Flowers are comprised of shapes such as bells, spikes, stars, pompoms, cups and bowls. Don't think in terms of the flower itself and it will make the drawing process easier. When looking at a flower consider how it connects to the stem, think about how it leans, bows or sits on it. If you study the shape the flower from its base to the tips of the petals, you will see the form appear. A day lily has a trumpet shape, while poppies have a bowl like appearance. Geraniums have a simple star shape and foxgloves resemble bells. Using simple techniques as described in this article, you can learn to draw flowers easily and painlessly.
Instructions
1. Practice drawing shapes of cylinders, stars, pompoms, cups and bowls. They don't need to be perfect as long as the shape is recognizable. Let's use a crocus for the first exercise. Study the cup and bowl form of the flower.
2. Use light pressure on the paper to swirl the shape onto the surface. Looking at the flower in a straight up position you can see it starts out as a cup at the bottom and branches out to a wider bowl opening at the top. Fit the petals within the sketch of the cup and bowl by drawing them from pointed at the tip to wider in the middle of the petal and tapering it at the bottom so it fits into the stem. Buds will be tight with petals close to one another. Other cup and bowl shaped flowers are buttercups, poppies, roses and anemones.
3. Draw a daisy using a pompom shape. Pompoms are round when viewed head-on. They take an altered flattened disk shape when the turned forward. Depending on how it sits will depend on the shape. Daisy petals overlap one another taking on a row like appearance. Pompom shapes can range from a globe to a domed circle. Alliums, dahlias, zinnias and marigolds have pompom shapes.
4. Sketch a star onto your paper. Geraniums are star shaped and easy to draw. Note whether the petals are the same size, where they sit in conjunction to one another. Think about how they lean and if they curl or curve. Follow the star shape using the line as a guide for the center of each petal. Periwinkles, coreopsis, cistus and clematis have a star shape to them.
5. Draw a cylinder for a spike shape. Long and round it will taper at the top to form a triangle. By squinting your eyes, you can see the shape of the flower in silhouette form. Delphiniums, lavendar, gladioli, red hot pokers and hyacinths are examples of spiked flowers. The flower petals fit within the cylinder or droop to the side. Study the shapes after drawing them.
