How to Draw Good Flowers

Flowers come in a vast variety of shapes and sizes, which makes drawing them challenging but fun.

Drawing still life is an important step to becoming a skilled artist. Flowers come in a wide range of different forms, and each flower can look extremely different from the next. This means that you have an almost unlimited supply of flowers to draw. However, drawing a good flower can be tricky. If you follow a few simple steps, you will soon be ready to draw any flower that you want.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Flower of your choice, or a photograph of a flower

Instructions

How to Draw Good Flowers

1. Look closely at the flower that you want to draw. Whether you are looking at a picture or directly at the flower in the wild, examine it in as much detail as you can. Look at the stem, any leaves and the petals. Look at the shape and size of the petals and how many there are. The key to drawing a good flower is for it to be realistic. This means including as much detail as you can, so it is important to examine the flower thoroughly.

2. Break the flower down visually into a collection of shapes. Every flower can be broken down into a series of shapes, so to begin with, you should look for key shapes in the flower you are drawing. Typically, petals will be an oval or circular shape, and the stem will be a rectangle. For example, a daisy can be broken down easily as a series of ovals surrounding a circular centre. Other flowers can be more complex. However, if you take your time, you will be able to complete this step with any flower.

3. Fill in with more realistic shapes. Once you have completed your simple shape drawing, it is time to make your flower look more realistic. Work on creating a more exact shape around the basic outline. Your oval petals should get a rougher outline, as in real life the petals are not perfect ovals. This applies to the rest of the flower as well. Work on changing the simple shapes into outlines that are more realistic.

4. Add more detail. Flowers are full of shadows, veins and imperfections, and a good drawing should incorporate all of these features. Shade in the leaves where they appear to be darker. This will add a more lively, three-dimensional feel to your drawing. By adding veins and imperfections to the leaves and petals, you will add texture and a sense of realism. Take your time on this step, as it is important to bringing your image to life. However, do not get too carried away with the detail, as this could result in your final picture looking messy, especially if you are drawing on a smaller scale.

5. Keep drawing different types of flowers. Start with simply shaped flowers, like the daisy, and then work your way up to drawing more complicated forms. Don't try to jump in at the deep end; take the time to master your drawing technique on simple flowers before applying it to more complicated ones.

References

• How to Draw and Paint: How to Draw Flowers
• Drawing Coach: How to Draw Flowers