How to Draw a Simple Rose BudRoses may smell as sweet by any name, but many have found them less than sweet to draw! I, too, struggled with creating an image of this perfect flower for many years. Then one day I watched an artist friend of mine as she whipped out a beautiful bud, just waiting to blossom. I demanded to know how she did this with such ease, creating a bud that looked like it was waiting to be plucked and handed to the object of her affection, while my so-called roses ended up looking like some abstract nightmare. Thankfully, my friend was as patient as she was talented, and she showed me the following easy steps for drawing a simple, elegant rose bud.
1. On your paper, draw the stem. Remember, rose stems are rarely straight and are slightly thicker at the base than up by the bud.
2. At the top of your stem, draw a slightly elongated circle. This is the base of your bud.
3. About an inch above your base, draw an eye-shaped oval that is about half as big as your base circle. This is the top of the bud, and will be connected to the base with your leaves and petals later.
4. Now it’s time to connect the top and bottom of your bud. Start at the top with your oval, and draw a line on both sides, connecting it to your base and curving slightly inward then out as you move from top to bottom.
5. You may add the initial shape of the leaves at this time. I usually place two at staggered heights on the stem, and remember, “Every rose has [a] thorn” (Poison, 1988), or two.
6. Now it’s time to begin the petals. On the left hand side of your bud, draw an elongated, backward “s”. Start about halfway up your bud and about ¼ of an inch away, connecting the line at the base. Repeat this line on the opposite side, this time making the “s” face the right direction.
7. From the tip of the left “s”, draw the rest of the petal with a similar curving line, taking the line across the front of your bud at the base. Make sure your petal isn’t too narrow.
8. Repeat the process on the right hand side of your bud, only stop your line when you reach the body of the bud. This will make it appear as though this petal is coming from the “back” of your bud.
9. At the top of your bud, inside your oval, draw a line that begins on the inside, left edge of the oval and curves around itself and then around the edge of the oval. Extend your line out past the oval slightly, and then connect it down to the petal on the left. This is the center of your bud.
10. Draw one more, small petal coming from the back of the left hand side of the bud. This is just a small, rounded triangle.
11. You’re rose is essentially finished! Now it’s time to add shading and depth. Be sure to erase the lines of your original circle and oval, and add the greenery at the base of the bud. Make your leaves look realistic by making the edges appear jagged and adding veins.
12. At this point, you may leave your rose as-is, or fill it in with colored pencil. The choice is yours!
There you have it, a rose bud perfect enough to send to your love! |
