Draw a rose flower

Ahh, roses. Perhaps the ultimate symbol of love and beauty. But if you’ve ever tried to draw a rose flower in a realistic style before, you might not have been enamored with your result.

All those petals make a rose an impressive looking flower, but rather intimidating if you’re hoping to create a representative drawing or painting of it.

But there’s a simple method you can follow to keep you on track with capturing roses on your paper whether you’re working with watercolor or just in pencil.

The key is to build up tone (value) through layers, across the whole flower.

In this mini class we’ll practice this method.

All you’ll need is a pencil and some smooth paper.

As you’ll see, I use 3 different pencils to make it really easy to create a wide tonal range and add in fine details, but with a sharp HB pencil you can achieve a similar result.

I’ll be giving you an overview of the process in this video, to give you an idea of the process.

(If you’re looking for more detailed instruction, there’s a full length video class in Nature Studio which is over an hour long and includes step by step instruction on how to draw a rose flower, rose leaves and a rosebud. Members also get a traceable outline drawing and reference photos).

I hope this little video has inspired you to pick up your pencil and draw a rose flower of your own.

Making tonal drawings in pencil is a fantastic way to develop your artistic eye and practice your skills at creating 3D, detailed studies on your paper.

It’s also great if you don’t have many art supplies on hand or nowhere to sit and paint.

You can find some more drawing mini classes here, like the Calla Lily flower, which is much simpler than the rose, and also the Conker and Toadstool.

Have you found this mini class useful?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Will you be giving this drawing a go? Have you already done it? If so, how did you find it?

Please leave me a comment to let me know.