How To Draw A Radish

I have created a series of still-life drawing tutorials to help you enhance your realism drawing skills. Learning how to draw different items will not only help you enhance your drawing skills but also teach you how to see simple shapes that make a more complex subject. Learning to draw a radish is extremely simple and consists of only a few steps.

First, I will show you how to draw a radish’s outline, and then I will show you how to add value, highlights, and shadows with images and video, creating a three-dimensional illusion that will make the radish pop on your drawing surface.

Radishes come in various sizes and shapes, making them a fun subject for artists to paint and draw.

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

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

The skin of radishes, apples, and grapes is 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 radish in just a few easy steps 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 radishes for your radish 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.

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Reference image courtasy 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 Bristol Smooth Paper Review

Blending

Pencils

Value Finder

Gray Scale and Value Finder

Erasers

Extras

How To Draw A Radish Step By Step

You can create the drawing larger or smaller if you wish. But if you draw the radish 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. The grid method to sketch the subject will help keep the proportions accurate. You can also use this to practice sketching radishes to enhance your sketching skills.

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

This exercise and the other still-life drawing tutorials will help you see soft value changes and simple shapes that create a more complex subject.

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

I only outlined the radish darker in this drawing tutorial, so 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.

Easy Radish Pencil Drawing

We will start by sketching the radish outline. This is also known as the contour or the radish.

Drawing Tips – Sketch the radish lightly so you can easily 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 realism drawing.

This how to draw a radish tutorial starts by sketching an oval shape for the radish bulb.

Notice in the reference image that the oval shape slows slightly from the top left to the bottom right.

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 radish.

Next, draw a curvey tail for the root of the radish.

Notice how the root starts above the left side of the bulb and gets thinner towards the end.

Drawing Tip: Sketching the radish lightly will make removing lines easier as you revise the drawing.

Draw a rectangular shape for the stem of the radish’s leaf.

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

Separate the stems with parallel lines.

Next, draw a curved line that follows the contour of the radish to separate the deep red and white parts of the radish.

The last step of drawing a radish outline is to erase all of the unnecessary guidelines you drew in the initial stage.

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

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

You must add values, highlights, and shadows to draw a realistic drawing.

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

Add Value To The Radish

Adding value to the radish will create a three-dimensional illusion and make the radish pop off the drawing surface.

Before you add value to your drawing, stand back to think about what you will be drawing.

Identify which direction the light is coming from and where the darkest values are on the radish 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 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 radish.

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. 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 radish.

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 radish.

This will be the red part of the bulb.

Notice on the reference image that there are darker values of red. You
will want to draw the darker and lighter value to create the round shape of the
radish.

Drawing Tip: Squint your eyes when you are observing the
lighter and darker values of a subject.

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.

Continue to add more graphite to the darker areas of the red part of the radish.

Use a 2H pencil until the area does not get darker, then use an HB pencil.

Gradually lighten up the value where the lighter sections of the radish 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.

Drawing Tip: Continue to darken areas by drawing over an area with cross-hatching. Be sure not to leave any gaps between the lines.

The reference image shows that the red part does not separate the white area with a straight line.

Use an eraser to remove some graphite and make a jagged edge.

Use an HB and a 2B pencil to continue adding graphite to the darkest areas of the radish.

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.