Draw a Dandelion
A humble dandelion is a simple flower (though it's really a weed) to draw, and can be used to add an artistic flair to notes or on diary pages, and also is a relaxing subject for plain, fun, doodling.
Steps
- Get out the drawing paper and your pencil. These are the basic tools for drawing, and depending on the artistic quality, they can range from simple and inexpensive, to professional grade.
- Pencils come in different strengths. For dark, wide lines, use the soft grade pencils, like 1B <lighter darkest="">6b, and for fine, light lines, harder leaded pencils, H1<darker lightest="">H6. For sketching, an "HB", or common number 2 pencil is fine.
- Paper, as well, comes in different stocks, grades, types, and weights. Newsprint is a cheap, light sketching paper, but does not tolerate much erasing (without tearing) and is usually not suitable for matting and framing. 20# drawing paper is a basic, inexpensive sketch pad paper, fine for doodling, sketching, or even matting and framing. For practice, regular computer printer paper will work.
- Look at a picture of a dandelion, and note the composition if you intend to do more than simply sketch for practice. You have a basic slightly curved line for the stem, and an irregular round shape for the flower, so start the drawing so that the finished image "fits" your page.
- Draw the stem, as a line beginning in the lower part of your page. Bring your pencil up, making the line of the stem, and don't be especially concerned if it is straight, since in nature, flower stems seldom are. Draw another line parallel to the first, making the stem thicker than a simple single line.
- Lightly draw a circle at the top of your stem, and put a light mark near the center of it. These are guide lines, so make them soft and light enough to be erased or unnoticeable when your drawing is complete.
- Begin a "teardrop" shape with the "point" of the teardrop near the center mark you made in your circle. Elongate, or stretch the teardrop shape, out to the circle guide line you drew earlier. The individual petals are very elongated teardrop shapes, so make each one long and thin.
- Continue making these elongated teardrop shapes around the circle, letting them overlap randomly, until the whole circle is filled. You may want to erase out some of the overlapping lines of these shapes to make the illusion of depth more realistic, as the "petal" (each teardrop shape is an individual petal of the flower) on top covers the part of the petal underneath it, so those lines will be invisible in nature.
- Add smaller petals on top of the others. Again you will need to rub out extra lines that are hidden because of petals overlapping.
- When/If colouring, make the petals in the center a darker shade of yellow than the ones at the back.
- The shape of many dandelions is a semicircle which can be shown by putting lots of the small petals (because they are most concentrated here).
- Decide if you want to include leaves on the bottom of the stem. These will be shaped like a teardrop, with serrated (saw-tooth) edges. They should be shortened tear drops, rather than elongated like the petals.
Tips
- Looking at photographs and drawings of dandelions will help you determine the proper perspective for your own drawing, and help you to adjust shapes.
- If you're using a pencil, make sure it's sharp!
- Show your dandelions to an impartial observer who can judge them and provide constructive criticism to help your future progress.
Things You'll Need
- Pencil
- Paper
- Some Free Time
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