How To Draw: Spring Flowers

Drawing flowers can be as challenging as drawing birds. In birds, there is a lot of detail to consider with things like feathers and plumage patterns. In flowers, it is about colour. Using a pen can distract the colours, so in this How To Draw, I will only limit the use of a pen for the outlines and use the most of my colouring pencils to make the detail stand out. I have three species to draw for you today and each shows you a different way to draw flowers.

Stage One

My first flower to draw today is the primrose. You will find them in many woodlands and gardens at this time of year. They form clusters with many flower heads and the best way to create this is  to draw an uneven blob and draw smaller circles within it. When it comes to drawing plants that grow in this way, it is best to concentrate on the flowers first before the leaves to reduce confusion of which is which when your drawing.

Stage Two

Draw a small circle in the centre of each flower and draw five petals around it which have a notch on the top of each one. When it comes to drawing flowers with more than five petals, count your subjects petals and find a way to fit each one around the centre. In some flowers, the petals have space between each one and may have a bend in them. Just keep these things in mind when you are drawing your flower.

Stage Three

 Next, re-draw the outline of the flowers in pen. Don't connect the petals to the centre though. Make sure you remember to rub out the pencil marks.

Stage Four

Colour in your primrose with a light yellow first and then orange for the centres. You can use other colours if you wish.






Now I focus my attention to the leaves. Primrose leaves are easy to draw. All you need to do is create triangular shapes that overlap one another, getting smaller towards the middle. Then re-draw in pen, adding a line down the middle of each leaf and branch more lines coming off it. Finally colour it in.

Stage Five

Stage Six

Primrose

Thanks to having few petals, primroses are simple enough to do, but what if your subject's flower head is covered in petals? Dandelions for example, have about 200 florets (tiny petals). How do you draw all of them? Well, the best way is to draw a three zoned target (a circle within a circle within a circle).


Stage One

Then create a jagged edge for two of the circles (not the central one) and make lines radiating around these rings. It is easier to draw them like this than to count each floret.

Stage Two

Re-draw in pen. It is now that you can create the individual florets that range in sizes and with spaces seperating some of them. Keep in mind to not press too hard when your drawing in pen, otherwise it will stand out as a slight mess.



Stage Three

 



Colour the flower in. Create a base layer first of light yellow, then orange in the middle two circles (brighter orange in the centre) and then use a heavy layer of yellow for the outer florets.

Stage Four

 

The leaves of a dandelion are long and thin with a jagged edge. I create stretched rounded shape first as a guideline. Within these guideline shapes, I make a line down the middle and then create the jagged edging. After that, I re-draw around the jagged shapes, rub the pencil markings out and coloured them in with a bit of light pen squibble to add a bit of texture. The stalk is simply two lines connecting the flower to the leaves and coloured in also.

Stage Five

Stage Six

Dandelion

Stage One

My last flower for today is the daffodil. Daffodils are tall stemmed plants with that iconic trumpet part. I'm going to draw the whole thing this time. The leaves are simple very long and thin pointed tipped triangles that can be straight or bent downwards. The flower head is a large circle with a smaller one lower down inside it. If you are doing a daffodil facing to the side, draw a vertical oval with a horrizantal oval sticking out from the middle.

Stage Two

I now draw a smaller circle in the centre of the trumpet with a small shape at the top of it (the stigma). I create a ruffed fringe around the outside of my trumpet which is similarly a series of bumps with a slightly jagged edge. There are six petals (though one is hidden by the trumpet and you can only see the tip of it at the bottom). Start with the top middle petal first then the others. Only this top petal is drawn differently like a tall semi-circle, the others are like drawing slices of melon sticking out of the large circle you are using as a rough guideline.

Stage Three

Now re-draw in pen and rub out the pencil lines. Remember, I am only using the pen for the outlines and not for the detail. By the way, when you are drawing a daffodil from the side, the trumpet needs a fringed end and you need three to four petals ranging in size smaller to the ones I'm drawing from the front, as the distance and shape of each one has changed as you look at it from it's side.

Stage Four

 When it comes to colouring in, as before, use a light layer of yellow for the flower and green for the leaves and stalk. To create the detail that shows the depth of the grooves and ridges and the shadow inside of the trumpet, I use a light layering of orange and brown in lines. Inside the trumpet, layer these two colours in a rounded motion and in a slightly heavier manor, only leaving it a bit light towards the middle. I then layer on the yellow, much thicker on the trumpet fringe than on the petals. I also add a bit of grey to the leaves and stem, completing my daffodil.



Daffodil

I hope you have enjoyed drawing flowers as much as I have? They can be as complex as drawing birds and anything else. Keep practicing and you will get the hang of it like everything we've drawn so far. I might do an Easter themed How To Draw next week. Until then, good luck with the drawings!