This was done as part of an “Apple a Week” series for a Graphics Class. I wanted this apple exercise to look as realistic as possible so I used an actual stock photo from Stock.Xchng as a model. I started out by tracing the shape with the pen tool and then copied the main apple portion, shrunk it horizontally by about 20% and made that copy a darker shade of red. I used the blend tool to create a gradation between the two shapes. I then added a couple of lighter shapes, used the feather filter and changed the opacity to about 50%, then changed the blending mode to overlay.

For the spots, I made several with a white to transparent radial gradient and kept copying them till I covered the apple. These are on their own layer, above the apple part. I then selected the outer group of spots and dropped the opacity down to about 20% and changed the blending mode to soft light. I selected more in the middle and dropped the opacity to about 40% with a blending mode of soft light. Most of the center spots are at about 36% with a blending mode of overlay and a few are at 36% with a blending mode of hard light.

I have another layer with a couple of dark shapes that use a feather filter and the opacity is dropped to 30% with the blending mode set to color burn. Another layer has the highlights, a bunch of white shapes that use the feather filter and the opacity is at 88% with the blend mode set at soft light.

I created the shadow of the apple with two different layers, one behind the apple and one in front of the spots layer. The shadows are essentially ovals filled with a black to transparent radial gradient. The front shadow is placed just over the bottom of the apple and is at 88% opacity and used the darken blend mode.

Tools Used:

• Wacom Tablet
• Adobe Illustrator