MS Paint Drawing Basic Shapes
Shapes build almost every drawing. Rectangles and triangles make a house. A face uses circles and curves. Paint stores a gallery of ready-made shapes, so you draw clean forms with a single drag of the mouse.
Find the Shapes Gallery
Look for the Shapes section in the toolbar. The gallery shows lines, curves, ovals, rectangles, rounded rectangles, polygons, triangles, arrows, stars, hearts, and speech callouts. Scroll or expand the gallery to see the full set.
Draw a Shape in Four Steps
- Click a shape in the gallery.
- Choose the outline color and the fill color in the Colors group.
- Drag across the canvas from one corner to the opposite corner.
- Release the mouse button. Small handles appear around the shape.
Drag a handle to stretch the shape. Move the shape by dragging its middle. Click outside the shape to lock it onto the canvas.
Perfect Squares and Circles
Hold the Shift key while you drag. Rectangles turn into perfect squares, ovals turn into perfect circles, and lines snap to straight angles. Release the mouse button before you release Shift.
Outline and Fill Options
Outline Only
Choose No fill when you want a hollow shape. Hollow shapes work well for highlight boxes and frames.
Solid Fill
Choose Solid color to fill the shape with the second color. The outline uses the first color.
Line Thickness
Open the Size menu and pick a thickness before or just after you draw. Thin lines suit fine details. Thick lines suit bold posters.
Special Shapes
Line
Drag from the start point to the end point. Hold Shift for a perfectly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line.
Curve
Drag a straight line first. Pull the middle of the line to bend it. Bend it a second time for an S shape.
Polygon
Drag the first side, click each new corner, and double-click to close the shape. Polygons suit irregular outlines such as rocks, leaves, and maps.
Combine Shapes into Pictures
Complex drawings grow from simple parts. Three circles make a snowman. A car needs a rounded rectangle, two circles, and a few lines. Build a rocket from a long oval, a triangle, and two small fins. Plan the picture on paper first, and name each shape you need.
Common Problems
The Shape Looks Crooked
Undo with Ctrl and Z and draw again with Shift held down.
The Shape Covers Another Drawing
Solid fills hide whatever sits underneath. Draw background shapes first and small details last, or place each shape on its own layer.
The Shape Cannot Move After Clicking Away
Paint locks a shape onto the canvas once you click outside it. Use a Selection tool to grab the area and move the pixels instead.
Why Shapes Make Drawing Easy
Many people feel unsure about freehand drawing. Shapes remove that worry. A computer draws the perfect circle, and you decide where it goes and how big it grows. Practice with shapes builds an eye for proportion and placement, two skills every artist needs.
Add Details with Lines and Curves
Use short lines for rays around a sun, whiskers on a cat, or grass blades along the ground. Add curves for smiles, hills, and waves. Switch the line size before each addition so small details stay thin and major outlines stay bold.
Practice Ideas
- Draw a traffic light with one rectangle and three circles.
- Draw a flag with a rectangle, a star, and stripes.
- Draw a flower with a circle in the middle and ovals around it.