How to Draw a Hamburger

It’s Drawingforall with a very simple drawing tutorial in which we will teach you how to draw a hamburger.

A hamburger is chopped steak, ground meat, minced chicken, or another meat product placed in a sliced bun. As a rule, hamburger toppings include not only meat. There is usually added onion, lettuce, tomato, cheese, mushrooms, or other snacks.

Sometimes burgers are made with double, triple, quadruple, and so on patties. In today’s article, we will draw a hamburger with two patties, cheese, tomato, and crisp lettuce.

But of course, as always, using the principles shown in this drawing lesson, you can draw a hamburger of absolutely any configuration.

How to draw a hamburger step by step

Step 1: Sketch the basic burger shape

To draw a hamburger correctly, start by sketching the basic shape, which resembles a square with rounded corners. Remember that in the first steps you should not press too hard with your pencil. All the initial lines should be very light so that adding details and erasing unnecessary lines becomes much easier. A hamburger can be tall or low, wide or compact, and at this stage you can lightly indicate its approximate proportions.

Step 2: Add guidelines for bun layers

Our hamburger is quite tall – it has two meat patties and three slices of the bun. Now, using curved lines, sketch the guidelines for the patties and the bun layers. By the way, with this drawing tutorial you can draw any hamburger you like – whether it’s a Big Mac, Whopper, or any other burger. All burgers are drawn in roughly the same way. You can also change the amount of filling by outlining the basic shapes of the ingredients at this stage.

Step 3: Draw lettuce and cheese shapes

Using the light outlines from the previous step, draw the lettuce outlines sticking out from under the layers. Then outline the visible parts of the cheese using simple triangular forms. When marking the burger’s filling, keep the overall rounded shape of the hamburger in mind.

Step 4: Draw the top of the hamburger in detail

Now it’s time to give the burger drawing a more finished and appealing look. Start from the top and carefully refine the upper bun with cleaner, more confident lines, gradually clarifying and tidying up the shapes. Next, work on the patty, carefully outlining its contour and adding texture with small curved strokes. Just below the patty, refine the lettuce leaves and the visible parts of the other fillings, drawing them in a more detailed and defined way.

Step 5: Refine the bottom layers of the burger

Continue refining the details of the hamburger and giving the overall shape a more finished look. Outline the middle bun with a smooth, clean line. Then draw the second patty using the same approach as the first one, adding texture with small curved strokes. Below this patty, refine the second layer of lettuce and fillings. Finish the drawing by outlining the bottom bun and erasing all remaining construction lines.

Step 6: Add sesame seeds on top

On the top bun, carefully draw the small sesame seeds, spacing them in a varied and natural way and slightly changing their orientation. Each seed should look like a tiny teardrop, with one rounded end and one pointed end. Check the symmetry and details of your hamburger drawing once again.

Step 7: Draw dimensional shadows on the hamburger

Now begin adding shadows to give the burger drawing a more dimensional appearance. First, determine the light source. In our example, the light comes from the upper right side, so you should add hatching to the left side of the hamburger. Use light, even strokes for the shading, and don’t forget to add the cast shadow on the surface. When adding the shadows, keep the rounded shape of the burger in mind and apply your hatching so that it follows the form.

How to draw a burger: easy version

Since hamburgers come in many different types, shapes, and from different brands, the ways to draw them can vary as well, even while the basic principles remain the same.

Let’s look at another method for drawing a burger, this time with a slightly simpler structure, shape, and sequence of steps.

In this lesson, you’ll see fewer individual details and more simplified shading. This approach helps you avoid complex rendering while still producing a convincing and even fairly realistic burger.

As mentioned above, most burgers follow the same basic structure when you draw them. However, you can easily adjust your illustration by changing the filling, adding something like bacon, or modifying the buns, for example by making them sesame.

Drawing food is one of the favorite activities among our readers and subscribers. Our food category is quite large, featuring many different dishes from around the world, all illustrated in a realistic manner.

We have already shown how to draw a pizza, one of the most popular Italian dishes worldwide, and how to draw an apple to build a solid foundation for future still-life studies.

Be sure to visit this category and review all the food drawing lessons to develop the skills needed to create convincing and realistic culinary illustrations.

And if you want even more drawing ideas and updates, be sure to check our social media pages, where we regularly share new material and useful tips.