Making the Abacus

It is now time to draw the abacus. The rectangle tool will be used to draw this.

Select the rectangle tool. Draw a rectangle bit longer than the width of column base and position it above the base.

You can adjust the length and width of your rectangle by positioning your mouse over any vertex on the selection box. When you position the mouse over a vertex it turns into a double arrow, indicating you can drag that vertex. Once you have the rectangle centered, click outside the selection box.

Your drawing should look similar to the following:

It is now time to draw the spiral ornamentation on the column. The ellipse tool will be used to draw this.

Select the oval tool. Using the Shift key with this tool makes the ovals into circles. With the Shift key pressed, make several circles. Use the pointer to position them within one another.
Note: this is the trickiest part of the drawing and may take a few tries. Be patient.

Here are some tips:
- Draw the first circle.
- Inside the first circle draw another one it can overlap. Use the vertices to adjust the circle to fit inside.
- Repeat this procedure for all six circles.

Your spiral ornamentation should resemble to the following:

Since there are two spiral ornamentations, you need to duplicate the one just drawn. In order to do this you must group the six circles first.

While holding down the Shift key select all six circles.

Your drawing should look similar to this:

Choose Group from the Draw menu.

Your drawing should resemble this:

You may now duplicate.

Duplicate your spiral ornamentation and position them appropriately.

After positioning, Ungroup all of the grouped objects.

Your drawing should look similar to this:

Next: Filling Objects

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