Draw the Stem of the Leaf

1. Start by drawing a 34×2 px rectangle then take the Mesh Tool (U) and click in the center. Using the Direct Selection Tool (A) select only the three points from the middle and move them up. Also using the Direct Selection Tool (A) select only the two top corner points and drag the handles as in the image. Do the same thing with the other two points indicated from the right side. Finally, move the three points from the left side as shown below.

1. Let’s add more mesh lines. Zoom to the middle area of the stem and click on the existing vertical line using the Mesh Tool (U) to add the two points, one above the center point and one under it. As a result you will get two more lines. Also click in the spot indicated on the left side to obtain a mesh line as in the image. The stem is ready and you can start coloring. Follow the numbers next to each mesh point and fill them with the colors indicated.

1. In the next image you can see the colors that I’ve used for the points on the left side of the stem. In the second part of the image you can see the final stem and now you can attach it to the leaf.

1. Place the stalk of the mango as in the next image then arrange the leaf and the fruit is ready.

Draw the Slice of Mango

1. First, use the Pen Tool (P) to draw a shape that looks like a slice of mango. Next, take the Add Anchor Point Tool (+) and add the four points, two on each side as shown in the image. The reason why we need to do this will become clear at the next step.

1. Use the Mesh Tool (U) to add the first mesh point very close to the top edge of the shape and you will get the first horizontal and vertical mesh lines. Zoom the right side and select using the Direct Selection Tool (A) only the mesh point indicated and move it over the point from the corner as shown in the close-up. Do the same thing to the other side.

Note: Without the points added at the previous step, at this point the bottom curve of the slice would have been distorted. We don’t want this to happen because the slice-shape must remain unaltered.

1. Take the Mesh Tool (U) and add another point very close to the first one. Using again the Direct Selection Tool (A) move the resulting points from the sides over the ones from the corner as you did at the previous step. Do the same thing three more times then continue up to the bottom. At the end all the horizontal mesh lines should look like in the image below, like they all would start from the top corners.

1. Zoom in the area indicated and add one more mesh point very close to the last one added at the previous step. This new line defines the edge between the pulp of the fruit and the skin.

1. Let’s continue with the vertical mesh lines. Take the Mesh Tool (U) and click in the spots indicated to get the two lines on the left side then add the other three mesh lines. At this point you can adjust the handles of some of the points if needed to obtain smoother lines, as shown in the second part of the image. When you are done, add the last three lines on the right side by clicking in the spots indicated and the slice is ready to be colored.

1. First, take the Direct Selection Tool (A) and drag the cursor over all the points from the top left corner and color them using the shade of yellow indicated. Do the same thing on the right side. In this case also, I chose only the main colors that I’ve used in order to give you an example on how to color it. The mesh points are too many therefore please check the Ai file if you need all the colors.

Final Image

Here is the final image. Let me know what you think of the tutorial. Hope you like my mango.

Source: http://www.vectordiary.com/illustrator/draw-a-realistic-mango-with-the-mesh-tool-tutorial/