How To Draw A Pear

Are you interested in learning how to draw a pear?

In this pear drawing tutorial, I am going to show you how to draw a pear in easy steps.

You can also watch my drawing techniques in the video.

The outline of the pear is an easy drawing to learn but will also enhance your drawing skills by learning how to draw curved lines.

You can create a three-dimensional illusion by adding value, highlights, and shadows to the fruit you draw.

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

Pears have nice curved lines that will help you to enhance your drawing skills.

Learning how to draw Pears is similar to learning how to draw an apple or how to draw grapes.

The skin of pears, apples and grapes are smooth which makes the light react similar to each fruit.

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 pear 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 pears for your pear 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 the way the light is hitting the pear. The shadows, soft value changes and the texture of the pear will be a challenge but will be a great practice to enhance your drawing skills.

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 Bristol Smooth Bristol Paper Review

Blending

Pencils

Value Finder

Gray Scale and Value Finder

Erasers

Extras

How To Draw A Pear Step By Step

You can create the drawing larger or smaller if you wish. But if you draw the pear 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 pears to enhance your sketching skills.

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

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

I only drew the outline of the pear 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 Pear

Start by sketching the Pear outline.

Drawing Tips – Sketch the pear 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.

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

Lightly sketch a circle for the bottom part of the pear.

Notice in the reference image that the bottom of the pear is not a perfect circle.

Next, draw the top of the pear using a “C” shape.

Notice in the reference image that the top of the pear is flatter but still has a slight curve.

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.

Draw curves for the bottom of the pear.

Drawing Tip: Sketching the pear lightly will make it easier to remove lines as you go along revising the drawing.

Draw the stem with two parallel lines.

Notice that the stem is below the top line of the pear.

Draw in the shadow of the pear.

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

Erase any lines that you do not want on the drawing.

Drawing Tip: Study your drawing and the reference image to see if any adjustments need to be made before adding value to the pear.

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

To draw a realistic drawing, you will have to add values highlights and shadow.

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

The next step is to study the reference image to see where the darkest darks are and the lightest lights.

The image above highlights the darks and lights.

Also, take note of the mid-tones.

Add Value To The Pear

Adding value to the pear will create a three-dimensional illusion an make the pear 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 pear, and the 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 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 pear.

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 pear.

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 pear.

This will be at the botom and the left side of the fruit.

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.

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

add graphite to the darkest area of the pear

Gradually lighten up the value where the lighter sections of the pear 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 end up missing some imperfections making the drawing look less realistic.

Blend the graphite with a kleenex.

Do not use a kleenex with lotion, the lotion will ruin the drawing surface.

Lightly rub from the darkest areas to the lightest areas of the pear.

Lightly tap off any imperfections with your kneaded eraser.

Drawing Tip: Continue to fill in any lines that you miss and tap off any dark spots while you are drawing.

add more graphite to the dark areas of the pear

Add more graphite with an HB and a 2B pencil to the darker areas of the pear.

Lighten up on the pressure as you work towards the lighter areas.

Drawing Tip: To make an area darker continue to draw over the areas using cross-hatching. Just make sure that you do not leave spaces between the lines you are drawing.