Three values, one pear

Set up your study

Download the Orchard Light palette below, or copy its six hex colors. Use a comfortable sketch canvas and a familiar brush; no premium brush is required. The featured illustration is a visual starting point, not a result you need to copy exactly.

Try it in four steps

1. Fill the background with warm cream. Draw one pear silhouette using the pale yellow-green.
2. Add one connected shadow shape in olive. Keep it on the side facing away from an imagined upper-left light.
3. Place the darkest green directly beneath the pear where it touches the table. Extend a softer-looking, lighter shadow away from the light.
4. Add a small stem. Stop before adding speckles; view the drawing as a thumbnail.

Check your result

Can you identify the pear’s light direction without its outline? If not, join the fragmented shadows into one simple shape.

Change one thing

Repeat with an apple, keeping exactly the same three main lightness groups.