How to Draw Nuts Step by Step (4 Varieties)
This tutorial shows how to draw different kinds of nuts. The examples include a peanut, hazelnut, almond, and walnut (in their shells) with six drawing stages for each.
Creating small, realistic-looking drawings such as the nuts in these examples can be a good exercise for beginner and intermediate artists. It allows you to work on various pencil shading techniques and to practice showing different types of surfaces and textures.
To get a better understanding of some of the terms used in this tutorial, you may also want to see the following guide (if you have not done so already):
Shading Techniques and Stroke Types Drawing Tutorial
Supplies Needed for Drawing These Nuts and Seeds
- Regular Pencils: An HB pencil for the initial line drawing and 2B to 6B (softer) pencils for the shading.
- White Paper: Drawing or standard printer paper.
- Eraser: A kneaded eraser can be particularly helpful for precision corrections, especially to the shading.
How to Draw a Peanut Step by Step
While technically not a nut, a peanut is still similar to one in many ways and is a good fit for this tutorial. The main challenge in drawing one can be having to shade around all of the veins that run throughout its shell.
Step 1 – Make a Construction Drawing of the Peanut
In this case, the peanut pod is drawn as though it has two seeds in it. It has a fairly common shape that is narrower in the middle, thicker around the seeds, and rounded on the ends.
Start by making a construction drawing using straight lines to frame the pod’s form. The goal is to quickly estimate its width, height, and the size of one side in relation to the other. Once you feel that the proportions are correct, draw the organic shape of the peanut pod inside this construction frame.
For more on good drawing practices, see:
Beginner Guide to Learning to Draw
Step 2 – Begin Drawing the Inner Details
Begin adding the details of the peanut shell by drawing the veins that run along its length. Generally, due to the curvature of the pod, the veins in the middle will appear to be farther apart, while the veins on the top and bottom will appear to be closer together. Take this into account when drawing to help the peanut appear more three-dimensional.
Step 3 – Finish the Line Drawing
Draw another set of veins that intersects with those from the previous step to create the net-like texture that is so characteristic of peanuts. You can erase small sections of your lines as needed when adding these.
Step 4 – Add Basic Shading
In this example, the light is coming from the top of the pod. The shadow runs opposite the light along its bottom. Begin shading the peanut starting with its in-shadow side.
Be sure to keep this initial layer of shading significantly lighter than the values you wish to have in the finished drawing. The goal here is to create a shading map where you establish the overall distribution of light and dark areas along the surface of the peanut. You can then slowly darken and smooth out the shading by adding more layers of strokes.
Step 5 – Refine the Shading
Darken the areas in between the veins with more layers of strokes. However, keep the veins themselves much lighter in comparison. This can get a little tricky because you will have to individually shade each of the shell’s little “blocks”. Do your best to keep the shading between them consistent.
Step 6 – Finish the Drawing
Darken the shading to create a good contrast between the light and dark areas. Make the light-to-dark transitions fairly gradual and blend your strokes to the point where they are barely visible.
How to Draw a Hazelnut Step by Step
Hazelnuts generally have simple outer shapes, making it easy to create a line drawing of one. The shading can, however, be a little complex due to the different textures and patterns of their surface areas.
Step 1 – Make a Construction Drawing of the Hazelnut
Outline the overall shape of the hazelnut, making it fairly round with a pointy tip on one end (the left in this example).
Step 2 – Define the Tip & Cap
Define the hazelnut’s tip and cap areas.
- Cap Area: Generally, the shape of a hazelnut’s cap is somewhat round, but not perfectly so. In this example, it’s only slightly facing towards the viewer and is thus seen at an angle. To convey this in your drawing, make its outline oval in shape.
- Tip Area: In this case, the tip is facing slightly away from the viewer. Show this by making the line that defines this section rounded in the same direction the tip is facing.
Make the lines that define these parts of the hazelnut much lighter than the example (just barely visible) as you will need to erase them in the next step.
Step 3 – Finish the Line Drawing
Based on the lines in the previous step, make a more detailed drawing of the shapes of the tip and cap. Also note that hazelnut shells tend to have lines running between their tips and caps. Add these in when creating their more detailed outlines. To show the shell’s curvature, make these lines progressively more rounded the closer they get to the edges.
Step 4 – Add Basic Shading
Similar to the peanut, the light in this example is coming from above the hazelnut, making its bottom the darker area.
Again, ensure the initial layer of shading is significantly lighter than the values you want to have in the final drawing.
Place the shading strokes so that they flow along the hazelnut’s shell just like the tip-to-cap lines added in the previous step.
To convey that the hazelnut has a smooth and reflective surface, show a highlight along its upper middle. Create this by leaving a fairly large white spot along that area and applying the strokes so that they “cut” into it from the sides.
