How to Draw Sushi

Completed sushi drawing with a fish topping, textured rice, and light shading.

Food can have very different and sometimes quite unusual shapes, but many dishes are still very simple to draw. In this tutorial, we will show you how to draw sushi using just a few basic lines and forms.

Here we chose a simple piece of nigiri with fish on top. The basic drawing will take only a few steps. At the end we will add texture and shadows to make the sushi look more realistic.

How to draw sushi step by step

Step 1: Sketch the sushi shape

Begin drawing the sushi with the simplest lines. First of all, depict a shape somewhat similar to an American football. This will form the general outline of the piece of sushi. Then, using a curved line, separate the fish on top from the rice below.

Sketching the sushi shape and separating the fish topping from the rice.

Step 2: Add fish and rice texture

Now let’s create the sushi texture. Start from the top, carefully drawing the texture lines of the fish. Keep the curve of the piece itself in mind when adding these lines so that they follow its shape. Next, with a large number of randomly arranged curved lines, mark the texture of the rice.

Adding curved texture lines to the fish topping and individual rice grains below.

Step 3: Refine the sushi contours

Now let’s make the sushi drawing cleaner and more beautiful. To do this, use an eraser to remove all unnecessary guidelines from the picture. After that, darken the main lines of the sushi drawing and carefully trace the texture details. This will make the sketch look much cleaner and neater.

Refining the sushi contours and texture with clean, dark finishing lines.

Step 4: Add the final shadows

Now it remains to turn the sushi sketch into a finished drawing. To do this, use dense hatching to add shadows to the fish and rice. Place them where the light falls less directly. These shadows will help the sushi drawing look more dimensional and solid.

Finishing the sushi drawing with hatching on the fish topping and rice.

So, above you could see four elementary steps with the help of which you should now know how to draw sushi.

If you coped with everything without problems, then try to sketch a slightly different version of sushi, adding a piece of nori or shrimp instead of fish.

For further practice, try to draw a steak, another simple food with a very different shape. Or draw a burger, a familiar everyday food that is also quite simple to construct on paper.