https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UySIUz6lqsI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBCwTqsrj6Q
I absolutely love flowers! Why, you may ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, flowers are very forgiving when it comes to drawing and painting them. As long as we make sure to keep the main intricate parts of a particular flower where they’re easily recognized, then we are set.
For today’s study, we will be focusing on a hyacinth flower. So what are the intricate parts that set apart a hyacinth flower compared to other flowers? First, upon studying the flower, we learn that its smaller flowers grow in larger cluster groups that appear to make a cone. Next, we find that each of its individual flowers has 6 petals that come together almost like a star. We also learn, on closer examination, that these flowers grow in an open “cone” shape with tiny stamen (or those tiny pollen collectors) at the center. We also learn that their leaves grow closer to the base of the plant and grow upward in a “tear drop” shape. So, already we have learned a lot about this plant just by observing it. If we make sure to draw these intricate items into our drawing, someone will easily recognize our flower and be impressed with how detailed it turned out.
You’re probably thinking now, “Okay, that’s great, but where do I begin?” Well, that’s what I’m going to teach you today: how to draw a hyacinth flower from scratch.
Prepping Your Paper
Setting Up Your Paper
On an 8 in by 8 in sheet of watercolor paper, first draw a square box 1 in by 1 in away from the edge of the paper. This will create an exact square border around our drawing.
Step One: Drawing the Stem and Leaf
Drawing the Stem
Then, with a pencil (I prefer to use 4H because it’s easier to leave lighter lines on the paper), draw a slightly curved line starting from the bottom of the inner box and extending to the upper left corner. If I pretend to place a tic-tac-toe grid over the box, this curved line would be in the lower right corner and extend up to the upper left corner. Now, starting from the base of the stem, draw a parallel line that slowly converges at the top of the stem, as shown below.
Drawing the Leaf
With your pencil, draw a curved triangle jetting out from the corner of your stem, as shown below.
Add smaller lines to represent veins on your leaf. Begin in the center of the leaf and draw lines from the bottom to the top. Then add lines on either side until the leaf has the desired amount of veins.
Step Two: Mapping Out and Drawing Your Main Flowers
Mapping Out Main Flowers
On the top of your stem, first draw a curved V. This will be the first flower in our cluster.
Now, alternating as seen below, draw 6 circles down your stem. These will represent our main open “bloomed” flowers.
Drawing the Open Bloomed Flowers in 3 Ways
The basics for all flowers:
- Keep in mind while drawing that hyacinth flowers have 6 petals which appear similar to dew drops coming out from the center of the flower.
- At the center of each of your circles, draw a small frown.
Flower Type #1
For 4 flowers (the ones facing almost exactly at us):
- Draw 6 lines, as shown below, exploding from the frown.
- Then, using those lines, draw rounded tear drops around each line, as also shown below.
- 3 petals should overlap the others. This will help you later with shading.
- Now, from the center of the frown, draw 3 to 4 small ovals to represent the stamen (or pollen section) of the flower.
Flower Type #2
For 1 flower (this one is slightly tilted away from us, on the left side):
- Draw 5 lines exploding out from the center. Once again, draw curved tear drops.
- However, for the last petal — just to add some variety — from the frown draw a curved fan, as shown below. Then draw a tiny line above the fan to represent curling of your petal.
Flower Type #3
For the last flower (this one is located at the bottom of your stem):
- Erase your frown.
- Then redraw it in the same place, but turned on its side, like shown.
- Once again, draw 5 lines (almost like a star lying on its side) from the center.
- On the lines directly opposite each other, draw two rounded dew drops, as shown.
- On the two lines at the bottom, draw more boxed petals, as shown.
- On the line at the top, draw a more angled dew drop.
- Then draw a curved line connecting the top and left petal, like so.
- Lastly, draw small ovals inside the curved frown.
Main flowers done!
Step Three: Mapping Out and Drawing Side View Flowers
Mapping Out Side View Flowers
We already have one of these mapped out at the top of our stem. Now we just have to map out the rest. Map out 10 more with angular V shapes, as shown in the image below.
These side view flowers are all drawn the same. The only difference is some are smaller than others and they point in different directions.
The Basic Structure of a Side View Flower
(This will most likely be the hardest of all the flowers to draw. Don’t get discouraged though — it’s just because our brain doesn’t normally process flowers on their side. We like to think of them fully open to us.)
For this flower I’m only going to use pictures, since there are no “shape” words to really describe what I am doing.
Step Four: Adding Background Petals/Flowers
- Since hyacinth flowers are formed into clusters, they should appear full, with little empty space near the stem. To create this look, we will add our final drawing detail to the cluster next.
- With your pencil, draw seemingly “tattered” petal shapes behind the main flowers. Then, with your pencil, create lines straight through the shape to demonstrate the petal’s direction of growth.
- You can add these shapes wherever you feel necessary. However, make sure not to add too many, to the point you lose all your empty spaces. I placed mine closer to the inside of the cluster, near the main flowers, to help communicate depth. I then placed some smaller “tattered” petals toward the outside of the cluster just to help add balance.
Step Five: Inking Your Flowers
Outlining
First, outline your flowers, stem, and leaf to look similar to a simple coloring page. No details, just simple lines. I used a sketching nib pen from Speedball for this step. However, you can also use a Micron pen — I recommend an 01 or 02, depending on how dark and thick you prefer your lines.
Details
Using the same pen as before, on your “tattered” background petals, ink the directional lines of these petals in order to see the main flowers better.
Next, on your side flowers, add small lines in the direction of the petal (this shows petal veins). I highly recommend using a Micron 005 for these tiny details.
Final Details for Flowers
On your remaining petals, try to locate areas where petals would fold or bend. With very small lines, crosshatch these areas to create texture.
Finally, on each of the main “blooming” flowers, on only 2 or 3 petals, I drew tiny lines coming from the inside of the flower outward to show veins and texture again. Make sure to use this technique on only 2 or 3 petals per flower! If you draw lines on all the petals for one flower, it looks unnatural.
Final Details for Leaf and Stem
- On your leaf, make sure to ink your “vein” lines as shown below. You’ll notice I left gaps between the lines — this helps keep the eye from becoming too overwhelmed with the inking process. (Remember that sometimes subtle lines can be just as powerful as strong, bold ones.) For this section I used my sketching “nibbed” pen.
- Finally, on the stem, in one direction at a slight curve, draw tiny lines to show where the shadow would be located. I once again used the Micron 005 pen for these details.
And that’s it! You’ve successfully drawn and inked a hyacinth flower! Make sure to stay tuned for next week’s episode, where I teach you how to paint this hyacinth!
Love you guys!
Best of luck in your art journey!
Carrie