How to Draw an Apple

Start in the middle of your page and sketch a circle. Begin at the very top and work your way around with light, loose strokes. It does not need to be perfect. Go back over it to smooth out any flat spots. Look at your reference apple while you work. It is not a true circle, and this one is only a guide you will reshape and mostly erase later.

Use the circle to find the real apple shape. An apple is wider along the top and narrower across the base. Bend the top line out past the circle on each side, then bring it down along the sides. Right on top, add a small flat oval. That is the stem cavity. From its center, angle the stem up and out toward the left, then sketch a leaf shape curling off to the right.

Now work on the base. Pull the outline in toward the bottom on both sides so the apple tapers. Make it a bit longer than the circle if your reference is tall. Then go across the bottom and flatten it off with a slight curve. Smooth out the lines as you go. You should now see a clear apple shape sitting on top of the old guide circle.

Erase most of the circle underneath. Then add a fold across the top of the apple, where the skin curves down into the stem cavity. Give the stem some thickness. It is wider across the top and narrower where it meets the apple. Shade it in lightly. Then redraw the leaf with little ripples along the outer edge, almost like small points, and repeat them across the bottom edge.

Go around the whole silhouette and fix the details. Add a small bump on the back side where the outline tucks in. Smooth out the sides. Use short sketchy lines rather than one continuous stroke. One long line is hard to control. Across the bottom, draw three little bumps. Real apples have them, and they make yours read as an apple and not a ball. Then do one more cleanup.

Time to plan the light. The light comes from the top left, so the big highlight sits on the upper left of the apple. Lightly trace its edge. Start along the top, go down the side and back up. Trace a thinner highlight along the top edge and a little reflection on the right side. Then mark the soft band of reflected light across the bottom. These lines show you where not to shade.

Switch to the side of your pencil. Shade around the highlights, darkest on the lower right where the core shadow sits, and lighter as you move toward the top. Bring the tone down toward the transition above the reflected light. Work in even layers and keep your pressure light. This is only the base layer. You will come back to darken and adjust it.

Go around the outside edge and darken the back side, then fade it out. Along the bottom, darken the apple with vertical strokes and fade them up into the transition. Go darkest at the base. Then ground the apple. Shade right at the contact point where it touches the surface and pull that shadow out and away, fading it as it goes.

Darken the center area, starting on the left side and working up. Apple skin has streaks that run up and down, so use vertical strokes to build that texture. Then step back and look at the whole drawing. Balance the tones. Push the center right a little darker. That extra darkness gives the apple more shape and definition than any outline could.

Darken the tone of the stem, leaving a lighter edge on one side. Then add a medium tone to the leaf. Build the base tone first and layer the details on top. That makes the drawing easier and more accurate. Draw light veins inside the leaf, branching off the center line. Finish with a little more detail where you need it, and sign your apple drawing.