Learning how to draw a banana is an easy subject to practice your artistic skills using curved lines. Creating realistic pencil drawings can be accomplished by adding shadows and highlights to the banana. In this how to draw a banana drawing tutorial, I am going to share with you my drawing techniques so your pencil drawings will pop off the drawing surface.
Bananas come in a variety of sizes, and colors which make them a fun subject for artists to paint and draw.
Some banans are longer and thinner while others are short and thicker which makes drawing bananas a top choice for artists when it comes to creating still life artwork.
Learning how to draw bananas is similar to learning how to draw an apple or how to draw grapes.
But it is different than learning how to draw a strawberry or how to draw orange.
The skin of bananas, apples, and grapes is smooth.
Strawberries and oranges have dimples.
Light reacts differently to a smooth surface versus a dimpled surface.
While this drawing tutorial will demonstrate how to add shadow and highlights for a realistic drawing, it can also be a fun exercise for kids.
Kids can learn how to draw the contour of the banana and color it with crayons or colored pencils.
I encourage all children to have fun with their creative minds and this easy drawing should be included in their coloring page portfolio.
I recommend using a reference image of bananas for your banana drawing.
I use Pixabay for reference images for most of my tutorials.
Pixabay offers stunning free images and royalty-free stock which you can use for practicing your art skills.
For my original drawings, I get most of my images at Wildlife Reference Photos or commissioned jobs.
Reference image courtesy of Pixabay.
Drawing Supplies
Below is a list of all the materials I use for my drawings. I purchase all of my drawing supplies online at Blick Art Materials.
Drawing Paper
- Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board Pads 9″ x 12″ Smooth
- Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board Pads 9″ x 12″ Velum
Blending
Pencils
Value Finder
Erasers
- General’s Factis Magic Black Eraser
- Tombow Mono Zero Refillable Eraser
- Prismacolor Kneaded Rubber Erasers
- Alvin Dry Cleaning Pad
Extras
How To Draw A Banana Step By Step
Lightly draw the banana outline using a Tombow Mono HB Pencil on a 5″ x 7″ piece of Strathmore Series Bristol Board Smooth.
You can create the drawing larger or smaller if you wish. But if you draw the banana too small you will find it difficult to add subtle value changes and details to the drawing.
Drawing Tip: The proportions of the subject you are drawing have to be accurate if your goal is to draw a realistic drawing. Using the grid method to sketch out the subject will help you to keep the proportions accurate.
You can also use this as a practice for sketching bananas to enhance your sketching skills.
Drawing bananas can be a challenge because there are subtle value changes that create the banana’s skin texture.
Note: The lines in the drawing below are darker than what I normally sketch for my drawings.
I only drew the outline of the grapes darker in this drawing tutorial so you can see them better on this post.
Sketching the subject lightly will make it easier to erase the outline of the subject after you have added the shading.
Nothing in life has a line around it.
If you are trying to create realistic drawings you want to create a form and separate planes with values, not outlines.
Values are the different shades you will be drawing with your graphite pencil.
Sketch The Banana
Start by sketching the banana outline.
Drawing Tips – Sketch the banana lightly so you can easily erase the guidelines later.
Keep in mind that you will be adjusting the drawing as you go along, this is just a rough sketch at this point.
Start by drawing a curve for the bottom of the banana.
Draw a curve for the top of the banana.
Sketch the cut stalk of the banana.
Sketch in the sections of the banana skin.
The last step is to sketch the shadow.
At this point, you could give the contour drawing of the banana to your child to color.
To draw a realistic drawing, you will have to add values to the banana and add a shadow.
To learn more visit Drawing Tips For Realistic Drawings – The Elements Of Shading.
Shade The Banana
Shading the banana will create a three-dimensional illusion an make the banana pop off the drawing surface.
Before you start to add value to your drawing stand back to think about what you are going to be drawing.
Identify which direction the light is coming from and where the darkest values are on the banana.
Is there a cast shadow?
A cast shadow is a shadow that casts from an object or figure. The cast shadow varies in value and is not a solid shape. The closer the cast shadow is from an object the darker it will be. The farther the cast shadow is from an object the lighter and less defined it will be.
Drawing Tip: The darkest part of an object is where the light does not hit.
Start by adding value with your 2H pencil to the darkest area of the banana.
Drawing Tip: Using a 2H pencil first will condition the paper and add graphite to the bottom of the tooth on your drawing paper. This will prevent the little white dots you will get if you start with a softer lead. When you can not get any more value from your 2H pencil start applying graphite with your HB pencil. If the area is still not dark enough continue with your 2B pencil.
Work from dark to light and follow the contour of the banana.
Begin each line from the darkest area and draw towards the lighter areas reducing the pressure as you go and lightly lift the pencil off the paper to feather the line to white.
Start by adding graphite to the darkest areas of the banana.
Keep looking at your reference photo to identify where the darkest darks are.
Don’t worry about adding to much detail at this point. The objective is to only add value to the darkest areas.
Add in the dark areas of the cut stalk.
Drawing Tip: Do not draw the dark areas of the cut stalk too dark at this point. If you draw it too dark everything else will have to adjust accordingly. You can always darken the darker areas as you go along.
Continue to add graphite to the darkest areas of the banana skin.
Drawing Tip: Make sure that there are no spaces between the lines you are drawing. Fill in any spaces you miss as you go along.
Use a blending stump to blend the values.
Drawing Tip: Work from dark to light and do not press too hard with the blending stump. You could damage the tooth of the drawing surface if you press too hard making it impossible to add more graphite to the drawing surface.
Continue to add more value to the skin of the banana. Keep referring back to the reference image to see where the darker values are.
Next, you will want to draw in the shadow to give the drawing a three-dimensional illusion.
Drawing Tips: The darkest area of the shadow will be against the banana. The value will lighten up slightly the farther the shadow is from the banana.
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