How to Draw Champagne Glass — Free Practice Sheets

A champagne glass is a useful drawing subject because its shape is simple but its proportions are easy to get wrong. The bowl is tall and narrow, the stem is thin and straight, and the base is a flat oval. This page explains how to build the silhouette in order, how to place the liquid line, and how to check your drawing against a reference. The practice sheets give you several ways to work: tracing, copying onto a grid, using a bounding frame and center guide, and completing a partly drawn version.

Start With the Bowl, Not the Base

Begin at the top of the glass. Draw a tall, narrow U-shaped bowl outline with a slightly flared rim. The sides should rise mostly straight, then curve inward at the bottom to form a rounded U. Keep the bowl noticeably taller than it is wide; a short, wide bowl reads as a wine glass rather than a flute.

Once the bowl outline is in place, add a horizontal line across the bowl to indicate the liquid level. Place it partway up the bowl, not at the rim and not at the very bottom. This line is a detail, so keep it light until the outer contour looks right.

1. Draw a tall, narrow U-shaped bowl outline with a slightly flared rim.
2. Add a horizontal line across the bowl to indicate the liquid level.
3. Draw a thin vertical stem extending down from the bottom of the bowl.
4. Attach a flat oval base at the bottom of the stem.

Stem and Base: Keep Them Thin and Level

The stem extends down from the lowest point of the bowl. Draw it as a thin vertical line, or as two close parallel lines if you want visible thickness. It should meet the bowl at the center, not off to one side. A stem that drifts sideways makes the whole glass look unstable.

The base is a flat oval at the bottom of the stem. Draw it wider than the stem but narrower than the bowl's widest point. Keep the oval shallow so it reads as a flat disc seen at a slight angle. Check that the stem meets the oval near its center.

1. Check that the stem meets the bowl at its lowest center point.
2. Keep the stem vertical and thin along its whole length.
3. Draw the base oval shallow and centered under the stem.

Using the Practice Sheets

The trace sheet asks you to follow the reference outline first, then practise the contour independently. Compare your freehand attempt with the separate full reference sheet rather than with your traced line.

The grid sheet asks you to copy the reference onto a blank grid using matching grid intersections. Work one intersection at a time and let the grid carry the proportions. The bounding-frame sheet gives you a frame and center guide to place the silhouette before adding details. The completion sheet shows the left portion of the drawing and asks you to finish the blank right-hand portion using the full reference.

1. On the grid sheet, mark where the rim, bowl bottom, stem end, and base edges fall.
2. On the frame sheet, center the silhouette before adding the liquid line.
3. On the completion sheet, match the height of the bowl and base to the drawn side.

Checking Your Drawing

Compare your drawing with the reference by looking at features, not by chasing a pixel-perfect match. Ask whether the bowl is tall and narrow, whether its bottom is a rounded U, whether the stem is thin and straight, and whether the base is a flat oval. Different line weights and slight curve changes can still produce a correct champagne glass.

If something looks off, measure proportions by eye: the bowl should take up roughly the upper half of the total height, and the stem and base together the lower half. Adjust the part that breaks that balance rather than redrawing everything.

1. Compare bowl height against stem-plus-base height.
2. Check that the rim is slightly flared and the bowl bottom is rounded.
3. Confirm the base oval sits level and centered.

Check your work

• Bowl is clearly taller than it is wide.
• Bowl sides rise mostly straight and curve into a rounded U at the bottom.
• Rim is slightly flared rather than perfectly flat.
• Liquid line is horizontal and sits partway up the bowl.
• Stem is thin, vertical, and meets the bowl at its lowest center point.
• Base is a shallow oval, centered under the stem, and narrower than the bowl's widest point.

Worked example

champagne glass: Trace the reference outline, then practise the contour independently. Compare with the separate full reference sheet.

Common mistakes

• Drawing the bowl short and wide. Redraw the bowl taller than it is wide, with mostly straight sides and a rounded U at the bottom.
• Letting the stem lean or taper unevenly. Draw the stem as a vertical line from the bowl's lowest center point to the base center.
• Making the base oval too deep or too wide. Flatten the oval and keep it narrower than the bowl's widest point.

Questions and answers