10 Ways to Draw Broccoli!

As kids we were always told "eat your broccoli." Were you ever told to draw your broccoli? We weren't fans of eating it as kids but now it's one of our fave veggies and it's one of Salli's favorite things to draw!

Are you ready to draw some broccoli?

Overview

Gather up your greens (green pencils and paints, that is) and let's start.

Below are ten exercises that might change the way you think about illustrating broccoli. As you've probably figured out, these exercises are not so much about broccoli as they are about stretching your imagination and employing the power of illustration to view the world in a variety of ways.

You can easily apply these ideas to any other food or object. It's pretty hard to mess up broccoli so just be creative and have fun!

Use whatever materials and techniques you want. Beyond step 1 there is no real order to the rest of the steps. Each person finds different steps more challenging than others.

1) Broccoli study

Start by making a basic drawing of real broccoli so you understand the general shapes and detail. Consider this your study of broccoli.

2) Cartoon style

Make a cute cartoon-style drawing. Keep the shapes simple with a sense of whimsy.

3) Broccoli character

Give your broccoli a personality by turning it into a character. Add a face and think about what activity it might be doing. Perhaps you can add animation!

4) Pattern

Create a broccoli-themed pattern. Consider adding other ingredients to fill out the pattern.

5) Stylized

Try illustrating broccoli using a more graphic and stylized approach. Work with geometric shapes and clean edges. Break away from realism.

6) Alphabet

What might a broccoli-themed alphabet or font look like? Create a few letters—no need to illustrate the entire alphabet!

7) Abstract

Loosen up and illustrate the essence of broccoli. Be more abstract rather than representational.

8) Natural setting

Draw broccoli in its natural setting. How does it grow?

9) Un-natural setting

Draw broccoli in an unnatural setting. How might broccoli appear in an unusual way?

10) An illustrated recipe

Illustrate a recipe that includes broccoli—yum. Submit it to THEY DRAW!

Fabulous!

If you want to see some of Salli's broccoli illustrations keep scrolling, however you might want to wait until after you've created yours so you're not influenced by what she has done.

This process of exploration can be applied to many other things and will help stretch your thinking. A few years back Salli created 100 different pineapples—The Pineapple Project. You can see them all here.

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1) Broccoli Study

2) Cartoon style

3) Broccoli character

4) Pattern

5) Stylized

6) Alphabet

7) Abstract

8) Natural setting

9) Un-natural setting

10) An illustrated recipe

You did it!

Who knew broccoli could be so fun? Hopefully you discovered a few new ways to draw broccoli and have expanded your illustration style.

➜ Thank you for purchasing this creative exercise!

If you post an image on Instagram of your broccoli illustration, please let us know by tagging @illustratorscircle with the hashtag #illustratorscircle