How to Sketch Plants
Use your imagination to sketch the image of a plant quickly on paper, using short strokes with pencil, charcoal or paintbrush. Don't be concerned about making mistakes; instead, aim for a loose and rhythmical feel. Sketched plants can illustrate the differences that nature provides, not only in types but also in stages of development. Plants can be shown wafting in the summer breeze, losing their leaves in the fall or in any other depiction that your imagination can conjure. If a real plant captures your fancy, look at it while sketching to capture its features.
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Instructions
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Lightly sketch the outline of the shape of the entire plant you've chosen to sketch. Leaves and flowers can grow on vines, fragile stems, stalks and trunks, and leaf types vary widely. The roots can be included if the illustration is for scientific accuracy, but they need not be shown if the plant is drawn in a realistic setting.
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Sketch a line to show the earth that the plant sits upon. Keep in mind that the dirt a plant grows from is not a straight line. If you want to illustrate roots, sketch six to eight squiggly lines that spread out to a width equal to the width of the plant. Draw finer lines that branch out from the main roots. If the plant has a taproot, sketch that in a carrot shape with fine hairlike lines coming off the main shape.
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Sketch a stem that attaches to the ground. Most stems are somewhat straight, but many bend slightly. Strong stalk stems, like those of cat-o-nine tails are among the straightest. A tree trunk may be depicted with closing and opening parentheses shapes, like this: )( .
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Sketch the leaves, which come out of a stem at alternating levels. If you are drawing simple leaves, which have undivided blades, attach one end of each leaf stem to the main stem of the plant and the other end to the leaf's main center vein, the midrib. Or draw compound leaves, which are two or more leaves growing from a single leaf stem. Sketch the veins in the leaves extending them to the edges of the leaves. Suggest a multitude of leaves, such as on a tree, by sketching small curving lines and erasing parts of the branches.
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Sketch a flower head in the most prominent area of your picture if you want to include flowers in your picture. Any of the stages from bud to seed formation can be suggested. Include more flowers in the same area if the first flower is small. To sketch a flower head, first draw the receptacle, which is the hard nodule where the flower attaches to the stem. Depending on the angle of each flower, you may need to sketch its sepals, which look like little green leaves under the flower. To indicate pistils, which grow from the center of a blossom, draw lines with little knobs at the ends. Draw the petals around the pistils within your guidelines. Repeat for the other flowers.
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Draw fruit or spent flowers on bent stems that have grown at a lower height on the main stem than new blossoms. Fruit is heavier than flowers, so indicate weight by curving the fruit's stems.
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References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
