How To Draw A Lemon

Learning how to draw a lemon is an easy subject to practice your artistic skills using curved lines and creating a rough texture. Creating realistic pencil drawings can be accomplished by adding shadows and highlights to the lemon and leaves. In this how to draw a lemon drawing tutorial, I am going to share with you my drawing techniques so your pencil drawings will pop off the drawing surface.

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase by clicking on an affiliate link, Nevue Fine Art Marketing may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships include, but are not limited to, Bluehost, Tailwind, Skimlinks, SareASale and StudioPress. To learn more visit Affiliate Link Disclosure Policy

Lemons come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors which make them a fun subject for artists to paint and draw.

Some lemons are oval in shape while others are more round which makes drawing lemons a top choice for artists when it comes to creating still-life artwork.

Learning how to draw lemons is different than learning how to draw an apple or how to draw grapes.

The skin of pumpkins, bananas, apples, and grapes is smooth but lemons have dimples that make the light react differently when it hits the surface of the lemon.

While this drawing tutorial will demonstrate how to add shadows 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 lemon 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 lemons for your lemon 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 courtasy of Pixabay.

I chose this reference image because of how the light hits the lemon hanging from the lemon tree. The shadows and the texture of the lemon will be a challenge but will be a great practice to enhance drawing soft value changes.

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

Blending

Pencils

Value Finder

Gray Scale and Value Finder

Erasers

Extras

How To Draw A Lemon Step By Step

You can create the drawing larger or smaller if you wish. But if you draw the lemon 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 must be accurate if your goal is to draw a realistic drawing. Using the grid method to sketch out the subject will help keep the proportions accurate.

You can also use this as practice for sketching lemons to enhance your sketching skills.

Learning how to see value changes and simple shapes of a subject is an important part of the drawing.

Note: The lines in the drawing below are darker than I usually sketch for my drawings.

I only outlined the lemon darker in this drawing tutorial so that you can see them better in this post.

Sketching the subject lightly will make it easier to erase the subject’s outline after adding 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 Lemon

Start by sketching the lemon outline.

Drawing Tips – Sketch the lemon lightly to quickly erase the guidelines later.

Keep in mind that you will adjust the drawing as you go along. This is just a rough sketch at this point.

Use the grid method if you are interested in drawing a realistic drawing.

Start by lightly sketching the bottom of the lemon using a “C” shape curve

Draw the tip of the lemon with a small “C” shape and the top of the lemon with a larger “C” shape.

Drawing Tip: If you are not using the grid method, use your pencil or a ruler to be more accurate with the proportions of the lemon.

Sketch the leaf part overlapping the lemon with a “cone” shape.

Continue to draw the leaf with a curve line for the top and a curve line for the bottom of the leaf.

Draw the stem of the lemon with two parallel lines.

Drawing Tip: Continue to refer to the reference image. Do not press too hard when you are sketching the lemon. Pressing too hard will make it difficult to lighten up the lines, making it impossible to draw soft value changes.

Lightly sketch the second leaf with curve shapes connecting in the middle of the leaf.

Finish the lemon sketch by drawing in the rest of the leaf and stem.

Drawing Tip: Compare your sketch with the reference image and make necessary adjustments.

At this point, you could give the contour drawing of the lemon to your child to color.

To draw a realistic drawing, you must add value to the lemon and lemon leaves.

To learn more visit Drawing Tips For Realistic Drawings – The Elements Of Shading.

Add Value To The Lemon

Adding value to the lemon will create a three-dimensional illusion and make the lemon 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 the direction the light is coming from and where the darkest values are on the lemon, leaves, and stem.

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 to 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 lemon.

Drawing Tip: Using a 2H pencil, 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. Start applying graphite with your HB pencil when you can not get any more value from your 2H 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 lemon.

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.

Do not be concerned about the dimple at this point. We will add the fine details at the end.

Start by adding graphite to the darkest areas of the lemon.

This will be at the bottom of the fruit.

Keep looking at your reference photo to identify where the darkest darks are.

Don’t worry about adding too much detail at this point. The objective is only to add value to the darkest areas.

Drawing Tips: The darkest areas are where light does not hit.

Gradually lighten up the value where the lighter sections of the lemon are.

Drawing Tip: Work from dark to light to create a soft value change. Make sure your pencil is sharp so the graphite reaches the valleys of the paper.

Draw in any lines that you miss.

Drawing Tip: Fill in any spaces or dots you miss while adding the graphite to the drawing surface. Do not put this off to another time because you could miss some imperfections making the drawing look less realistic.