how to draw a hockey stick clip art filled with simple effects

In this lesson, you will learn to draw a hockey stick clip art perfect to help you score as many goals as you want! Sure, this object is rather easy to illustrate, but you will also learn how to add some simple effects to turn this popular 2D image into a more appealing version.

step 1 - drawing basic elements to form the stick

Only two basic shapes are needed to sketch the template used to draw our basic hockey stick. First, draw a long and thick rectangle to create the handle. The blade is created from a larger rectangle. The most important aspect of this lesson is the lie angle needed between both shapes. Make sure it is between 40 and 50 degrees.

step 2 - Let's draw the stick!

You can now draw this simple hockey stick clip art using a mix of straight and curved lines. The tip of the blade should be round and slightly larger. Once you are done creating this object, you can erase all orange shapes drawn in the previous step.

step 3 - Adding details inside the object

On top of the handle, you can draw a few small lines to illustrate the black tape. The same thing can be done on the blade. Just above the blade, draw two more stripes as shown in the illustration below.

We are done drawing this hockey stick clip art. Let's add some colors to turn this basic black and white image into a more interesting version!

step 4 - Plain colors to start with

The entire stick is filled with a bright yellow color. The tape located on top of the object as well as the tape located on the blade are colored in grey. Both stripes sketched just above the blade are filled with a bright red color.

step 5 - color gradients to give more depth

If you are working with a vector application, then you know that adding color gradients can be an easy task. You can do so to add more depth on the object as shown below. Notice how the tape found on the blade seems darker on the bottom and brighter on top.

step 6 - reflection to create even more volume

It's now time to add additional white shapes to create more depth inside this image. Three elements are drawn inside this hockey stick clip art. They are surrounded by three different outlines in the image below. Don't forget to play with the opacity of these shapes to end up with a very subtle result.

step 7 - a small shadow to complete this lesson

In this step, you can see how the three elements added in the previous step should look like once all strokes are removed. Complete this tutorial with the addition of a small shadow below the blade. Once again, transparency is needed to end up with the desired effect.

a nice hockey stick clip art ready for some action!

Here you go! Drawing the stick itself is not very challenging, but adding cool effects to make it more realistic is slightly more difficult. Feel free to add more details is you want to (like scratches, logos or more tapes).

Here are all steps combined into a single illustration (above). Don't hesitate to draw more objects related to sports if you want to improve your drawing abilities quickly and easily. You can see a few samples below. :)