how to draw ketchup inside a realistic bottle

Learning how to draw ketchup simply means working with a very singular bottle. Over the years, many brands produced this condiment. Several bottle shapes were also created in the process. In this lesson, let's draw a product that looks familiar and visually easy to recognize. You will also learn how to create basic effects to create a ketchup clip art that is appealing and somehow ... delicious. Ready? Let's move on with the first step ...

working on the silhouette of the bottle

First, let's work on the silhouette of the bottle using mostly long broken lines. Notice the sharp edges on both sides of the object. The line used in the bottom of the subject is also slightly curved. Don't forget to draw a cap using a curved line on top and a straight one on the bottom. You can also draw a simple label below the cap.

adding more details to the ketchup clip art

Inside the cap, you can draw a few short lines made with pointed ends. Another large label is drawn near the bottom of the object. The label is made from a square and a simple tomato is drawn inside. You can also add the word "Ketchup" above the vegetable. Nice work. It's now time to add colors and create a few basic effects.

working with gradients

Adding gradients to this illustration can serve two purposes. One, the object is now filled with simple colors. The cap and both labels can be white while the bottle and the tomato are red. Second, adding gradients can create depth inside an illustration quite easily. See how the bottom of the bottle is much darker than the top. It's also the case for both labels and the cap.

drawing beautiful shadows

Gradients are nice, but this tool is definitely not enough to create all the volume we need inside this picture. In this step, you can draw dark shadows made from solid shapes as shown below. These new additions must be partially transparent to create a realistic result.

You can draw shadows below the cap and above the top label. Another shape is drawn below the same label. Two more shadows are created on the bottom of the bottle (on the left side) and on the tomato found inside the larger label.

creating highlights

Now that dark shadows were added to the cartoon ketchup, let's work with highlights. For this step, our goal is to draw white shapes to form reflections and make the object shinier. Once again, these new elements must be partially transparent to be effective. You can draw highlights on the cap, the labels, and the bottle itself.

Nice work learning how to draw ketchup

Yes, this lesson on how to draw ketchup is now completed. Drawing the perfect bottle can be a challenging task. Fortunately, this sample only represents a single option. You can always try to illustrate more ketchup bottles using different shapes, textures and colors.

Above, you can see a resume of all six steps grouped into a single file. Take all the time you need to draw the silhouette properly and make sure that all digital effects are accurate and placed inside appropriate areas. Now that this lesson is over, feel free to draw more delicious cartoon food from the same series here. :)