Flowers Sketches

Get your pencil ready and start copying some of the flowers sketches here.

Oh, and be prepared for a surprise when you see how easy it is to duplicate these simple flower sketches. You know how I love anything that is simple!

Whenever I sketch, I think of it as a freedom technique.
All the rules fly out the window, I don't have to worry about proportion or accuracy, I only have to put on paper what I see.

Ok, today I have decided I'm doing some various sketches of flowers.

The first thing I need to do is put away my eraser because it is not allowed!
(Sketches are meant to be produced without thought so there is no need for an eraser.)

I clear my mind and I want to do my interpretation of flowers in the easiest way possible.

I used a sketch book with textured paper and a wooden 2B pencil, so my sketches here are all a little blurred, sorry about that.

Quick Sketches

If you feel uncertain and you're not sure how to start flowers sketches, it's a great idea to roughly block out the shapes first.

Of course, these lines should be very light so you won't need to erase them - they'll form a part of your lively sketch.

This is an example of how I blocked in a stalk of snapdragons as the very first stage of the sketch.

I darkened it a bit in a great free image program called Paint.net but in reality, my sketch is very, very light.

So now I have a rough draft, I can proceed to fill in the blanks, so to speak.

This next image is my finished sketch, complete with block-in lines.

It's rough but that's the result I was after. My challenge was to get these flowers sketches down on paper as fast as I could.

Now I know I can sketch snap-dragons, I can do another based on this experiment and create an attractive version.

If you don't want to block-in, sketch the sweeping curves of the stem first.

Learning to sketch adds a whole new dimension to your drawings. A lot of artists use a sketch as a preliminary drawing.

When I draw, I tend to take a long time getting the outline right and I pay attention to proportion along with other considerations.
When I sketch I don't pay attention to anything!

A Sketching Tip

For this sketch of Lily of the Valley, I used a 2b wood pencil for the majority of the sketch but I swapped it for my mechanical pencil to put in the delicate flowers.

You make changes to your flowers sketches not by erasing, but by drawing in new lines, and keep going until you have found the correct lines.

When you are satisfied with a good line, make it darker than the others so it is the one that stands out the most. This little (important!) tip makes for a very spirited sketch and it also helps you to learn to rely on your eyes.

This technique is the best way to prepare for truthful sketching. By keeping your incorrect lines, you allow yourself to improve.

It is difficult if you're used to drawing one line at a time but it won't take long this way before you will be able to produce good sketches without drawing unnecessary lines.

Simply determine to do your best and you'll have a great head start. As you progress and once you see good results, this encourages you with more resolve to persevere.

Pencil Art Sketches

This is a honeysuckle sketch that I had fun creating.

I didn't want to waste too much time with the lattice work so I roughly sketched it in with cross-hatching.

Honeysuckles are fairly intricate but when you sketch really fast, they seem to appear on your paper without too much effort.

I estimate that the flowers sketches on this page were all completed within a couple of minutes.

The wooden frame holding the honeysuckle is slightly crooked but it still has a charm that appeals to me.

Sketches are meant to be performed without premeditation. Whatever is wrong turns out to form part of its character... well, that's what I tell myself, anyway!

Sketching is usually done quickly and as a bonus it provides you with instant gratification.

If you get into the habit of sketching without erasing, it is a way of teaching yourself to see how an artist sees.

Sketching Advice

It's a very humbling experience for me to show you my pencil sketches because I know they are not perfect.

This is my hobby, just like I want it to be your hobby and I want you to experience the complete joy in the creation, as I do.

In my opinion, if you want advice then you go to someone who has faced the same challenges that you are experiencing. That is the person who will help you the most.

A lot of experts don't practice what they preach so if anyone gives you a critique on your artwork that you didn't ask for, then you have every right to ignore them. As a matter of fact, I encourage you to ignore them!

Don't let anyone's thoughtless words erode your confidence or diminish how proud you feel about your artwork.

I hope you copy these flowers sketches and I hope you love your results. Your sketches don't have to look anything like mine, so long as they resemble flower sketches, then you have done a good job!

The main thing is for you to get pleasure from looking at your pencil sketches, I know I do!

Like to read more about drawing and sketching? See:

Old Barn Drawings

Easy Pencil Drawings

Bird Drawings

Nature Drawings

How To Sketch