Simple Watercolor Lemon

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Need Something Refreshing?

Now that it is the middle of summer and it’s blazing hot outside it’s always nice to grab a slice of lemon and add it to your tall glass of ice water. However, another way to feel refreshed is to grab your watercolor paint and brushes and paint a simple watercolor lemon. This watercolor painting would be perfect on a card, hang up in a kitchen, or just to have in your art journal to show off later. Keep following along to see how it’s done!

What Supplies Will You Need?

Supply List:

1. Pencil
2. Ruler
3. Eraser
4. Watercolor paper
5. Round & a Small Detail Watercolor Paintbrush
6. Watercolor paint (Burnt Sienna & Cadmium Yellow)
7. Two cups of water
8. Paper towel

If you would like to see all the art supplies I recommend, check out, “My Supplies” page. Click HERE to check it out!

How to Draw a Lemon Slice?

Step 1:

Drawing a lemon slice is pretty easy. The very first thing you need to do is go grab a round object that would be the same size you want your lemon to be. Next, place it on your paper where you want your lemon to be positioned, and then using a pencil trace your object. In the image below you will see that I positioned my lemon slice in the top left corner. Pretty easy so far, right? Let’s move on to step 2!

Step 2:

The next thing we need is to create two more circles within our first circle. Take your pencil and draw a circle slightly smaller than your first. This will create the skin of the lemon. Next, draw a small circle in the center of the first circle.

Now let’s grab our ruler and divide our circle into 8 triangled sections. Each triangle should have white space between it and the triangle next to it. Don’t get too caught up in making each section the exact same size. In real life, a lemon slice won’t be perfectly even. Use the photo below as a reference.

Step 3:

This step seems a little silly, but it will make all the difference when your painting is complete! Take your eraser and erase all your pencil marks to where you can barely see them. The reason behind this is because watercolor is translucent and once you paint over your pencil marks you will not be able to erase them.

Let’s Paint!

Step 4:

In this step, we are going to be using the wet on wet technique, so we’ll need to move quickly. If you would like to learn more about the wet on wet technique or other watercolor techniques check out, Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Watercolor.

Let’s grab our cadmium yellow paint and mix together a light wash onto our pallet. To mix together a light wash use more water than paint. Grab a scratch piece of paper to test out your color before applying it to your painting.

Once you are happy with your paint color, take your small detailed brush and carefully apply the paint on the outer line leaving a good amount of white space between the yellow skin and where the fruit will begin. Next, mix together burnt sienna and cadmium yellow using an even amount of paint and water. Using your round brush apply your light wash of cadmium yellow to your 8 triangles. While your paint is still wet dip your small detail brush in your burnt sienna mixture. Paint three lines from the center moving outward at the tip of every triangle. The lines should bleed together except for the very end of the lines.

Step 5:

This step is fairly simple. Mix together a more vibrant wash of cadmium yellow by adding more paint to your already existing mixture. This will even out the amount of water and paint used, which will cause it to be more vibrant. Mix together more burnt sienna and cadmium yellow if you used it all on step 4. Now, we are going to add a second layer over everything, using the same techniques that we used in step 4.

Step 6:

This is my favorite step! We are now going to put the finishing touches on our painting by splattering paint over the entire page. This creates a finished look, while also filling up our empty white space. To do this, load up your brush with a lot of water and cadmium yellow paint. Next, tap your brush on your finger over your painting and watch the paint splatter everywhere. Repeat this step using the burnt sienna mixture. And that’s it!

Congrats! You’re Painting Is Done!

If you enjoyed painting with me today sign up for our FREE newsletter where you’ll receive monthly printable art projects as well as regular news and updates from Reflecting Creation! Also don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for more behind the scenes, and Pinterest for new tutorials. Comment below letting me know what fruit you’d like to paint next.

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Hope To See You Real Soon!