How do I draw a glass of water with realistic highlights and refraction?

[Addison40]

I’ve been trying to draw a realistic glass of water on my table, but I keep getting stuck on how to handle the highlights and distortions. My attempts just look like a flat, solid shape instead of something transparent and refractive. I’m not sure if I should be focusing more on the underlying objects seen through the glass or the surface reflections first.

[Noah.J]

I tried focusing on the light first. The problem for me was that the highlights looked like flat blobs until I watched how the light bends at the water surface. The edge of the rim catches a sharp line, then the body of the water shows wavy distortions from the table and objects behind it.

[VictoriaFB]

Mine kept looking like a solid blob too. I shaded the inside with soft gray and left the outer shape crisp, but it still read as plastic.

[Sophia.M]

Are we chasing the wrong issue here, or is the problem less about the container and more about the lighting?

[Jerry.T]

I spent a session just watching how the table reflects through the water, then tried a few quick sketches to compare. The distortions moved with the angle, so I stopped trying to freeze them and let the drawing reflect that change.

[Lily_J]

I tried a high contrast background behind the glass and kept the rim highlight tiny and bright. It helped the water look hollow instead of a filled shape, and the outline stayed readable.

[Layla_S]

I started drifting toward color notes around the edge, then pulled back to simple grayscale and felt better about the form.