In this simple tutorial, I’m going to walk through the process for drawing disc-shaped flowers in two different perspectives. Learning to draw these flowers at different angles will help add some extra interest to your floral compositions.
But you may be wondering, “What the heck is a disc-shaped flower, Alex?” Allow me to explain!
A flat, elliptical flower is any flower whose petals bloom out from the center in a circle shape. When viewed from the side, this type of flower looks mostly flat. This kind of flower shape is also known as a ray-shaped flower as the petals extend like rays from the center. This is the kind of flower you’d think of when you were doodling flowers as a kid.
Some examples of spherical flowers include:
Black Eyed Susan
Echinacea
Coneflower
Sunflower
Daisy
More of a visual learner? Check out this YouTube tutorial where I walk through the drawing steps in detail.
Drawing Straight-On
First, we’ll learn to draw a spherical flower as if we were looking at it straight on. We’re going to use guidelines to help us place the petals in the correct spots. If you’ve ever started drawing a flower and ended up with wonky, mismatched petals, this is going to be a big help!
Step 1: Draw the Guidelines
Start by drawing a circle for the center of your flower. Then, using a pencil, draw a larger circle around it. This is going to be a guideline to help you know how long to make your petals. It should look like a donut when you’re done!
Note: I’m using a Sharpie in my example so that you can see it, but you’ll want to draw these guidelines in pencil so you can erase and clean them up later.
Next, draw some lines through the center of the flower like you’re cutting up a pie into even pieces. These will be the guidelines to show you where to place the petals. It will look like a doodle of a sun once you’ve added these lines.
I’m going to add 12 of these lines, but there isn’t a hard and fast rule for how many to add. It will depend on the type of flower you’re drawing. At the end of the day, nature is perfectly imperfect, so there’s no “right answer” when it comes to the number of petals on your flower!
Step 2: Draw the Petals
Now it’s time to add the petals! Use the straight guidelines to indicate the center of your petals and draw them coming to a point at the end of the guideline. Use the outer circle to help you determine the length of the petals. They don’t all have to be exactly equal, but you should aim for having them all finish around the same spot.
You can draw any shape of petal you like. I’m drawing a Black Eyed Susan in this example, so the petals are long, thin, and slightly ruffly. Make sure to look at a picture of the flower you want to draw to decide how to shape your petals.
Continue to draw the petals around the circle, tapering them at the edges. When you’re done, it should look something like this!
Step 3: Erase the Guidelines and Add Details
Now, you can erase the guidelines and add some extra details. You can add ruffled edges to your petals to make them appear as if they’re folding in on themselves, add dots to the center, or add lines in the petals to give them some more depth and detail.
Drawing From the Side
Now, we’re going to take things a step further and draw a spherical flower from a side-facing perspective.
Learning to draw in perspective is helpful so that you know how to make a flower look “right” from different angles.
Step 1: Draw the Guidelines
Instead of drawing a circle, we’re going to start with an oval shape. Next, draw a smaller oval toward the top of the larger oval for the center of the flower. Remember to draw your guidelines in pencil so you can erase them later!
When you’re viewing a flower straight on, the center looks like a circle, but when you view it from the side, the center of many flowers appears to be more 3D. In the case of a Black Eyed Susan, like I’m drawing, the center of the flower is a bell shape.
Draw a curved line to give the center of the flower that 3D look.
Now we’re going to draw the same straight guidelines through the center of the flower that we did before. Start by making a cross shape going straight down through the center and straight across.
Then fill in the remaining guidelines like you’re cutting up a pie!
Step 2: Draw the Petals
Now that the guidelines are in place, we’re starting to see some perspective happening. The petals in front (where the guidelines are longer) are going to be larger. And the petals in the back will be shorter.
The reason for this is that objects that are closer to us appear larger than ones that are further away.
Start by drawing the large petals in the front. These are the most similar to the ones that we drew in the front-facing example.
The petals in the back will be shorter and wider so that they appear to be further away.
The petals on the side will be a little more flat and squished. You can even add an extra ruffle to make them look like they’re curling up on the sides
When you’re done, your flower should look something like this! (Though yours will probably be a lot less messy if you used a pencil for the guidelines 😆)
Here is another version of a disc-shaped flower in perspective without all the guidelines in the way!
I hope that this drawing tutorial was helpful. Learning how to accurately draw flowers is what took my watercolor botanical paintings to the next level, and I’m excited for you to be learning this skill, too!
Want to dive deeper into the world of floral watercolors? Check out my free guide on painting loose roses!
Happy creating,
Alex
Related Posts
