Flower Outline Drawings

Do you love the simplicity of flower outline drawings?

Take a look at this outline of an Arctic Poppy.

Everyone has different taste but I love the elegance of these outlines.

When you are drawing flowers, you can make the task easier by concentrating on one petal at a time. Take notice of the contours and outer shapes.

Start off by doing your initial sketch lightly. (It's easier to erase!)

It's good if you can use a real flower so you can sketch it from all different angles. This is a little challenging but you discover which is the easiest aspect to draw from.

This flower is called the Bird Of Paradise and I think it is quite an exotic looking flower.

You don't have to copy every petal if you are drawing something complex like a Chrysanthemum.

Instead, define the major petals and leave the rest to the viewer's imagination by using some vague lines.

When you are drawing flowers, find a comfortable seat and your favorite sketch pad.

I still like doing my drawings on photocopy paper, but, you have to choose whatever suits you.

These flower outline drawings are all done with my favorite 2B mechanical or retractable pencil. The lead doesn't need sharpening and it gives a clear, crisp line to my pencil flower drawings.

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Pick Up Your Pencil

Now, let's start to draw your outline, ignoring all the details.

Once you have an outline that you are satisfied with, look back at your flower and identify the darkest areas.

Remember that squinting helps you to pick out the light and dark areas.

Put a couple of dark strokes on your drawing to indicate shadow. See how I have put some marks on my outline of a California Poppy? If you're copying from a photo or picture, the shadow would be in the darker colors.

Once you are completely satisfied with your initial light outlines, it's time to go back over your flower outline drawings using more pressure on your pencil.

Erase any lighter lines that don't belong and re-do the lines that the eraser touched.

I had to do that with the daisy outline (on the left), it was difficult to erase the light lines without touching the main lines.

If you want to convert your outline into a drawing, don't forget to leave some portion of the petals without any color at all. In other words, let the white of the paper work for you so it portrays where the light hits your subject.

When you tackle your flower outline drawings, don't be afraid of making mistakes.

This is nature that we are copying from and she doesn't have any set rules on how things should appear.

This outline of a Prairie Rose (right) isn't perfectly drawn but I liked the way it looked.

Just try to get the general shape down on paper first.

Come back to the drawing after a few hours and run a critical eye over it then. It's easy to get lost in a drawing while you are involved with it and it's harder to spot any errors.

Drawing flowers can be done many ways but I opt for the simplest method - look and copy.

Some artists draw the flower within a circle and some divide the flower into four parts. With a little bit of trial and error, you will work out which method suits you the best.

Create your pencil flower drawings by copying any of these outlines.

Once you've mastered the first flower, you become bolder with some confidence so just start experimenting and let your imagination go free.