Hello! Today I will show you how to draw a delicious ramen! Throughout this experience you will learn facts and tips, and see what you create! This drawing is also applicable to be done by beginners. Have fun!

I have included the tips provided in this drawing as a list in Step 8, for reference.

Supplies

*Keep in mind that this is more of a sketch, so I don’t recommend coloring it. It may be harder to color.*

This drawing does not require much art material, all you need is:

Paper
Any 2 Pencils (most pencils are usually #2 or #2HB, but you can check for the number on your pencil)
To add to that, one needs to be sharper than the other, but this is not required if you can press it more)
Eraser
(Optional) Marker
(Optional) Coloring Materials

If you have these materials, you can use them instead:

Paper
#2 Pencil and #6 Pencil
Eraser
Blending Stump
White Colorpencil/Gel Pen for highlights
(Optional) Marker
(Optional) Coloring Materials

Step 1: Drawing the Ajitama Egg

Ajitama eggs are a key component of ramen, although they don’t cause the yellow color in ramen. That comes from kansui, or alkaline water that is naturally in the well water used to make ramen.

To draw anything, we can start with basic shapes and develop from there. Drawing eggs is a good example.

First, draw a circular oval shape for the egg.

Then, draw a circle for the yolk that lingers toward one side of the egg (near the right side is usually better).

The egg in ramen is usually raw, so we will need to do some extensive shading to show that in our drawing.

Color in a part of the egg with the darker/sharper pencil. Then make a line connecting it to the edge of the yolk circle.

Rub your finger over the entire egg to blend and add shading easily. If it doesn’t look like my egg in photo 3, then you could try making your lines darker and try again.

If you want, you can draw another egg the same way, but if you underlap it then you have to shade a shadow accordingly.

Step 2: Drawing the Meat

Another common ingredient in ramen is ChaShu (longly braised) pork. It is very tender and added for flavor.

As said before, all drawings can spout from simple shapes. For this kind of shape, we can relate it to a slice of toast or a type of cereal to make it easier to draw.

Start drawing the shape of the meat with dark lines. (You can refer to photo 1 where I drew the shape)

Around the shape, draw light lines and smudge/blend them with your finger, making the meat look more realistic.

Finally, draw faint lines from the top to the bottom of the shape, like I did in photo 3.

You can add another one in the ramen if you want. However I don’t recommend doing that until later, because the meat are usually more spread out so I would need to complete more of the drawing to analyze how far to place it.

Step 3: Drawing the Narutomakis/Fish Cakes

The Narutos/Fish Cakes are an eye-catching part of ramen and blend in perfectly with its broth. These fish cakes have a less fishy flavor in taste and are more subtle, chewy seafood, due to the egg white and starch mixed into it.

This is an odd shape to base from, but you can relate it to a ⚙️ gear in a machine.

Start drawing this shape with humps around in a circle.

Then lightly draw around these humps and smudge/blend it with your finger.

Finally, you can draw the iconic swirl in the middle!

You can add one or two more near it if you want. Remember that if you underlap it, you need to accommodate extra shading.

Step 4: Drawing the Aonegi/green Onions

Aonegi are chopped green onions found plentiful in ramen. It’s a pretty straightforward topping, as well as being easy to draw.

I would recommend adding about 11-14 of these in your drawing, because being excessive with things in a drawing is never good, and can even become an unwanted center of attention in a drawing.

Start drawing small circles grouping around the bigger toppings. These don’t have to be perfect circles, and you can try making them a little rounder or oblong. You can even try drawing them lopsided or sideways.

So far you have drawn the outlines of the chopped green onion. Press harder on your pencil and thicken them, making them darker as well. The darker you make these, the better they look. Try not to make them so dark they blend in with the other smudges in the drawing.

Step 5: Drawing the Noodles

You can’t have ramen noodles without the noodles! These wheat noodles can be straight, thin, curly, thick, etc. But the various styles of noodles can change the taste of ramen in some circumstances.

