Learn How to Paint a Tomato, one stroke at a time. Easy beginner painting lesson in acrylics.

This how to paint a tomato is part of my Fruit and Veggie painting series.
One of my favorite summer treats is fresh from the garden tomatoes!  That being said I also love painting them too.

This is great for garden projects like garden bed markers, garden signs or whatever you can dream up.  A video is included at the end of this post.

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Supplies:

Plaid Folkart Craft Acrylics
True Burgundy
Tomato Red
Thicket
Fresh Foliage
Wicker White
Brushes

Printable supply list:

You really can just draw a circle shape and work on that, make it bit of a flatter bottom and a slight indent on top if you wish.

Base Paint the Tomato

With a number 12 flat brush base coat the entire tomato with a darker red, I used True Burgundy (full supply list at end of post)

I have said this before but if you are new here I will state it again, reds in bottle craft acrylics are not very opaque so you need to base coat many of your projects when using them. (or try mixing a touch of Yellow Ocher to the base red to make it more opaque)

Next Layer to Brighten

After the base coat dries (I used a blow dryer to speed up the process) you come back and add another coat of paint with Folk Art Tomato Red.

Stroke in the Shape

Double load your brush with True Burgundy and Tomato Red, work it into your brush well so the colors blend across the brush.  (I have an entire post of Basic Brush strokes, click here is you wish to see it and learn what double loading is)

Stroke around the outside of the tomato to add shading, we want it to be subtle.

Using the same c shape stroke in the center more shadow to add dimension.

You can see the ribs here as we start the leaves.  Don’t worry about being perfect, we are giving the impression of a tomato, not reality.

With a number 6 or 4 flat brush double load a dark green and a lighter green and make the easy slider leaf strokes.

To create the small slider leaves just press the brush firmly and pull up as you come to a point, easing pressure on the brush, turn it to the chisel to create the point.

Related: How to Paint Leaves

You can use 5 or 6 of the leaf strokes to create a star shape with the leaves. Next with the chisel edge of the brush, pull a line up from the star to create the stem.

Add a Highlight

Load a #4 or #6 flat brush with a white color (add a touch of yellow to make it really spark, but just a tiny touch).

Create a comma stroke to add a spark of highlight to your tomato.

And there you have your tomato…now enjoy the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qmk_yOBH-A

Happy Painting!

Please enjoy and share!