Drawing of lotus flower with pencil, watercolor, gouache

To learn to draw a flower lotus, a novice artist should know what materials and tools may be needed for work. It will also be useful to consider several step-by-step master classes, where different techniques for coloring a picture will be used.

What you need for drawing

List of necessary materials and tools:

• simple pencil;
• eraser;
• thick white paper;
• sharpener;
• set of art brushes;
• container with clean water;
• coloring materials (watercolors, gouache, colored pencils, felt-tip pens).

To create black and white drawings you will need simple pencils with varying degrees of graphite hardness.

A beginner artist needs a minimum set of tools:

Degree of hardness of the rod	Letter designation
Solid	T or H
Soft	M or B
Hard-soft (medium)	TM or HB

A hard pencil is needed for drawing a sketch, as well as shading the light parts of the picture. A hard-soft pencil is needed for drawing large details, as well as for creating smooth transitions between shadow and light. A soft pencil is used to highlight shadows, draw small elements, and also outline drawings along the contours.

Further in the article you can look at several step-by-step master classes on drawing a lotus flower, using different coloring techniques.

Flower on water, drawing with simple pencils

The lotus flower (the drawing can be colored with colored pencils if desired) has an unusual shape. Each petal is bent inward. This feature can be shown in the drawing by creating a competent transition from shadow to light.

How to draw such a picture with simple pencils:

1. Place the paper horizontally on the table.
2. Using a hard-tipped pencil, mark the horizon line.
3. Draw a schematic representation of the shape of a leaf.
4. The flower should be drawn starting from the center. The first petals will be small and tightly pressed to each other.
5. Draw the other petals. The further they are from the middle, the larger they should be.
6. Use an eraser to erase the lines that were auxiliary.
7. Draw the inner parts of the large petals.
8. Highlight the central veins on the raised petals.
9. Draw veins on the leaf.
10. Draw small round cones on the tips of the petals.
11. Use an eraser to erase unnecessary lines.
12. Use a hard-soft pencil to highlight the shadow on the water.
13. Show shadows inside the concave parts of large petals.
14. Draw a shadow in the form of light shading on a large sheet of paper.
15. Use a soft pencil to outline the entire drawing. The lines should be smooth and short.
16. Blend all these lines.
17. Show shadow on all petals, closer to the center of the flower.
18. Darken the concave edges of each large petal.

Apply a few strokes just below the horizon line, blend them well downwards. The lines need to be blended horizontally.

Drawing with colored pencils

The lotus flower (the drawing can be done with watercolor pencils) comes in many colors. From white to bright pink and purple. This drawing shows a pink flower with yellow spots.

To work you will need a set of pencils of at least 12 colors.

How to draw:

1. Place the paper vertically on the table.
2. Just above the center of the sheet, draw a small circle with a hard pencil. This will be the center of the flower.
3. Draw petals with sharp tips around the circle. Their shape should be slightly concave. The petals located in the foreground should be slightly larger than those located behind.
4. Finish drawing the 2nd row of petals. They should also be concave, with sharp tips, but larger than those drawn earlier. The distance between these petals should be slightly larger.
5. Draw the stem of the flower.
6. In the lower left corner of the drawing, draw a lotus leaf with a cut.
7. Draw the veins on this leaf.
8. Use an eraser to erase excess lines.
9. Use a yellow pencil to color the center of the flower, as well as the middle of each petal. On small petals, highlight their bases in yellow. On large petals, lightly color the sides.
10. Use a light pink pencil to draw the veins on the petals. The strokes should be smooth, with spaces between them.
11. Use a fuchsia pencil (you can use red) to darken the tips of the petals and their bases. Highlight the central veins on the large petals.
12. Use a pencil to draw the stamens in the middle of the flower.
13. Use a yellow pencil to highlight the left side of the stem.
14. Without pressing on the tool, paint the center of the large sheet.
15. Use a light green pencil to completely color the stem and leaf.
16. Use a dark green pencil to outline the leaf and stem. Highlight the shadows.
17. Draw the veins on a large sheet.

Shade the lower part of the background with a blue pencil, and the upper part with a light pink color. Blend these lines.

Simple Watercolor Drawing

Lotus flower (it is advisable to draw on watercolor paper) of blue color, it is necessary to draw combining not only cold shades of paint, but also warm ones. Transitions of these colors will make the drawing voluminous and beautiful.

