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Based on a video by BrickPredator
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A hand-drawn star almost always comes out lopsided. One point is fat, another leans, and the middle ends up off centre. This method fixes that. It comes from BrickPredator on YouTube, who builds a true five-point star with a compass, a pencil and a flat Lego plate standing in for a ruler. No protractor and no measuring. The geometry does the work, and every point lands the same distance apart.
It takes about ten minutes the first time. Draw lightly. Most of the lines are guides you will erase once the star is done.
Need a star in ten seconds, no tools? Draw it in one continuous line. Start at the bottom left and go up to the top point. Come straight down to the bottom right. Go up and across to the far left. Cross straight over to the far right. Then come back down to where you started. That is five strokes and you never lift the pencil. Keep the two side points level with each other and the star will look balanced.
The circle only has to be round. Trace a jar lid, a mug or a roll of tape, and find the centre by drawing two lines across the circle at right angles. To step the points around without a compass, cut a strip of paper, mark the side length on it with two ticks, and walk it around the circle the same way.
Once the five lines are in, the middle has a small pentagon and extra lines crossing it. Go over the outside edge of the star with a fine black marker. Let the ink dry, then erase every pencil line, including the circle and the inner pentagon. Now you have a clean star you can color in yellow or gold. A kneadable eraser lifts the graphite without smudging the ink.
Draw the star on card stock, ink it, cut it out, and trace it as a template. Glue two card stars back to back over a straw for a tree topper, or cut a dozen from old Christmas cards and string them into a star garland. The same template works on gift tags. For more holiday drawing, try how to draw a Christmas tree or how to draw a snowflake, and if you would rather fold one, see how to make a paper star.
New to drawing? Start with how to draw for the basics.
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Draw a perfect 5-point star with a compass and ruler in 10 easy steps. An easy project: about 20 minutes. You need 6 things, including drawing pencil, drawing paper or sketch pad and fine point black marker. The 10 steps start with draw a Straight Baseline for the Star With a Ruler, swing Compass Arcs Above and Below the Star Baseline, draw a Perpendicular Line Through the Arc Crossings and draw a Circle Around the Center of the Cross.
10 steps, about 4 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
Tick each step off as you go.
Lay a ruler across the middle of your page and draw a light, straight line. Any length works, and it does not have to be level. BrickPredator uses a flat Lego plate as his straightedge, which is a good reminder that anything with a clean edge will do. Put a small dot at each end. Those two end points are what the compass works from next.
Press lightly. This is a guide line and you will erase it later.
Open your compass to a bit more than half the length of the line. Put the point on the left end and swing an arc above the line and another below it. Keep the same width, move the point to the right end, and swing two more arcs. They will cross the first ones. Those two crossing points sit exactly above and below the middle of your line.
The width does not matter. It only has to stay the same for all four arcs.
Line your ruler up with the top crossing and the bottom crossing and draw a line between them. It passes through the middle of the baseline at a right angle. You now have a neat cross. The spot where the two lines meet is the centre of your star, so mark it with a small dot.
If the new line does not hit the middle of the baseline, one of the arcs was swung with a different width. Redo them.
Put the compass point on the centre of the cross and draw a full circle. Pick any size you like. BrickPredator makes his radius about half the baseline, but bigger is easier for a first try. This circle is the outline your five star points will sit on, so turn the compass in one smooth motion.
Hold the compass by the handle on top and turn the paper if your wrist runs out of room.
Now split the left half of the horizontal line in two, the same way you split the baseline. Swing arcs above and below from the left edge of the circle, then from the centre. Draw a light line through the two X shapes. Where it crosses the horizontal line is the midpoint of the radius. Mark it clearly.
This midpoint is the key to the whole star. Take your time and keep the marks sharp.
Put the compass point on that midpoint. Open the pencil leg until it touches the top of the circle, where the vertical line meets it. Now swing the pencil down to the right until it crosses the horizontal line on the right side. Make a small tick there. That tick is how you get five equal sides without any measuring.
Do not let the compass point slide off the midpoint while you swing.
Place the compass point on the top of the circle. Open or close it until the pencil sits right on the tick you made on the horizontal line. This distance is the side length of your star's pentagon. Be careful here. The creator stresses that a tiny error now gets multiplied five times as you go around.
Once it is set, do not touch the compass screw again until the points are marked.
Keep that width. Starting from the top point, make a small tick where the compass crosses the circle on the right. Move the point to that tick and mark the next one. Keep walking around. You will get five ticks, including the top. If the last tick lands on the top point, your spacing is right.
Walk the other way from the top too. Meeting at the bottom is a good accuracy check.
Lay the ruler from one point to the point two places over, skipping the one between. Draw a firm line. Do the same from the next point. Each line cuts across the circle and they cross each other in the middle. This skip-one rule is what turns five points into a star instead of a pentagon.
Press harder on these lines than on the guides so they stand out when you erase.
Keep going until all five lines are drawn. The last one closes the shape and your five-point star appears, sitting inside the circle with every point equally spaced. If you want a clean star, ink the outline with a fine black marker, let it dry, and erase the circle and the guide lines.
A kneadable eraser lifts pencil lines without smearing the ink.
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How to Draw a Raven (Realistic Pencil Sketch)
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How to Draw a Star
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