How to Draw an Onion

1. Begin your onion outline by drawing a large teardrop shape, but don't let the lines meet at the top. Instead, connect them with a small zigzag line. Then, draw a curved line across the bottom of the teardrop, noting the half-circle-shaped bulge that forms the root disc.

2. Enclose small curved triangles on each side of the tip of the teardrop shape. Then, draw long curved lines along the sides of the onion, roughly parallel to its outer edges. These are the scales or segments of the onion that are literally leaf bases.

3. Continue drawing long curved lines to indicate the scales. Draw a small "V" shaped line near the top of the bulb.

4. Continue to draw curved lines, outlining successively smaller teardrop shapes within the onion. This portion of the onion is called the apex or apical shoot.

5. Next, outline your second onion. Again, use a long curved line to trace a teardrop shape, but don't complete it at the tip. Use several "V" shaped lines to connect the ends of the line.

6. Texture the skin of the onion with long curved lines. Enclose a partial circle at the bottom, then extend pairs of curved lines from it. Allow these pairs to meet at sharp points, forming the onion's roots.

7. Finish texturing the skin of the onion, drawing long curved lines along its length.

8. Draw the grass-like shoots of the plant. Use pairs of lines that meet at points.

9. Draw a few more green shoots, called scapes. For each, use a pair of lines that meet at points.

Your onion outline is now complete.

Color your onion. Ours is a yellow onion, with orange skin and yellow inner flesh. Some onions are white, others green, and still others purple or red.