Easy Coloured Pencil Still Life Tutorial: A Beginner's Guide to Drawing Fruit.

Hello there, fellow art enthusiast! Are you new to coloured pencils and eager to create something lovely?

This simple coloured pencil still life tutorial is designed just for you.

We'll be drawing a small arrangement of fruit, and along the way, you'll learn some essential skills for working with this wonderful medium, including how to layer your colours beautifully and use different pencil strokes to create convincing textures.

A key technique in coloured pencil art, and one we'll focus on, is layering your colours. We'll also explore using different pencil strokes to create convincing textures.

Don't worry if you're just starting out – I'll guide you every step of the way.

So, grab your pencils, a nice sheet of paper, and let's awaken your inner artist together!

What you will need

To get the best results and enjoy the process, here’s what I recommend:

Pencils

You can use any brand of artist-quality coloured pencils for this project.

Pencils with a slightly softer lead, like Caran d'Ache Pablos or Faber-Castell Polychromos, are often enjoyable for beginners as they release their colour richly without needing too much pressure.

Polychromos are also excellent for building up layers because of their oil-based, slightly more translucent quality.

Faber Castell Polychromos pencils are also an excellent choice due to their translucent nature, which is beneficial when building layers.

For this project, you'll find it helpful to have a selection of colours similar to these:

• A Cream or very Pale Yellow
• A mid-toned Yellow (like a Cadmium Yellow or Lemon Yellow)
• A bright, warm Orange
• A light, cool Red (like a Rose Pink or Light Magenta – not too orangey)
• A deeper Red (like a Cadmium Red Dark or Permanent Red)
• A light to medium Green (for the stalk)
• A Sepia or dark warm Brown (like Burnt Sienna or Dark Umber)
• A Light Grey and a Blue of your choice (for the background, if you choose to include it)

Paper

The right paper makes a big difference! You'll want a surface that has enough 'tooth' (texture) to accept multiple layers of pencil pigment, without feeling overly rough.

Excellent choices include Stonehenge paper, Derwent Lightfast paper, or Strathmore 400 Series Bristol Smooth or Vellum.

While many coloured pencil artists enjoy working on hot-pressed watercolour paper, it can feel quite smooth if you're still getting the hang of layering. For this tutorial, a paper with a slight texture will be more forgiving. (You can learn more about choosing papers in my guide:

Getting started

We'll be working from the photo reference below. Take a moment to look at the shapes, the way the light hits the fruit, and where the shadows fall.

1. Create Your Outline:

Start by lightly outlining your still life with a graphite pencil (an H or HB is ideal) on your drawing paper.

Focus on capturing the basic shapes and how the fruits are arranged. Don't press too hard – these are just guide lines. Perfection isn't the goal here; it's about getting the placement right.

Need a little help?

If you'd prefer a ready-made template to get started quickly, you can download my outline sheet:

• Outline sheet (PDF)
• Full exercise notes PDF

If you're using the outline, you'll need to transfer it to your drawing paper. You can find guidance on how to do this effectively here: 

• How to Use Tracing Paper
• Drawing with the grid method

Drawing Your Coloured Pencil Still Life: Step-by-Step

Let's begin bringing these fruits to life with colour! Remember, the key is to build up your colours in light layers.

1. The Orange: Capturing Zesty Texture

We'll kick off with the orange. Oranges have that lovely, slightly dimpled skin, and we can suggest this with our pencil strokes.

Warm Base: With a soft touch, lightly shade the whole orange (except for any very bright highlights) using your Cream or Pale Yellow pencil. This gives your fruit a warm base to build upon.

Circular Strokes: Throughout this orange, try using small, light circular pencil strokes. This technique, often called scumbling, is wonderful for mimicking the lovely rough texture of the orange skin. Keep your wrist loose!

Building Colour: Next, lightly layer your mid-toned Yellow over the cream base.

Then, start to introduce a light layer of your Orange pencil into the areas that are in shadow (usually the sides and the bottom of the fruit, away from the main light source).

Your orange might still look quite yellow at this stage – that's perfectly fine! We're building depth gradually.

Stalk Area: Add a touch of your light-medium Green to the little stalk area.

First Blend: Now, take your Cream pencil again and, still using light pressure and circular strokes, go back over the fruit (avoiding the brightest highlight and the stalk).

This will gently start to blend the underlying colours together, but because you're still shading lightly, you'll retain some of the paper's texture, which adds to that lovely orange-skin effect.

Intensifying Colour: Repeat the process, adding another layer of your mid-toned Yellow and then your Orange.

This time, you can gradually increase the pressure with your Orange pencil in the darker, shadow areas to make the colour richer and deeper.

Continue to use those circular strokes as you layer and blend. It helps to keep your wrist loose and move your whole arm a little, rather than just your fingers. This helps create a more even and natural-looking texture.

Don't worry about perfect edges! The orange's rough surface means a super-smooth, perfectly defined edge isn't necessary. In fact, slightly "imperfect" edges can make it look more lifelike.

2. The Apple: Smooth Skin and Luscious Curves

Now, let's move to the apple. While the orange benefits from a slightly broken, textured look, the smooth skin of an apple requires a different touch.

Changing Strokes: It's important to change your pencil strokes for the apple.

Instead of small circles, we'll use strokes that follow the curve of the apple's shape – think gentle, curved lines that wrap around its form. This helps to describe its roundness

Light Side First: Let's begin with the lighter part of the apple (often yellowish-green or cream).

