Drawing a rose is both a challenge and a pleasure, learning to draw a rose can be a very rewarding and relaxing experience. Whether you are a budding artist or an absolute beginner, my step-by-step guide will have you confidently sketching roses, playing with composition and building a piece of artwork bursting with the vibrant colours of the English Rose.
Roses are in full bloom in our garden as I write this. The most striking of which, the climbing rose, brings an abundant pop of rich ruby red against the green foliage and garden trellis.
Inspired to capture their beauty before they go over, I grabbed my camera and took some close up shots of their sumptuous layers of petals.
I love the structure of the rose and the way that their petals sit tightly wrapped around one another in the centre, gradually bursting outwards with a staggered overlap. Roses bring joy to any English garden.
From the Middle Ages and until present the rose has been widely used to symbolise love and purity in Art and Literature. Roses were widely depicted in paintings by the Pre-Raphaelite, Aesthetic and Symbolist painters throughout the second half of the 19th and into the early 20th Centuries.
The rose continues to be the ultimate symbol of love and desire in popular culture and society. From fabric designers to tattoo artists, oil painters to photographers, the rose image is a widely depicted, instantly recognisable, commercial and much loved symbol.
I love to draw roses. In fact, I find the process of drawing their soft, curvaceous petal shapes, thorny, tangled stems, deep green leaves and their beautiful layered centres most mindful and relaxing.
That is not to say that depicting a rose in pencil, paint or other Art Material is not challenging. It is a challenge indeed to capture its distinctive shape, smooth, intricate form and to shade the rose sympathetically, giving it true depth and life-like tone.
The very best way to start drawing a rose has to be from life, sat with a sketchbook and pencil in the garden, enjoying their soft scent and three dimensional form.
However, to help you begin your journey of creating rose imagery in your art practice, I have put together this step by step process that I used to create the roses featured in the design at the top of this article.
We will work from a photograph of a rose taken in my garden and I will take you right through from drawing the structure of the rose in pencil right through to adding rich layers of beautiful colour to add depth and tone to your work.
Art Materials You Will Need To Draw A Rose
- A sharpened HB pencil and a sharpener or a propelling pencil with 0.7mm HB leads
- A high quality soft eraser such as a Derwent Art Eraser or a Windsor and Newton medium kneaded Putty Rubber
- Art Paper – you can draw a rose on anything you choose, from a scrap of paper to a high quality watercolour or multi use Art paper.
- Selecting the thickness (weight of paper in gsm) will be dictated by how you wish to add shading or colour (paint, coloured pencil, ink or pastel) to your drawing.
- The Paper – I recommend using Art paper that is above 150 gsm. Winsor and Newton have a great range of papers. I used their heavyweight bleed proof marker paper and I love it.
Familiarising Yourself With The Basic Shapes of a Rose
Before you head into representing the intricate details of drawing a rose on your paper, it is essential to understand the basic shapes that form the foundation of this stunning and somewhat iconic flower.
A rose can be broken down into several simple geometric shapes, such as ovals, circles, and triangles of different sizes. Practising drawing these shapes initially will help ease you into sketching the overall structure of the flower.
By drawing out these shapes before you start your journey into the detail of a rose you can establish a strong framework for your drawing and ensure accurate proportions and placement of petals.
A great way to start is to visualise the rose as a series of concentric circles, with the smallest at the centre representing the bud and the outer circles symbolising the layers of petals unfolding around it.
Study your photograph for a few moments, really looking closely at how the petals are arranged, how they softly wrap one around the other in a staggered, layered formation.
Decide A Size
Decide how large you would like to draw your rose. Choose a circular object to draw around or use a compass to create the outer circle, this will dictate the size of your rose drawing. Next draw two ellipse shapes that overlap one another and cross the centre of your rose. These will help to form the axis of the rose that runs from its centre to its outer petals.
Sketch The Circular Form
Use light, gestural strokes to loosely sketch the circular form at the outer edge of the rose centre. This will be an organic circle shape that gently moves in and out and sits inside the rectangular shape that has been formed by the two ellipses crossing over one another.
Draw The Outer Shape
Next, create another undulating circular shape using the outer circle as your guide on size and also work inside the petal shapes formed by the two ellipses crossing.
Create The Spiral Centre
Now that you have outlined the basic circular shape of the rose, you can begin to form a spiral shape that radiates outwards from the very centre. This spiral looks effective if you use an angular formation (I have included a little diagram in the top right for you to copy and practise this).
Create The Petals
As you work from the centre of the rose outwards, pay attention to the curvature and overlap of the petals, as well as the varying sizes and shapes that create the characteristic spiral pattern of a rose. By breaking down the complex structure of a rose into simple shapes, you can build a solid foundation for your drawing and ensure a realistic depiction of this intricate flower. Note the petal shapes here that I have numbered 1, 2 and 3
Adding Extra Shapes
Looking closely at your photograph, include petals that have serrated edges and angular tips. Create subtle curves, elongated ovals that vary in size and shape as you add more layers of petals. Vary the size and shape of each petal to mimic the organic growth and asymmetry of a natural rose.
