How to Draw a Magnolia Blossom
Magnolia blossoms are the flowers of the magnolia tree, which grows in the eastern United States and southeast Asia. The blossom petals have a large, pearly bowl shape, making them instantly recognizable by sight. The flower's lemony fragrance also makes it identifiable by smell. The main shapes found in drawings of magnolia blossoms are ovals, but other shapes are present to add natural variety for the artist and those viewing her work.
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Instructions
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1
Draw a small circle in the center of your drawing paper. This is the base of the pistil, to which the bottoms of all the petals will be attached.
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2
Now for the petals. Extend two lightly drawn lines away from the circle for a short distance. Keep the lines close to each other, but not strictly parallel. Make the lines diverge slightly the farther they go from the central circle.
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3
Expand the lines into a wide oval, to make the main petal part. Make the oval very wide compared to its length, but not wide enough to be circular.
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4
Taper the oval to a point. Next add three-dimensional depth to the petal. On one side of the oval, draw a curve that runs a tiny but noticeable distance away from the oval's side. Flow this curve's start and end points into the oval's side. The net effect of adding this new curve is a thin crescent. This crescent represents a hint of the petal's bow-shaped underside.
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5
Repeat Steps 2 through 4 to create a ring of petals coming out of the small central circle. Vary the size and shape of the petals slightly for realism.
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6
Make room for the pistil. With a narrow-edged eraser, clear a narrow path upward from the central circle. Don't erase straight upward, but angle the path slightly to the left or right. Nature rarely follows a path that's strictly upward, even for tree trunks.
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7
Extend two almost-parallel lines a short distance from the flower's center, through the path you cleared. These lines are the pistil's sides.
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8
Make the pistil's tip, or the stigma, by drawing a small oval whose start point is in the narrow space between Step 7's near-parallel lines. After looping above the pistil's sides, make the oval end right next to where it started. This will leave an opening in the stigma to show its connection to the pistil's stem.
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9
Draw an individual stigma as a pair of short, closely-spaced curves emerging from the top of the pistil and coming together to form a point. This will make the pistil look like a tiny blade of grass. Cover the pistil top with these blades.
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10
Complete the blossom by coloring the pistil's top faintly green and surrounding the blossom with the same color.
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References
- Photo Credit magnolia image by Artyom Yefimov from Fotolia.com
