. The entire world is made up of parallelepipeds, especially objects. Then all that remains is to refine the shapes gradually, just like a sculptor.

To have some fun, I'm going to put a slight perspective on our key. I'm not going to give a lesson on perspective here, just keep in mind that your lines should converge towards your vanishing point (what is close to us is bigger than what is far away). In case you want to learn more about perspective, feel free to check out our free course from our Basic Drawing training! ;)

> https://www.dessindigo.com/drawing-courses/drawing-basics/easy-perspective

 

Let's therefore draw a parallelepiped that will contain the entirety of our key.

 

Next, we will divide everything roughly in half (or a little less). The shorter part will be the area that holds the key, the other, the serrated part.

 

For this last one, we will divide the corresponding area into three equal parts along the width. The two parts on the sides will be erased and the center one will be the key itself.

Divide it into two again. One part will be occupied only by teeth, or nothing at all if applicable. The other will be full and grooved.

Let's start with the grooved part. We will draw two of them. One will be long and deep and the other will be a bit shorter, a bit wider, and half as deep. The groove always starts at the end of the key.

Modify the end of the key so that there is a bevel from the edge of the key to the first notch and the same thing in the other direction (I'm not sure if this is very clear in writing, but the drawing should clarify things for you).

Add a hole in the deep groove (it's like an inverted tooth, let's say).

Now, draw the other half that will be toothed. Add two new grooves: one, relatively long and thin, the other wider.

Divide the grooved part into thirds lengthwise. The third towards the end should be erased, except for a small tooth near the hole we previously placed.

For our middle third, make small irregular notches between the last two grooves we drew.

For the rest, the part towards the "base" of the key will only have one large tooth that starts at the outer groove and does not occupy the entire remaining third of the key (therefore, it is shorter).

Now we have our well-defined base! Let's move on to the base part and round off the corners of our square. Let's erase the unnecessary construction lines.

 

Our drawing looks roughly like a key, but it's still missing quite a few elements. Let's give it some thickness. A key isn't very thick, so just estimate it. You just need to extend your lines vertically. For the grooves, make sure to carve into the thickness (more or less, depending on the grooves).

Now let's place the hole for the carabiner. To draw a circle in perspective, the easiest way is to use... a square! I told you, everything relies on parallelepipeds, including circles. So, draw a square where you want to place your carabiner. I will place it near a corner like my model, but this can change depending on the key.

Divide this square into 4 and make the prettiest possible circular arcs to connect the points. You'll get better at it with practice ;)

Erase the construction lines and don't forget to add the thickness of the key here too. What remains are the "decorations" of the key base. Again, it's very variable, so I chose something quite simple. And I wrote Dessindigo on it:

And there we have our key! :D

 

COLORING THE KEY DRAWING

As our model is quite simple, I'll take this opportunity to also explain how to color it in. We are dealing with a metal object. I have lowered the opacity of my lines, you can keep them or erase them, depending on your preference.

So, let's set our base. Choose the color you prefer, be it a neutral gray, a bluish gray, a yellowish gray, etc.

Add very light small spots in a similar shade on top. It really needs to be subtle for this. It's a small detail, but it will add more realism to your key :)

Once that's done, let's choose a slightly darker color for all the slightly carved details. In my case, it's the decorations and a groove. Let's fill these areas in. Here again, you can vary the intensity you use (this helps to break up the uniformity and create mini highlights here and there).

Let's choose a slightly darker color for the thickness of the base details, the deep grooves, and the thickness of our key. Here again, smudge these areas and vary the intensity of the shadow (darker at the ends than at the center of an area).

The small detail that changes everything is the addition of a much lighter shade on the edges of the key. Add this on the edge of the grooves, the decoration, etc. The lines must be thin and sharp.

I didn't remind you this time, but as always, pay attention to your light source. Stay consistent. If the light is facing the viewer, then the shadows will be towards us, but if it's the opposite, we will see very few.

To finish, all that remains is to add the shadow to our key. And that's it, it's done!

 

Let's recap:

• Divide your key into simple shapes to cut out the different parts.
• Trace your grooves, then your teeth.
• Add the hole for the carabiner as well as the decorations.
• Add the thickness of the key.
• And color it if you want!

 

Illustrator and Writer: Camille Rakjah