Apply a soft, even base layer of your Cream or Pale Yellow pencil, focusing on the areas where the light hits it most directly.

Rosy Patches: For any rosy patches on this lighter side, lightly introduce a cool-toned Red (not an orangey-red at this stage).

Sculpting with Colour: Our approach here is all about building layers carefully.

Let's strategically introduce hints of your light Orange into the slightly darker parts within that cream/yellow section – perhaps where it starts to turn away from the light.

We're not just colouring in; we're gently sculpting the form of the apple with our pencils, defining where the light falls and where shadows begin.

Every stroke is deliberate.

Remember, especially with coloured pencils, less can often be more. A subtle touch of colour can sometimes achieve more than a heavy application.

Be patient and let the drawing unfold.

The Red Side: Now, let's tackle the main red portion of the apple. We've established a lovely base on the lighter side, and we can carry that layering approach over.

An Artist's Trick - Complementary Colours: Here’s a little tip artists often use to create richer, deeper shadows in red areas: introduce a touch of its complementary colour, which is green.

Very lightly layer a little of your light-medium Green into the areas of the red apple that are in deeper shadow.

This will make the red appear darker and more three-dimensional without looking muddy – as long as you use it sparingly! (Learn more about Using Complementary Colours for Shadows.)

Continue Layering: Progressively build up the red layers.

You might mix some of your light Orange with your Yellows on areas where the red transitions to yellow.

Blend your cool Red over any green you've used for shadows, and then build up the main red areas with your deeper Red.

Blend and Intensify: Gently blend the apple's surface with your Cream pencil. This will help to smooth the layers and create that characteristic sheen of an apple.

Then, go back and reapply some of your earlier colours (yellows, oranges, reds) with a little more pressure to make them really vibrant.

Final Touches: To finish this apple, intensify the deepest red areas with your dark Red pencil.

Use your Sepia or dark brown for the stem and any cast shadows near the stem or at the very base of the apple where it's darkest.

3. The Banana: Gentle Curves and Soft Hues

Your still life is really taking shape now!

Adding the banana introduces another lovely form and colour.

Notice in the reference photo how the apple and orange are positioned in front of the banana – this overlap creates a sense of depth and makes the arrangement more dynamic.

Banana's Colour: Bananas have a unique, soft yellow. We can adjust the hues subtly to make it look realistic but also harmonious with the other fruits, which are in a similar colour family

Drawing Process: Just like with the apple, we'll draw the banana with a series of curved lines that follow its gentle, elongated form.

Base Layer: Start with a light, even base layer of your Cream pencil.

Building Colour & Shadows

• Layer your mid-toned Yellow over the cream.
• Introduce touches of your light Orange into the areas that are turning away from the light or are slightly riper.
• For the slightly greener, less ripe parts, or areas in subtle shadow, you can use a touch of a very light Yellow-Green (if you don't have one, mix a tiny bit of your blue with your yellow on a scrap piece of paper first, or just use your yellow very lightly in these areas).
• Add a hint of a light Brown (like Yellow Ochre or a very light touch of Sepia) into the areas where shadows are cast by the apple and orange in front.

Ends of the Banana: Use your dark Brown (Sepia) for the very ends of the banana.

Spots and Blemishes? That’s your artistic choice! A few light touches of brown can add realism.

Finishing with Burnishing: To give the banana a smooth, waxy finish, we'll use a technique called burnishing.

Take your Cream pencil (or a white pencil if you prefer) and apply firm, even pressure as you go over the banana's surface.

This presses the pigment into the paper, smoothing out the pencil strokes and creating a lovely, blended sheen.

If you're unfamiliar with burnishing, you can learn all about it here: The Ultimate Guide to Burnishing Coloured Pencils

4. The Background: Setting the Scene

The reference photo shows the fruit on a white plate, arranged on a blue and white cloth. These colours complement the yellows and oranges of the fruit nicely.

Keep it Simple: Since the fruit is our star, the background can be less detailed. We don't want it to compete for attention.

Plate and Cloth: Use your Light Grey for the plate, suggesting its form and shadows. A Blue of your choice can represent the cloth – keep the application light and perhaps a little looser than the fruit.

Vibrancy: Ensure these background colours are still vibrant enough to hold their own against your beautifully drawn fruit.

Crucial Shadows: Remember to add the cast shadows beneath the edge of the plate and where the fruit sits on the plate. This is really important to stop the plate from looking like it’s floating in mid-air!

Your Beautiful Still Life is Complete!

Well done! You've just worked through how colour and form can come to life through careful layering and thoughtful pencil strokes.

Hopefully, you've seen how the first light layers set the main colour of an object, and then subsequent layers subtly modify it, adding depth, shadow, and realism.

Drawing with coloured pencils is an incredible way to explore your creativity. The process of layering, as you've experienced, can dramatically improve your work.

Remember, practice is important.

Don't be shy about trying out different fruit arrangements, experimenting with a range of colours, or even choosing other simple objects from around your home.

As you continue to draw and explore, you'll find each piece you create becomes a wonderful expression of your growth as an artist.

Before you know it, you’ll be Finding Inspiration in Everyday Objects that have personal meaning to you, eager to include them in your own unique coloured pencil still life arrangements.

Happy drawing.

Carol

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