Orange Drawing Ideas

How to draw an orange step by step

An orange is one of the simplest fruits to draw, because the whole shape is close to a plain circle. The trick is adding a small stem and a slightly textured skin so it does not look like a plain ball.

1. Draw a circle for the body. Keep the line light so you can adjust it.
2. Add a small dot or short stem at the top, where the orange was attached to the branch.
3. Draw a leaf beside the stem if you want one, using two curved lines meeting at a point.
4. Add a few small curved dashes across the skin here and there to suggest the dimpled texture of an orange peel.
5. Add any extras last, like a face, glasses or a small crown.

Darken your final lines at the end and rub out the guide shapes. That last step is what makes a drawing look finished rather than sketched.

Which orange should you start with

If this is your first orange

Start with the simple orange or the orange with a leaf. Both are just one circle with a stem, so you are only thinking about one shape at a time.

If you have drawn fruit before

Try the orange with glasses, the smiling orange or the orange with a small crown. The orange stays simple and you are adding one small character detail, which is a good way to make a drawing feel finished without more difficulty.

If you want a challenge

The orange slice and the orange half are the hardest here, because you have to draw the small segments inside. Draw the outer circle first in both, and the segment lines follow from the centre.

What you need

An HB pencil, plain paper and an eraser. A 2B pencil helps if you want darker final lines. Nothing on this page needs a tablet, a light box or special paper, and none of these were drawn with any.

Three things that make an orange look like an orange

• The skin is too smooth. A real orange peel is dimpled, not perfectly smooth. A few short curved dashes across the skin are enough to suggest the texture.
• No stem or leaf. A plain circle with nothing at the top can look like any round fruit. A small stem, or a stem with a leaf, makes it clearly an orange.
• Segments are uneven. When drawing a slice or a half, keep the segment lines meeting roughly in the centre. Segments that miss the centre point look messy rather than fruit like.

Ways to use these drawings

Copy any of these by hand, or download and print them for yourself, for your children or for your classroom. They work as colouring sheets, tracing practice, a warm up before a bigger drawing, or line art for a card. The orange with a heart and the orange with a bow both suit greeting cards. If you want to use one in something you sell, write to us first.