Flowers have been used a symbols of romance, life and even hope by artists, novelists and poets. People who love to draw nature seem compelled to seek flowers as one of their main subjects. The beauty, shape, colors and delicate nature of flowers are perhaps part of the reason for artists fascination with flowers. Whatever the reason, these plants are a joy to create in the medium of illustration.
Creating a Frame Out of Basic Shapes
Every drawing needs some sort of framework. These skeletons serve as a guide for the artist to build shapes and details upon. For flowers, you will need only a simple collection of shapes to create your frame work.
Flowers, as with roses and tulips that are depicted without their petals spread open wide, require far fewer shapes than other varieties. For these flowers, you need only draw each bulb as a slightly distorted oval shape. You can make the bottom section of each oval taper in somewhat just as bulbs taper in toward the stem. Create the stems with simple curved lines at the base of the flower petals. It can help to make each stem curve in a slightly different direction to help the drawing appear natural.
Flowers that display their petals open like the cherry blossom flower can be drawn by creating a fanning ring of slightly overlapping ovals for the petals. Each petal can also taper slightly as it gets closer to the base or center of the flower itself.
Adding Details to Each Flower
After you have created a framework, it will be much easier to add details to your flower drawing. On a rose or tulip-like flower, separate each petal that would be visible to the viewer by drawing slightly curved lines across the bulb guideline. Because these flower petals are packed in together tighter than other flowers, you can show a slight curve on the petals with a curved "C" shape lines.
On other flowers such as cherry blossoms, add the stamen protruding from the center of the flower with several slightly curved lines, with an oval or a rounded rectangle shape on the end. Erase part of the guidelines on the petals to create the illusion that one petal is overlapping the other.
You can also draw two parallel lines around the outside of each stem to thicken the stem. Roses will have thorns on these stems; these can be drawn with slightly curved, cone or triangular shapes along the sides of the stems.
Adding Color
No illustration of a flower would be complete without adding color. Color is what makes flowers so breathtaking in the first place. One of the easiest ways to add color is to use art markers. Consider coloring the entire flower with one medium hue that is a sort of average of the lights and dark colors in the flower. Once you have done this, add shadows with a hue several shades darker than your base. Place these shadows on the undersides of petals or in places that sunlight would not be able to shine. After the markers are dry, add highlights to the flowers using colored pencils. Select a color a few shades lighter than your base and apply this to areas, such as the outside and tops of each petal.
