Fine Line Flower Tutorial
Dear Wonderful, Creative You:
Over the last six years, presenting roughly 40 different patterns and botanical drawings each year has taught me a lot about how to draw from nature. What initially sparked my interest most about nature’s patterns is the way that they recur throughout nature. Patterns like branching, spirals, spots, bubbles and clusters can be seen at every level of nature and at every scale, from the cellular to the interstellar. This kind of organization at a grand scale has always fascinated me. I love the intersection of art, nature, and science.
Over time, though, I wanted to also practice drawing more complex things with you, like flowers, leaves, fronds, and seed pods, the makeup of the botanical world. I’ve always said that the criteria for a slow drawing is that it has to be simple enough that anyone could draw it, but interesting enough that you’d want to draw it many times, many ways. That meant that I had to find ways to break complex things like flowers and seed pods into simple shapes and letters so that the drawings felt approachable for everybody, not just the more experienced artists. This has ended up being a boon for our community as you have learned to draw more and more complex drawings.
It has also been excellent for me as a teacher. Learning to break things into shapes has helped me draw in a simpler way as well. I still love to use semi-blind contour for capturing tons of beautiful details, but now I have two different methods I can use as I draw things in my journal. And I’ve found it’s wonderful to teach both of these to students so that you have both sets of tools as well.
This quarter in my membership The Gathering, we’ve been focused on the topic of Finding Your Voice as an Artist. We began with using a pattern creation game to explore creating unique patterns. Next, we moved into looking at the botanical world and learning to create unique, slow drawing botanicals with my simple shapes method. Now, in July, for the last month of the quarter, we’re taking a look at how to draw flowers, using fine lines to convey the contours of petals even as they fold and turn. I’m tickled at how many of you report back that you are drawing things you never thought you could.
So I thought it would be fun to give you a simplified version of a fine line flower tutorial to get your creative engine started. If this process speaks to you, we’d love to have you join us in the Gather tier for the full workshop on July 15th, whether live or recorded.
Let’s draw some beautiful flowers:
Let’s talk about process:
Where are you in your drawing journey? Do you find yourself surprised by what you can do, or still frustrated about all you still have to learn? Tell us about it in the comments.
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Hi, Amy! Thanks for your video. Early on in it, you mentioned that maybe the tops of the stamens that you were drawing with circles/ovals were called pistils, and that maybe someone could tell you if that was correct. Actually, it is *not* correct.
Here’s basically how flowers work:
The male sex organs in flowers are called stamens, and they are composed of 2 parts—the filament, which is the sort of thread-like stalk part, and the anther, which is the little bulb structure that you are drawing at the top of the filament. The anthers are what has the pollen (the plant’s male sex cells) in them.
The female flower part is called the pistil, and it is (often/usually) made of 3 parts—the ovary at the bottom (which when fertilized, grows into fruit), then there may be one or more projections called styles going upward from the ovary, and at the top of the style is an often sticky structure called the stigma, which helps to catch and hold pollen so the ovary below can be fertilized.
Many/most plant species have flowers that have both stamens and pistils located together in each flower, so looking at it closely, you might notice a bunch of anthers, but then a differently shaped/differently colored thing or things also sticking up in the central area of the flower, which would be the stigma(s) at the top(s) of the pistil(s).
Some plant species, however, have unisexual flowers, so that each flower has either just stamens or just pistils, but not both together in the same flower. Male and female unisexual flowers can be located on the same plant or on totally separate plants, depending on the species in question (many gardeners might be familiar with hollies, where you need to plant individuals of both sexes near each other to get berries to form on the female holly plant).
Hope this explanation on how flowers work helps! Sorry if it was a bit more than you really wanted to know….but now you’ve got all the main words. = )
Have a good weekend!
Hi Jennifer: Wonderful explanation. I know I’ve read all this before, but it’s a lot to retain! 🤪 Happy drawing! xo
Thanks so much Jennifer!
Anemone!
Hi Amy, what supplies do I need to buy before I join?
I’m a novice but always felt creative. Find myself adding primitive looking flowers to notes & cards. I will be joining. Looks like a wonderful creative outlet for me.
HI Marge! You are definitely creative! And in regards to supplies, I’m about keeping it simple. A waterproof pen and watercolor paper will be great – same supplies as for slow drawing. Can’t wait to draw together!
Anemone
Yay! Thank you for sharing your recommendation 🙂
“For creativity and calm” is very true. One of the things I like about line art, especially drawing botanicals, is the repetition of line and form. And with rendering flowers, I can do it just for fun and not have to worry about the type of flower I’m drawing. 🙂
We’re so glad to hear that you enjoy line art for this reason Rhonda!