How to Draw an Onion Step by Step Tutorial

This step-by-step tutorial shows how to draw an onion with pretty easy examples that also teach a good overall approach to drawing.Onions are an interesting looking vegetable, so even a basic line drawing like the one in this example can still look pretty good once it’s done.

Step 1 – Draw the Construction Line for the Onion

Contents

Start drawing the onion construction line Start drawing the onion by creating a line through the center of your drawing area (which will later be the center of the onion). Next, draw an oval towards its bottom that will serve as the base for the onion.

Step 2- Add Building Line for Leaves & Roots

Draw the texture of the bulb Onion Add some lines to indicate the top and bottom vertices of the bulb (from which it will turn to the roots and leaves). Also just add a few lines to indicate the general direction of growth of leaves and roots from those tips.

Step 3 – Draw the outer shape of the onion

Drawing the outer shape of an onion Based on the construction lines from the previous steps, draw the organic shape of the onion by adding smaller curves and adjusting the shape as needed.

Step 4 – Draw the leaves

Draw the onion leaves Draw the fan leaves out of the light bulb. Try and draw each one pointing in a slightly different direction with different curves to make them look natural. Also keep in mind that the background leaves tend to be partially hidden behind the foreground leaves. Draw onion peels around the bottom of the leaves with irregularly pointed shapes to look like they’ve been ripped off.

Step 5 – Draw the roots

Drawing onion roots Add some zigzag/small waves to the bottom end of the onion where the roots come out. Draw the onion roots in smooth curves with fairly similar thickness throughout their length. You’ll want to add a few of them to make the onions look natural.

Step 6 – Add details & finalize the drawing

Drawing an onion To complete the drawing, add a series of lines that onions tend to have along the bulb. These lines should “hug” the shape of the onion. If you look at an actual onion, they will appear to be farther apart towards the center and closer together towards the sides due to the curve of its shape. These lines will also appear to have wider curves as they progress in all directions. Try and draw each line in a smooth transition from the previous one so there’s no big jump from the small curve to the big one. Most of the outer curves should pretty much trace the shape of the sides of the bulb. The lines on each side don’t have to be perfectly symmetrical and can vary in length. You can also add a few breaks in the lines (like you did in the middle line in the example) to make them look more natural.

Inference

Drawing the straight line of an onion isn’t too difficult but even for simple objects, starting with construction drawings can help you ensure that you get a better end result. Especially so if you are new to drawing and/or want to improve.