How to Draw and Paint Flowers
Learning to See and Draw the Parts of a Flower
Learn how to identify the shapes and parts that form flower, leaves, and stems to make beautiful floral drawings and paintings.
One of my hobbies is growing and learning about flowers. I also love to draw and paint them. The two go hand-in-hand because you really can’t draw something well until you learn about it. So, let’s take a look at how a flower is put together and how to draw and paint it better.
The first thing you need to know about drawing realistic flowers is that each one is composed of small, simple shapes. For example:
Ovals
As you can see here: i121.photobucket.com/albums/o221/alinasandor/Lily2example.jpg drawn lilies begin their lives as simple ovals.
Cones
Tinkerbells, morning glories, and other flowers can be drawn from cones: i121.photobucket.com/albums/o221/alinasandor/MorningGloryexample.jpg
Circles
This hibiscus is a circle: i121.photobucket.com/albums/o221/alinasandor/Hibexample.jpg
Overlapping Shapes
Roses and zinnias have triangular type shapes layered one over the next in a circular pattern. (The trick to drawing these type of flowers is to start drawing the middle first, and rotate outwards.)
Now that we know how to identify the basic shapes of a flower, let’s also take a look at the "extras" that make your drawing a total, whole flower.
Always take time to look at the leaves that are on the flower. Simple, roundish leaves aren’t interesting, or believable. Just like the flowers themselves, leaves are basic shapes with their own features that identifies them, therefore to draw a good flower, you have to draw its leaves well, too. For instance, rose leaves are slick and shiny, with quite a bit of roundness to them. On the flip side, zinnia leaves are velvety, and more pointed.
Another flower part to pay attention to is the flower’s stem. Some flowers, like roses, have thorns on their stems, while others have hair-like spines or nothing at all.
Also pay attention to the center of the flower. It’s not enough to just put a little circle there. Add its stamen and stigma. A good diagram of what makes up a flower can be found here: www.prairiefrontier.com/pages/families/flwrparts.jpg.
Here is a page from my sketchbook: i121.photobucket.com/albums/o221/alinasandor/FlowerSampler.jpg
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