How to draw:

1. Using a hard pencil, draw the central petal.
2. Add 4 more petals of curved shape and small size. The distance between these petals should be quite large.
3. Draw larger petals with sharp tips. They need to be positioned so that they cover the gaps between the 1st row of petals.
4. Draw 3 bent petals at the bottom.
5. Finish drawing the stem.
6. Wet a large brush in clean water and brush over the drawing until the paper becomes damp.
7. Take orange color on a medium-sized brush. Highlight the center of the flower.
8. Apply red or pink paint to the bases of small petals. Blend the strokes well.
9. Take blue color on the tip of the brush and paint the petals closest to the center. The paint should be applied in a translucent layer.
10. Take a little more blue paint and paint the petals of the 2nd and 3rd rows.
11. Use dark blue to highlight the tips of the petals, as well as the areas where they bend.
12. Highlight the bottom petals (and the shadows on them) with dark blue.
13. Paint the stem with light green paint.
14. Add a little yellow paint to the center of the stem and blend it well.
15. Highlight the base of the stem with dark green.

Apply black color to the tip of the brush and highlight the shadow at the base of the stem, as well as on the lowermost petals of the flower.

Watercolor three-color drawing

Lotus can be drawn using only 3 colors of watercolor paint. In the drawing, the flower will look gentle and graceful. For work, you will need pink, brown and black watercolor.

How to draw:

1. Place the paper vertically on the table.
2. Using a hard pencil, draw the center of a large flower.
3. Add curved petals with sharp tips.
4. Draw the stems and thin leaves.
5. Add a bud consisting of 4 petals pressed tightly against each other.
6. Draw a large leaf.
7. Draw small leaves in the upper right part of the drawing.
8. Wet a large brush in water and run it over the drawing until the paper becomes damp.
9. Apply pink paint to a thin brush. Paint the bud starting from the top of each petal, smoothly moving towards its base.
10. By analogy, highlight the tops of the petals on a large flower, as well as their sides, applying light strokes.
11. Wet the brush in clean water, blend into the lines. The translucent paint should fill all the petals. The closer to the base, the lighter the shade should be.
12. Start drawing the stem with black paint from the very top of the large flower. The stem should be dark at the base and lighter towards the bottom.
13. Draw the stem of the bud in the same way.
14. Thin leaves should be drawn from the base to the end so that their tips appear elongated.
15. Mix brown color with a drop of black paint. Dilute the resulting shade with water.
16. Paint the folds on a large sheet of paper, blending the lines from left to right.
17. Color the top small leaf from base to tip.
18. Dilute black paint with water and paint 2 small leaves.
19. Dry the drawing.
20. Use black paint to highlight the folds on the large sheet.
21. Darken the base of the top leaf.
22. Color the tip and base of the second small leaf.
23. Using a fine brush and black watercolor, paint the veins on the small leaves.
24. Highlight the veins on a large leaf.
25. Finish drawing the center of a large flower. Depict the stamens as dots.
26. Finish drawing the sepal under the bud.

Use dots to highlight the thorns on the stems.

Gouache drawing

Lotus flower (the drawing can be done with acrylic paints), painted with gouache, will turn out bright and beautiful. For painting you will need art brushes with hard bristles.

1. Place the sheet of paper horizontally.
2. Using a hard pencil, draw a large central petal.
3. Add one more petal on each side.
4. Finish drawing the remaining petals, on the sides and bottom.
5. If there are extra lines, they should be removed using an eraser.
6. Mix green and yellow.
7. Fill the upper part of the background of the drawing with chaotic strokes.
8. Paint the lower part of the background with dark green.
9. Add a few dark green strokes in the upper corners of the picture.
10. Fill all the petals of the flower with light pink paint. Apply strokes from bottom to top.
11. Using a smaller brush, darken the sides of each petal, picking up a little more pink paint.
12. Darken the base of each petal with blue gouache.
13. Mix blue with black in a ratio of 4:1. Use a thin brush to highlight the shadows in the places where the petals are bent.
14. Use white to highlight the tops of the central petals. Blend these strokes well from top to bottom.
15. Using a thin brush and white paint, highlight the light parts of the other petals, also blending the strokes well.
16. Use black gouache to highlight the shadow under the flower.

Dip the tips of a medium-sized brush into white paint. Make a few light strokes under the flower, imitating ripples on the water.

Drawing with watercolor pencils

Watercolor pencils are used to draw in the same way as regular pencils. The special feature of such pencils is that their strokes can be washed with water using an art brush with soft bristles. After washing, the drawing will look as if it was done with watercolors. This method is suitable for creating paintings with a high degree of detail.