Usually in ramen, thin and curly noodles absorb the miso broth and make the dish tastier. Adding these small details in drawings can make them look more authentic and show a lot. It’s important to not disregard these minor addends.

Draw wavy lines in pairs going around the toppings as noodles. The more lines you add, the better it looks, but remember not to be excessive.

As I go through the lines, I can add more toppings like the chashu meat or the narutos.

[Originally I wanted to make these lines more horizontal, like ramen in a bowl. However, I kind of lost track of it and it turned out to look more vertical than I intended. But it’s okay to make mistakes in a drawing, because you can guide this into a new masterpiece. So instead, I turned it into a unique spilled ramen drawing. It kind of reminds me of the proverb “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” :D]

Find a stopping point for the noodles and draw a dark circle around it. Part of this circle should get hidden under the noodles. Then draw a lighter oblong crescent kind of shape that goes behind it, so it looks like a fallen bowl.

Step 6: Drawing the Spilt Miso Broth

The Miso broth is a rich broth in ramen and is a flavor in itself. Although it can go well in the beginning, everything can change throughout the cooking based on the process used and a variation of ingredients used, but it always remains delicious in a way.

In our drawing, the miso broth won’t look different from any other spilt liquid, so it won’t be too hard to draw. But before we get to drawing the broth, we have to complete the bowl.

Lightly color the bowl like in photo 1. And what I mean by this is to just add lines, transitioning dark and light throughout the bowl. Then just smudge/blend it and the bowl is complete.

Next, draw the shape of the spilt broth, maybe some jagged, curved lines and a few circular drops around the side.

Just like we did for the bowl, add a bunch of lines in the shape of spilt broth and smudge them. (see photo 3 for guidance) Don’t forget to also do the drops!

With the toppings, bowl, and broth complete and shaded, the drawing is almost complete.

Step 7: Finishing Up

As of now, we need to complete shading the pasta and adding finishing touches. It’s always good to keep clear track of what you need in your drawing, so that you don’t miss it and alter the end result.

After all the smudging that’s been, done your lines may have become lighter and less clear. So retrace everything and try to make it more visible, and darken what you need to.

Then we are going to darken the insides of the bowl. Press hard on your pencil to cover empty spots in the bowl, until the noodles and toppings look brighter compared to the emptiness of the bowl.

Like we’ve done before, add small lines throughout the noodles and smudge/blend them, making them look more realistic. Also smudge/blend anything else you need to, like shadows under the bowl and broth, or darkening your toppings a bit. With all the smudging/blending that’s been done the paper has greyed a bit, and when I use my eraser the white color of the paper starts to look much brighter in it.

Finally add highlights by erasing small circles and lines throughout the dish, like in photo 4. You can add your signature and complete the drawing.

Step 8: All Done!

Thank you for viewing this project! This was very fun for me to make, and I hope you learned a lot and had fun too! I have included a summary of tips from this project for quick access, so you can use them when drawing!

Tips For Working On A drawing

Starting a drawing:
Start with basic shapes and spout your drawing from there (Ajitama Eggs, Chopped Green Onion)
If a shape looks irregular, you can relate it to an object and draw it like that (Narutomaki, Spilt Miso Broth)
Throughout working on the drawing:
Don’t be excessive in adding things (Chopped Green Onion)
Adding small details can show a lot in your end result, don’t neglect them (Shape of Noodles)
If you make a mistake in drawing, keep going! It may result better than it looks at the moment (Noodles)
Finishing the drawing:
Keep track of what you want to have in your drawing (Noodles)
Revisit parts of the drawing and keep them in check, you may not notice them get smudged or blended

General Drawing Tips (Shading, Blending/Smudging, etc.)

Whenever you place an object under another, remember to shade the adjacent parts
Without a Blending Stump, you can draw small lines and rub them with your finger to blend and smudge
If your drawing is so smudged and dulled, erasing parts of it will make the white paper shine with highlights
Pressing harder (usually dull pencil) = Darker and Thicker Lines; Sharpened Pencil = Sharper and Lighter Lines