How to Draw a Wheel 

Yo samee😭 We got this!

As mentioned on the lesson page for this challenge ( drawabox.com/lesson/25wheels ), one of the prerequisites for this challenge is the 250 cylinder challenge, which as the title may suggest, has the student get a lot of experience with standard cylinders. This is what helps inform their choices on placement of the ellipses at the early stage (3:10). As for the inset ellipses, these were fairly arbitrary - I was trying to create the impression that there was more flat space between the edge of the "cylinder" and where the rims start, so I took the same ellipse that would have been drawn for the face of that cylinder and decreased its size while maintaining its position, orientation and degree. I also knew that I wanted the rim itself to be deeper into the wheel (rather than level with the outer surface) and so I pushed an ellipse back in space along the minor axis slightly to create that sense of depth. As for reference, I am using some, but not for the overall construction. I'm using it to inform design decisions along the tread of the tire, and the style of the rims. In this sense, I'm using it more as a suggestion rather than attempting to perfectly replicate what I'm seeing. As for the wheels' size, orientation, etc. that's largely just made up.

*technically* the degree of the ellipses would get slightly wider as we move farther away from the viewer, but for most people with limited ellipse guides, it may not be an option and so leaving them at the same degree is OK. It helps that wheels aren't huge, so they don't get impacted with as much foreshortening. As to your other question, texture follows the existing structure, and so you factor in how much foreshortening you intend to apply when constructing it. Once in place, textures follows what you've already constructed, so there's no real choice at this point. But again, given the fact that we're dealing with objects that don't have a ton of foreshortening applied to them in natural scenarios due to their limited depth, it's not a huge factor in adding the tread texture either.

Generally speaking students tend to use the smaller, more limited 'master' ellipse templates for this exercise. They trade-off on being able to draw larger wheels, but in turn are still able to focus on the core of this exercise without having to worry about executing their ellipses perfectly. If you're confident in your ability to execute those ellipses freehand, then you certainly are allowed to do so - just remember that we don't expect students to have the level of control of their ellipses that would be required to do this freehand right now. Generally speaking being able to draw bigger is something we always encourage in this course, but the biggest reason is that it helps us freehand things more effectively, with more overall confidence and better use of the whole arm. If however we end up drawing smaller because we're working with tools (rather than freehand), then it's still acceptable. At the end of the day, you have to assess these various options and decide what's best for you right now.

I use Photoshop, along with Lazy Nezumi for the ellipse tool. And yes, the minor axis aligns towards the vanishing point. You can learn more about that in the video about ellipses: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tHJ3rzk6kno.html

Ultimately, once you've done your best to acquire the tools you can, you have no choice but to work within the limitations you have. So yeah, if you can't get your hands on an ellipse guide (full sets are expensive, but most students at this stage make do with a "master ellipse" template, which is more limited in the sizes it offers but much cheaper), there aren't any options other than freehanding.

4:34 edit : he is using photoshop

Photoshop, but also Lazy Nezumi for that ellipse tool you see me using.

I don't believe there's that much benefit in doing so. Unless you actually have wheels that aren't attached to a car, you'll end up with considerably more difficulty studying certain aspects such as the tire tread. In general, looking at objects from life is preferable, but not by *that* much (assuming you're applying the principles of the constructional drawing exercises properly), and there are some disadvantages in cases such as this.