How to Draw a Watermelon and a Glass of Juice in Adobe Illustrator

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the Mesh Tool in Adobe Illustrator to create a watermelon, a watermelon slice, and a glass of juice!

If you want to skip the tutorial and just use this vector with two more fruit glasses, you can purchase the Set Of Fruit Juice Splashes In Glasses from GraphicRiver!

1. How to Draw the Watermelon Slice

Step 1

First, draw a rectangle and fill it with #F66145, as indicated below.

Let's begin using Mesh! Grab the Mesh Tool (U) and begin pulling around the edges of the rectangle to create a half circle. Next, create a Mesh Grid like the one in the screenshot below by clicking where the nodes are supposed to be.

Once your Mesh Grid is done, begin coloring it by selecting the nodes on the edges of the shape with the Mesh Tool (U) and changing their color to #F2C7A4.

Continue by coloring some nodes on the left (selected in the screenshot below) with #EE4931. Finally, color the indicated nodes on the right with #E5311B.

Step 2

Draw the outer part of the watermelon with the Mesh Tool.

Use these colors:

1. #F1F2CA
2. #B1CF70
3. #42622A
4. #EE9B7C
5. #F4D7BC
   

Step 3

Select the result and go to Effect > Warp > Arc. Input a Bend of -91% and Apply.

Step 4

Go to Object > Expand Appearance, and then drag around the edges of the object to make it look more natural.

Step 5

Add the part we drew before.

Step 6

Add some #466427 nodes to a #314C0B Mesh ellipse.

Step 7

Apply Effect > Warp > Arc (this time with -82% Bend), and then Expand Appearance.

Step 8

Attach this part to the bottom of the watermelon slice, and then modify its top edge to make it more jagged and natural.

Step 9

Begin drawing the seeds for the watermelon with this shape.

1. #2C1C0E
2. #705544
3. #453323
4. #402014
   

Step 10

Draw an outline for the seed.

1. #D72D19
2. #B01D0C
3. #EB5A43
   

Step 11

Draw a shape, filled with #494041, and then change its Opacity to 60% and its Transparency Mode to Screen.

Step 12

Combine all shapes into one, as shown below.

Step 13

Make different copies of the seed, and then also add some copies of only the red outline, making them more transparent at 60% Opacity.

Step 14

Add the seeds and the outlines to the watermelon slice.

2. How to Draw the Watermelon

Step 1

First, draw the base by coloring a #78A422 ellipse with #B1D152, then with #51800B.

Step 2

Finish by adding more colored nodes (#96BD3C and #CCE782).

Step 3

For this step, please download the attachment that comes with this tutorial, watermelon.jpg. It is a photo I've taken, and we will be using it to get a pattern for our work.

Open the photo in your working file in Adobe Illustrator, and then go to Window and open the Image Trace panel. There, input the settings you can see in the screenshot below. Don't forget to tick Ignore White.

Once you're all set, click Trace.

Step 4

Go to Object > Expand Appearance to expand the traced vector, and then Ungroup it and clean up the lines, deleting unnecessary dots.

Step 5

Create a copy of the result, and then grab the original and Reflect it Horizontally.

Set the Opacity of the result to 10% and its Transparency Mode to Multiply.

Step 6

Take the copy we made before, Reflect it Vertically, and set it to 40%, Multiply.

Step 7

Overlay both patterns on top of each other.

Step 8

Draw an outline for the pattern and select Make Clipping Mask.

Step 9

Return to the Transparency panel once more and change the object's Opacity to 40%. Then place it on top of the watermelon base.

Step 10

Draw one more ellipse, filling it with a Radial Gradient from #F9FEF3 to #B2C292 to #344927 and using Overlay, 50% Opacity.

Step 11

Place it on top of the watermelon.

3. How to Draw the Glass

Step 1

Let's draw the base of the glass using Mesh. You will need these colors:

1. #AEA8AB
2. #724338
3. #EEE8ED
4. #C06131
   

Step 2

Finish the base with these:

1. #2C090A
2. #756B6F

Step 3

Select the top two rows of Mesh and change their Opacity to 0%.

Step 4

Draw the juice.

1. #FFAA60
2. #FF722F
3. #FFB080

Step 5

1. #FF8F53
2. #FFD2B3
3. #FF5727

Step 6

Draw the glass.

1. #FFFFFF
2. #4D1B2D
3. #92747F
4. #B9A5AC
   

Step 7

Change it to Multiply and 50% Opacity.

Step 8

Combine all the elements to create a glass of juice.

4. How to Draw the Juice and Splashes

Step 1

Draw the juice, pouring into the glass.

1. #FC6E3C
2. #CC3316
3. #FEA976
4. #FFFFFF
5. #EA4F27
6. #EE8357
   

Step 2

Make the top row of mesh completely transparent.

Step 3

Draw the big splash.

1. #FDB87F
2. #EA6F41
3. #FEE1C8
4. #F7874B

Step 4

Draw more splashes.

1. #EA7042
2. #FCCDB2
3. #FFFFFF
4. #FDAE73

Step 5

1. #EA7042
2. #FDCCA9
3. #FBAA6F
4. #FFFFFF

Step 6

1. #EA7042
2. #FCC69E
3. #FFFFFF
4. #F7955E

Step 7

1. #EA7042
2. -
   
3. #FCAF77
4. #FDE7DD

Step 8

Add the smaller elements to the big splash.

Step 9

Draw a bubble of juice.

1. #F6802F
2. #FEC587
3. #EB6427
   

Step 10

Make copies with different shapes and sizes.

Step 11

Add the bubbles to the splash.

Step 12

Assemble all the elements we have made so far into one image!

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

What now? You can try any of my other tutorials from my profile, or check out my portfolio on GraphicRiver, as well as the original vector we recreated in this tutorial.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial, and I would be super happy to see any results in the comments below!