Step 5 – Refine the Shading
Add more layers of strokes over the previous set and try to keep them all going along the same general paths.
Smooth out the shading and darken it, but keep the strokes somewhat visible, especially on the lighter areas of the hazelnut. This will help show its surface pattern.
Step 6 – Finish the Drawing
Smooth out and darken the shading even further, but again, keep the surface pattern visible by not fully blending all of the strokes.
How to Drawn an Almond Step by Step
The almond has a simple overall shape and is not particularly difficult to shade. The only challenge may be adding the little holes throughout the surface of its shell.
Step 1 – Make an Outline Drawing of the Almond
Draw the almond’s outer shape similar to an oval but with a pointy tip on one end (in this case, on the right).
Step 2 – Define the Edge of the Shell
Almond shells tend to have a rim-like area around their edges. Define this by drawing a similar shape inside the main outline. However, add some breaks in this “rim” to make it appear less solid, and help convey that it’s not a separate part.
Step 3 – Finish the Line Drawing
Similar to the lines along the surface of the hazelnut from the previous step, add some lines running from the back of the almond to help define its texture. However, unlike the hazelnut, these do not need to run all the way to its tip.
Step 4 – Add Basic Shading
In this case, the light is coming from above the almond and slightly to the right.
Apply the initial shading using crosshatch strokes, slightly angled in relation to one another. Start by creating a dark-to-light gradient across the almond, keeping it much lighter than the values you wish to have in the finished drawing.
Step 5 – Refine the Shading
Darken the shading by applying more layers of strokes over the previous set. Afterwards, add some very dark patches along the almond to create the various holes that almond shells tend to have. Try to keep these fairly random in shape and size.
An easy way to add the dark patches is by using a fairly soft pencil. Just be careful not to smudge them.
Step 6 – Finish the Drawing
Darken and smooth out the shading by adding even more layers to the point where the individual strokes along the darker areas of the almond are barely visible.
Leave small light strips running around the bottom/left areas of the little holes near the middle and lower sections of the almond. These are created by the edges of the holes catching more light than their surroundings.
Troubleshooting Tip: If you happen to go a little too dark with the previous layer of shading, these little edges may be difficult to show. A good fix for this is to lighten them with a kneaded eraser. Mold it to have a pointy tip, and use it to tap and lift the graphite in the appropriate areas.
You do not need to add these lighter edges to the holes around the almond’s upper section, because the surrounding area is also illuminated to roughly the same degree.
How to Draw a Walnut Step by Step
The walnut has a somewhat more complex outer shape than the peanut and other nuts in this tutorial and a far more complex texture. This can make it more challenging to draw than the previous examples.
Step 1 – Make a Construction Drawing of the Walnut
Similar to the peanut guide, make a construction drawing of the outer shape of the walnut. Frame its more blocky top with straight lines and define its bottom with a curve.
Step 2 – Make an Outline Drawing
Create the more organic outline of the walnut inside the construction lines. Also, define the split between its two halves. In this example, the walnut is viewed slightly from below; therefore, draw the split curved upwards.
Step 3 – Finish the Line Drawing
Finish the line drawing by defining the “lips” around the split and the various grooves in the walnut’s shell.
Step 4 – Add Basic Shading
In this case, the light is coming mainly from the top of the walnut.
Similar to the almond example, begin the shading with a set of crosshatch strokes. Applying the strokes in such a way will help convey the walnut’s texture.
Keep the shading for this stage lighter than the values you wish to have in the finished drawing.
Step 5 – Refine the Shading
Refine the shading by adding more overlapping layers of strokes, but be careful not to fully blend them (especially along the lighter areas of the shell). As already mentioned, the crosshatch is used to help define the texture of the walnut.
You can also add some darker patches of shading to show indentations that walnut shells have throughout their surface.
Step 6 – Finish the Drawing
Further emphasize the ridges by blending the shading outwards from the lines that define them. Also, darken the shading as a whole by applying more layers of overlapping strokes, smoothing out the transitions between the light and dark areas.
Conclusion
This tutorial shows how to draw various examples of nuts and seeds, including a peanut, a hazelnut, an almond, and a walnut. It first illustrates how to construct their forms and then demonstrates how to apply different shading techniques to help emphasize their shapes, textures, and surface patterns. In addition to the examples in this guide, you can also use the same approach and techniques for drawing and shading many other kinds of objects. Simply think of what types of strokes can best represent a certain texture and experiment for yourself.
If you like this tutorial and would like to try a few more like it, also see:
- How to Draw an Eggplant Step by Step
- How to Shade Basic 3D Shapes Tutorial
- How to Draw an Avocado Step by Step
- Absolute Beginner Drawing Exercises Tutorial
- How to Draw a Hammer in 10 Steps
