How to Draw a Field of Daisies
Drawing a field of daisies can be a challenging prospect. Often a whole field will bloom at once, creating a sweep of color and detail that is visually exciting. But, with so many daisies that it may feel impossible to capture them in a drawing. Creating a field drawing takes some planning. Take a series of photographs and take home a handful of live daisies.
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Instructions
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Place reference photos of the field of daisies where you can see them easily. Place your vase of live flowers on the same table and position your drawing light to shine on the flowers.
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Draw practice sketches of individual daisies. Look at the daisy purely as a series of shapes. Draw on your sketchpad the basic form, the center and the arrangement, size and shapes of the flowers. Turn your vase to draw from different angles including partially closed flowers and even wilting flowers. Do this until you feel confident you understand the shape and form of the flowers. The basic shape of the daisy is two circles, the inner circle of the stamen area and the outer circle created by the petals. The petals are surfboard shaped and even in size. Leaves vary according to daisy variety, including smooth-edged teardrop shapes and toothed, long leaves resembling dandelion leaves.
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Plan out your daisy field on your sketch pad. Sketch the basic elements of your scene: How far away is the field, how much detail will be visible and how can you frame the field to make the drawing visually exciting. Consider adding a foreground element like a stump or part of a fence that gives you a hard object to contrast with the softness of the flower shapes. Transfer your planned sketch to your good drawing paper.
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Draw round and oval shapes within the field of daisies. Use a round and oval template and move from large foreground flowers to small distance flowers. A template is a plastic stencil with perfect circle and oval shapes. Overlap your shapes. The template will allow you to quickly pair and mix the orientation of flower heads. Some should be taller than others. These round and oval shapes are the overall shape of the opened daisy.
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Select one daisy in the foreground to be the defining flower. This will be the largest flower head with the greatest amount of detail. This daisy will have a stem and leaves and be fully developed.
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Draw your primary daisy first. Sketch in the center, the petals, stem and leaves. Consider adding a bee or leaning the flower against a rock, stump or post. Look at the round or oval shapes near your first flower. Your first daisy should overlap or block out some or most of other nearby daisies. Sketch just the parts of those flowers that are not blocked out. Continue working from large to small.
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Check your drawing against good reference photos of daisy meadows. Daisies in a meadow tend to mass like a carpet. By contrast, ther flowers in large groups are more scattered or the flowers peek through the foliage. Correct your developing meadow to be specific to daisies.
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Add stems and leaves on elevated flowers and create clusters with lots of flowers and areas that are all leaves or field grasses. Work from the foreground into the distance until flower heads are just small dots moving with the landscape and terrain. Your drawing may be all field and no sky or you may be able to see mountains in the distance. Try to flow the flowers in a natural and organic shape as a whole group within the field.
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Tips & Warnings
Detail your drawing by adding wilting flowers, broken stems, barns, structures or other field elements. What is closest to the viewer should have the most detail and the field should get lighter and recede as it moves into the distance.
References
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