How to draw a lotus on water:

1. Place the sheet of paper horizontally.
2. In the lower left corner of the drawing, depict a large sheet with a cut.
3. In the lower right corner of the drawing, depict water lily leaves superimposed on each other, as shown in the picture.
4. Slightly to the right of the center of the picture, draw a lotus flower consisting of petals with sharp tips.
5. Draw the center of the flower.
6. Draw water lily leaves in the upper part of the drawing.
7. Draw a bud to the left of the flower; it will be slightly submerged in water.
8. Draw thick edges, folds and veins on the water lily leaves.
9. Using a light green pencil, shade the leaf drawn in the lower left corner.
10. Highlight the light areas on the leaves on the right side, as well as the veins on the leaf drawn in the upper left part of the drawing.
11. Use a yellow pencil to shade the leaf in the upper right part of the drawing.
12. Apply a light green shading over these lines.
13. Use a dark green pencil to show the shadows on the leaves on the right (lower corner) and on the left (upper corner).
14. Color the right side of the leaf shown behind the flower.
15. Using an ochre pencil, highlight the light areas of this leaf on the left side.
16. Paint the edges of the water lilies located in the lower right corner.
17. Use a dark green pencil to highlight the shadow on the leaf behind the flower.
18. Use an orange pencil to shade the bottom of the water lily drawn in the upper right corner of the picture.
19. Use a brown pencil to draw the veins on the leaf located behind the flower. Highlight the contours of the orange color applied in the previous step.
20. Paint the base of the bud.
21. Color the bud with a yellow pencil.
22. Use a dark green pencil to outline the edges of the petals on the bud.
23. Use a brown pencil to show the shadow on the bottom of the water lily drawn in the upper left part of the drawing.
24. Use a dark green pencil to show the shadows on the large leaf drawn in the lower left part of the drawing.
25. Use a light pink pencil to color all the flower petals.
26. Use a dark pink color to outline each petal along the contour, highlighting the shadows on them.
27. Use a purple pencil to show shadows in the center of the flower, between the small petals.
28. Paint the stamens orange.
29. Use a red pencil to outline the stamens.
30. Use a yellow pencil to show highlights on the right side of the flower, applying strokes to the upper parts of the large petals.
31. Shade the water with a blue pencil.
32. Highlight the shadows with dark blue.
33. Use a purple pencil to darken the areas where the shadow should be more intense.
34. Wet a soft-bristled brush with clean water.
35. Blur all the strokes on the leaves. The movements should be neat. It is necessary to achieve moderate blurring. The paints should not mix strongly with each other and spread.
36. Rinse the brush.
37. Carefully blur the lines on the flower petals.
38. Blur the lines on the water.
39. Leave the drawing until completely dry.
40. Use a light pink pencil to draw a reflection of the flower. Just a few horizontal strokes will create pink highlights on the water.
41. Use a black pencil to show the shadow under the leaves. Carefully blur these strokes.
42. Highlight the shadow on the bud and draw the veins on its lower part.

Using a brown pencil, without pressing, highlight the shadow under the flower.

Sketchy drawing with felt-tip pens

You can use felt-tip pens to draw a very simple but bright picture.

Procedure:

1. Use a simple pencil to draw a round center of the flower. Draw a spiral inside the circle.
2. Draw large petals around the center.
3. Add 2 rows of petals.
4. Sketch out the veins and bent parts on each petal.
5. Add a stem. Draw several smooth lines inside the stem.
6. Darken the center of the flower.
7. If there are extra lines, they need to be removed with an eraser.
8. Using a bright pink marker, color the base of each petal.
9. Paint the sides of the lower petals.
10. Trace the outline of the drawing with a black marker.
11. Draw all the veins and additional lines.
12. Select the center of the flower and darken it.
13. Show the shadows under the flower and on the middle row of petals.
14. Draw a few dots and short strokes above the flower.

It is important to remember that the felt-tip pen pigment can soak through the paper. Therefore, before you start coloring, you need to do a small test: shade the corner of the sheet and see if the pigment has soaked through from the back. If the paint does come out, then you need to put a sheet of thin cardboard under the working page. It will help protect the desktop or other pages of the album from stains.

It is not difficult to learn how to draw a lotus flower. Detailed instructions will help beginners. For copying, you can choose the works of more experienced artists.

Author: Frolova Ekaterina

Video about drawing lotus flower

How to draw a lotus flower easily: