How to Draw an Apple

Paŝo post paŝo

1. Paŝo 1

   Draw a circle slightly wider than it is tall.

   Start round and correct it later. An apple is not a perfect sphere but it is much closer to one than beginners draw it - most people go straight for the dented top and end up with a shape that reads as a pepper.

   Atentu Drawing the classic 'apple silhouette' from memory instead of the round mass that is actually there.

   Kontroli Slightly wider than tall, and no dent yet.

2. Paŝo 2

   Press a shallow dent into the top, off to one side.

   The dip where the stem sits is rarely centred, and putting it slightly to one side immediately makes the apple look like a real one rather than a logo. Keep the dent shallow.

   Atentu Cutting a deep V into the top. Real apples dimple, they do not fold.

   Kontroli The dent should be off-centre and gentle enough to still read as a circle.

3. Paŝo 3

   Let the bottom sit slightly off-centre too.

   Almost nothing in nature is symmetrical, and an apple leans. Nudging the base a little away from the dent gives the fruit a direction, which reads as weight.

   Atentu Making the outline perfectly symmetrical, which looks designed rather than observed.

   Kontroli Draw a vertical line through the dent - the two halves should NOT match exactly.

4. Paŝo 4

   Add the stem, leaning out of the dent.

   A stem is a short thick tube, not a hair. Give it some width and let it lean - a vertical stem in the middle is the fastest way to make an apple look like a cartoon.

   Atentu Drawing it as a single thin line straight up.

   Kontroli It should be thick enough to have two sides.

5. Paŝo 5

   Add a leaf: two curves meeting at a point.

   One curve is the top edge, the other the bottom, and they meet at a tip. Attach it to the stem rather than floating it nearby - the join is what stops it looking pasted on.

   Atentu Drawing the leaf as an oval, which reads as a balloon.

   Kontroli Both curves should meet at both ends: base and tip.

6. Paŝo 6

   Decide where the light is coming from and mark it.

   Everything from here depends on this one decision, so make it consciously rather than letting it drift. Pick a direction - upper left is easiest - and commit. If you have a real apple, put a lamp on one side of it and look.

   Atentu Not deciding, then shading a bit everywhere. That is the single reason most beginner drawings look flat.

   Kontroli You should be able to say out loud where the light is.

7. Paŝo 7

   Outline the highlight where the light hits most directly.

   The brightest spot is not on the edge - it is on the part of the surface facing the light most squarely, which on a sphere is inside the form, slightly up and toward the light. Outline it now so you remember not to shade it.

   Atentu Putting the highlight on the outline instead of inside the shape.

   Kontroli The highlight should be surrounded by apple on all sides.

8. Paŝo 8

   Shade the side away from the light, darkest at the edge.

   Work in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth. Scrubbing produces an even grey, which is exactly the thing that makes a drawing look flat, so lay your strokes the same way and build the darkness up in passes.

   Atentu Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

   Kontroli The darkest area should be clearly darker than the mid tone, not slightly.

9. Paŝo 9

   Blend the shadow toward the light so there is no hard line.

   On a round object the transition from light to dark is gradual - a hard edge would mean a sharp corner. This soft band is called the core shadow and getting it to fade is most of what makes a sphere read as a sphere.

   Atentu Leaving a visible seam where the shading starts.

   Kontroli Run a finger along the transition. You should not be able to point at where it begins.

10. Paŝo 10

    Leave a lighter band along the very bottom edge.

    Light bounces up off the table and catches the underside. That thin lighter strip is called reflected light, and it is what stops the apple looking glued to the background. It is subtle - lighter than the core shadow, still darker than the lit side.

    Atentu Making it as bright as the highlight, which flattens the bottom of the apple out again.

    Kontroli Three values along the bottom: dark, then slightly lighter, then the shadow on the table.

11. Paŝo 11

    Add the cast shadow on the table, away from the light.

    The cast shadow is darkest where it meets the apple and softens as it moves away. It also anchors the fruit to a surface - without it the apple floats, however well you have shaded it.

    Atentu Drawing it as an even grey oval detached from the apple.

    Kontroli It should touch the apple and be darkest right at that contact point.

12. Paŝo 12

    Deepen the darkest dark and check your range.

    Hold your drawing at arm's length and squint. You should see a clear lightest area, a clear darkest area, and a smooth ramp between. If everything sits in a narrow band of grey, push the darks - almost nobody pushes them far enough on a first attempt.

    Atentu Lightening the highlight instead of darkening the shadow. Contrast comes from the dark end.

    Kontroli Squint at it. Can you still see three distinct values?

13. Paŝo 13

    Go over the outline, varying how hard you press.

    A real edge is not one uniform line. Where the form turns away from you into shadow it is darker and firmer; where the light hits it the edge almost disappears. Varying it is the last thing that separates a drawing from a colouring page.

    Atentu Tracing the whole outline at one weight, which undoes the roundness you just shaded in.

    Kontroli The outline on the shadow side should be visibly darker than on the lit side.