How to Draw a Sunflower
In this drawing lesson I will show you how to draw a sunflower, which since ancient times has been one of the most common plants in still lifes.
First, I’ll tell you what you need to know before you start drawing a sunflower, then we’ll move on to the actual drawing process, and at the end I’ll give you some useful tips to improve your drawing skills.
Table of Contents
Basic Information for the Lesson on How to Draw a Sunflower
As I said above, the sunflower has been found in a variety of works of art since ancient times. For example, you might have seen this plant in the painting Bouquet of Sunflowers by Claude Monet.
It’s not for nothing that this flower is so often found in art, because it has a very characteristic textured appearance. For example, in the game The Witcher, this beautiful and truly sunny plant, contrasting very well, creates the necessary atmosphere.
You, as an artist, must be able to create the necessary atmosphere in your painting. But in order to learn how to do this using the image of a sunflower in your paintings, the first thing, of course, you need to learn how to draw sunflowers.
Here are the most important aspects that you should remember before starting the sunflower drawing lesson:
- Sunflower petals are not spaced equally apart;
- Sunflower leaves are quite massive and have very uneven wavy edges;
- Don’t try to draw each sunflower seed individually; instead, create texture with crisscrossing lines.
How to Draw a Sunflower Step by Step
Step 1 – Draw the outline of the sunflower head.
To do this, draw a simple circle, trying to make it not too dark and contrasting. In the same step, you need to understand what size your sunflower drawing will be on a sheet of paper.
Step 2 – Draw the stem and leafs of the sunflower.
Now use a couple of lines to draw the stem of the sunflower. Don’t try to give it perfectly even outlines. Next, use very general lines to sketch the leaves at different levels.
Step 3 – Sketch the central part of the flower head.
As you can see, this part consists of two circles. It is very important at this stage to determine what size the entire head of the flower will be, and what size the petals and core should be.
Step 4 – Mark the location of the petals.
Sunflower petals spread evenly from the center to the edges. Now you just need to mark the places where these very petals will be located. As I said before, they are not evenly spaced.
Step 5 – Draw the tips of the sunflower petals.
Now using darker and more contrasting lines, start drawing the tips of the petals. To do this, the lines that you drew in the previous step will help you.
Step 6 – Draw the bases of the sunflower petals.
Continuing the lines from the previous steps, arrange these parts in the same way as shown in my example. In nature you rarely see perfectly even things, so try not to make the petals synthetically identical.
Step 7 – Add a second layer of petals.
A sunflower has several layers of petals. To give your sunflower drawing a more natural look, you will need to paint on these layers. They also should not be spaced too evenly.
Step 8 – Detail the outline of the disk florets.
Using many short semicircular lines create a texture as shown in my example. Gradually add a darker, more contrasting look to the pieces.
Step 9 – Draw evenly spaced lines for the seeds.
As I said above, you should not draw all the seeds separately. If you are drawing a sunflower with a pencil, then the easiest way to depict this part is using cross-hatching.
Step 10 – Draw a second layer of line for the seeds.
The lines both in the previous step and in this one should be located at approximately the same distance from each other. In this way, many small diamonds are created that imitate sunflower seeds.
Step 11 – Detail the disk florets.
This is the part of the sunflower where the seeds are covered with so-called disk florets. To give the right texture, use very small semi-circular lines around the entire circumference.
Step 12 – Clean the flower head from guidelines.
It’s time to start giving your sunflower drawing a cleaner, neater look. The round lines from the first steps have fulfilled their role and helped to draw the flower head; now, using an eraser, carefully remove them.
Step 13 – Make the petals of the sunflower more contrasting.
We need this in order to highlight this part of the sunflower artwork, drawing the viewer’s attention to it. Let me remind you that the more contrasting and dark the line is, the closer it seems to us.
Step 14 – Detail the sunflower petals.
Using lighter lines draw the texture of the petals. These lines should follow the outline of the petal itself, diverging evenly from the central part to the outskirts.
Step 15 – Draw the volume of the sunflower leaves.
Using fairly general and rough lines create the outlines of the leaves. The leaves should be heart-shaped, and their edges, as I wrote above, should not be too perfectly smooth and straight.
Step 16 – Detail the sunflower leaves.
Now using clearer dark and wavy lines draw the outlines of the sunflower leaves. To create volume, try making closer leaves darker than those further away.
Step 17 – Clean the sunflower leaves.
It’s time to give your sunflower drawing a cleaner look. Remove all unnecessary lines from the artwork. Next, give the stem a slightly more contrasting appearance, but do not make it more contrasting than the flower head and the leaves closest to us.
Step 18 – Add the finishing touches.
Your sunflower drawing will look more natural if you add the necessary details. For example, using light lines you can draw the veins on the leaves.
Step 19 – Color your sunflower drawing.
The colors of the sunflower are known to everyone, but nevertheless I will give important advice. To keep the sunflower from looking too childish, use more muted tones.
Video Tutorial on How to Draw a Sunflower
Completing the Sunflower Drawing Tutorial
Finally, as I promised you, I will give you some useful tips for further work with the drawing. By following them, you can not only improve your skills in drawing a sunflower, but in general you will learn how to draw a full-fledged still life.
Firstly, as I said above, sunflowers can often be found in various works of art. But in them you will most often find not a single drawing of a sunflower, but a more complex composition.
To achieve this, try painting a sunflower in a vase, as you could see in the Monet painting we talked about at the very beginning. Or, you can draw a few more sunflowers in the background to depict a sunflower field.
These exercises will allow you to approach the process of drawing a sunflower in a more comprehensive way. That is, you will not just depict a sunflower, but create an interesting composition.
