How to Draw an Apple

Étape par étape

1. Étape 1

   Dessinez un cercle légèrement plus large qu'il est grand.

   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.

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

   Vérification Slightly wider than tall, and no dent yet.

2. Étape 2

   Appuyez sur une bosselure superficielle dans le haut, de l'un des côtés.

   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.

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

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

3. Étape 3

   Laissez le bas s'asseoir légèrement hors du centre aussi.

   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.

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

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

4. Étape 4

   Ajouter la tige, en s'appuyant sur la bosse.

   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.

   Attention. Drawing it as a single thin line straight up.

   Vérification It should be thick enough to have two sides.

5. Étape 5

   Ajouter une feuille : deux courbes se rencontrent en un 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.

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

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

6. Étape 6

   Décidez d'où vient la lumière et marquez-la.

   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.

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

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

7. Étape 7

   Décrivez le point fort où la lumière frappe le plus directement.

   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.

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

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

8. Étape 8

   Écombrez le côté loin de la lumière, le plus sombre au bord.

   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.

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

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

9. Étape 9

   Mélangez l'ombre vers la lumière, il n'y a donc pas de ligne dure.

   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.

   Attention. Leaving a visible seam where the shading starts.

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

10. Étape 10

    Laissez une bande plus légère le long du bord inférieur.

    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.

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

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

11. Étape 11

    Ajouter l'ombre moulée sur la table, loin de la lumière.

    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.

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

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

12. Étape 12

    Approfondissement de la plus sombre des ténèbres et contrôlez votre gamme.

    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.

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

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

13. Étape 13

    Passez en revue le contour, en variant comme vous appuyez dur.

    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.

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

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