How to Draw a Bleeding Rose

Bleeding roses give any drawing a dark twist.

If you're a goth, anime or heavy metal fan, the bleeding rose features prominently in genre artwork. Vampires, rock stars or villains all could accessorize with a bleeding rose, or you could work the rose into a still life piece. To get the details just right, put a real rose on your drawing table, shine strong light on it and get drawing. Bleeding rose sketches combine the detail work of a rose with the spatial challenge of getting blood drops and dribbles just right. Practice regularly to keep your skills sharp.

Instructions

1. Draw a circle to represent your rose head. From the circle, draw a line down for the rose stem and a couple of short lines at 45 degree angles to the stem (for the leaves).

2. Thicken the stem by adding a second vertical line, parallel to the first. Give your leaves feathered edges so they look like the real deal. Leaves should have feathered edges on the top and bottom with a center line.

3. Draw three to four wavy lines that bisect your circle, ending just over the outer edge of the circle. These serve as guidelines for your petals, so just space them evenly and give them waves or twists.

4. Fill in the dimensions of the petals, using your rose as a guide. Rose petals open differently, and each petal has its own curled edge. Turn the wavy guidelines you drew into opening rose petals by drawing from your guide rose. Once you've got the petals in, erase any guidelines you used.

5. Plan your blood's depiction. Once you've got an idea draw the blood by making small teardrop shapes for individual drops. You might want a drop of blood falling from the rose stem or down from the rose petals. You may prefer blood cascading down the rose face, bleeding down the petals before falling off. For a dripping pool of blood, draw a semicircle on the rose petal with several lines down. Add curved lines to the guidelines to form "legs" of dripping blood.

6. Shade or color in the blood to complete your drawing. Use red hues for the most realistic look.

References

• Drago Art; How to Draw a Simple Rose; January 3, 2008
• Drago Art; How to Draw Blood; March 17, 2009