Food

Watercolor Lemon

Want to create a fresh, watercolor-style lemon slice in Procreate? This tutorial breaks it down into approachable, mess-friendly steps that feel just like painting with real watercolors—minus the cleanup. Using free brushes and a vibrant color palette, you’ll be working with symmetry, blending techniques, and subtle highlights to bring your digital citrus to life.

Brushes used:

  • Round Watery Brush
  • Fineliner Brush

Canvas Size:

  • 2500 x 2500 pixels

Skills Learned:

  • Using Procreate’s radial symmetry tool: Helps easily create balanced shapes like citrus slices by auto-mirroring brush strokes across radial segments.
  • Mastering watercolor-style blending: The Round Watery brush allows seamless color blending by keeping your Apple Pencil pressed to the screen—just like layering wet paint.
  • Layer masking for highlights: Non-destructive layer masks are used to mimic moisture and shine with soft white highlights painted using black on the mask layer.
  • Adding texture and contrast with multiple colors: By layering from light to dark yellows and oranges, the lemon slice gains dimension and realism while still keeping that painterly looseness.
  • Combining line work with painterly strokes: A fineliner adds just a touch of crispness to select edges without making the artwork feel too perfect or rigid.

Watch more
tutorials