One pinecone lying diagonally, tapered oval mass and overlapping scales following its curved surface. Black and gray fineliner drawing on warm textured sketchbook paper.

Drawing referenceAbout reference use

Pine cone fine ink study

One pinecone lying diagonally, tapered oval mass and overlapping scales following its curved surface. Practice structure, perspective and developed values in fine ink.

Nature & plants Challenging Fineliner70 min, at your pace

A way into the drawing

Establish the main shapes
Draw the tapered overall cone shape.
Connect the structure
Stagger the main scale rows around the curved body.
Develop the drawing
Resolve the connected planes and overlaps, then build layered details and a full range of local values. Preserve clear paper highlights.

A small thing to tryMake the scales smaller toward the tip.