Draw an apple in watercolor step by step

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Are you an aspiring artist or do you just have a sudden urge to draw? An attractive model in both the first and second cases can be the most common apple. For beginners, this is a great training in working with a rounded shape, as well as chiaroscuro. Great for drawing an apple watercolor.

From life or from a photograph?

Of course, it is best to depict an apple from nature. Place it in front of you on a flat horizontal surface and carefully study its shape and color features. However, if you don’t have an apple at home, don’t rush to the nearest store to buy it. It is quite possible to use a photograph of a fruit found in a book or magazine. If you are drawing an apple from a photo, keep it in front of you as you work.

This example shows watercolor work on a green apple with a red barrel.

Getting Started

Before you draw an apple with watercolors, you need to make a pencil sketch of it. It is necessary to draw the outline of the fruit, taking into account all the features of its shape, which side is more convex and which is less, whether it has a stalk or a leaf. We also mark a place forglare.

Try not to put pressure on the pencil so that it does not subsequently show through the paint. If you are drawing on special watercolor paper, then it is not recommended to use the eraser too intensively. This damages the top layer of paper.

First color fill

First, you need to palely outline the main colors of the apple. To do this, on a palette or on a separate piece of paper, mix light green paint with water and apply it to one part of the apple. Then we combine the red paint with water and apply it to another part, without painting over the place marked for the highlight.

It's not scary if the colors in the picture flow into one another and mix. The main thing - try not to darken the apple with watercolor at this stage.

Continue work

Now you need to carefully look at which side the light falls on the fruit. This will help determine its darkest and lightest sides.

The depicted apple has the darkest part from the bottom. But since it is illuminated by natural light, the shadow area on it will be warm. Mix brown paint with water and apply to the bottom of the apple, as well as to the hollow where the stalk will be.

If the apple you are drawing is illuminated by the light of a lamp, then its shadows will be cold. This applies to any objects.

Next, draw the darker parts of the apple, adding to the paint that was used for the first pale fill, a more intense color: green with oneside and red on the other.

Clarifying the details

The main part of the work is done, it remains to add the missing details to make the drawing look realistic. To add more volume to the watercolor apple, you need to blur the paint a little at the very bottom of it. This will be a reflection of the surface on which the apple lies. To do this, we draw water on the brush and wipe the paint from the drawing with it in the right place. But do not rub too hard, as wet paper is easily damaged. Now paint over the stalk with a dark brown color. It is better to take a thin brush for this.

You can add a drop shadow under the apple if you want it to lie on the surface and not appear to be floating in the air. To do this, you need to consider where the light falls on it. The shadow will always be on the opposite side.

Now you know how to paint an apple in watercolor. Don't be afraid to make it too bright. Such an image will look much better than a pale one. In the process of work, often compare your drawing with nature or a photograph. Do not be lazy to once again move away from work and look at it from afar. This will help you see errors that you may not see up close.