Creating Balance
Continue to build up layers of petals as you work from the centre outwards, gradually refining the shape and arrangement of each petal. Focus on capturing the subtle curves of the rose as you go. Notice here I have numbered each different petal shape to help you to identify their individual shape and unique form. Try to pay attention to the direction and angle of each petal, as well as the spacing between them to create a balanced and harmonious composition.
Focus On Depth & Dimension
As your drawing of the rose progresses, step back and assess your drawing from a distance every now and again. Ensure that the overall proportions and composition are balanced and as accurate as possible. Make any necessary adjustments to the shape or position of the petals. Refine the contours and edges to create a sense of depth and dimension in your drawing. Remember that drawing is a process of refinement, so don’t be afraid to experiment and make changes as you work towards capturing the beauty of a stunning rose.
I chose to go over the main lines of my rose with a black fine line rollerball. If you do this too, remember to let the ink dry before rubbing out any guidance lines you have used.
You have now learnt how to draw a rose. Now to take it further.
Adding Colour, Shade or Tone to Your Rose
Now I will show you how to add vibrant colour, shading and tone to your rose using Winsor and Newton Promakers. I love to work with these effective and easy to use pens when creating floral designs, they lend themselves beautifully to achieving a painterly and professional effect to your artwork. Promakers are available in such a vast array of colours that are easy to blend with one another and I love the fact that you can add colour rapidly to your work.
Here are some Art Materials for you to choose from:
- Winsor and Newton Pro-Markers
- Winsor and Newton inks
- Paint – choose from Goache, Acrylic, Watercolour and Oil paints.
Your choice will come down to personal preference and experience. In this example I have used Promarkers.
A combination of several different media could also be used. This can be a really lovely thing to do, using different media as you work allows you to change both the colour and the surface texture of your work.
My motto is that there are no rules to Art, do what you feel and beautiful things will flow out of you.
When we work with lots of different media on one piece of work, we call this a Mixed media piece. For instance, you might decide to use Promarkers to shade the heads of your roses, but you might switch to coloured pencils or paint to achieve the textures of the leaves, stems, thorns and background.
How To Add Details and Shading to your Rose
Before you start to add shading to your rose, take some time to study the photograph you are working from, focusing on the subtle variations in light and shadow that give the rose its three-dimensional form.
Look closely at the petals studying how the light hits their soft, smooth surface creating highlights and how deep shadows are formed between the petals.
Notice how the spiral arrangement of the petals at the centre of the rose have rich shadowy tones. Dark shadows are particularly strong when we look at a deep red rose such as the one in the photograph that I worked from.
Shadows and tone give the rose its volume and its shape, building layers of colour gradually and standing back from your work occasionally will help you to achieve roses that look as though they could be picked from your page.
In the following photographs, I show you in simple steps how to gradually build layers of colour, texture, shade and tone smoothly. Working in one of my favourite media of choice, Windsor and Newton Promarkers, my photographs show how to gently build shade and tone, blending the colour as I go.
As you start to add shading to your rose, keep looking closely at the texture and surface quality of the petals. This can vary from smooth and velvety to rough and veined.
Promarkers are wonderful to work with and are particularly effective for creating the subtle textures and patterns found in a real rose. Their wider chisel tip end is great for larger areas of soft colour and their bullet end great for creating detail such as the ruffled edges of the petals, the soft folds of the inner petals, and adding thin lines of colour along the outer edges of the petals.
Choose the lightest colour you can idenify on your rose (I chose mustard) and use the chisel tip of your Promarker to create marks that follow the curve of the rose petals. Start at the centre edge of the petals and pull the pen toward the petal edge, curving the direction as you go.
Keep adding curved tone to your petals until each petal has colour, remembering to leave some white highlights.
Next, working form the centre edge of each petal, again with your chisel tip end, start making curved lines that softly overlap one another giving the rose subtle texture (I chose to work in Ginger Promarker) pay attention to how far the darkest areas of your rose begin and end, leave some Mustard and the white areas to create more highlights and gradual tone.
Have a little test area for colours next to your work, try each colour that you use on top of one another and practise the strokes you make with your pen. I had fun with Rose Pink and lipstick pink, gradually layering colour on top of the mustard and the Ginger, remembering to focus on the curve of the petals and building the richest areas of colour.
Using a much deeper tone now (Lipstick Red) start to outline each petal. Layer on top of your curved marks for the deepest of the petals and use the bullet tip to create a finer series of lines that curve over the top of the petals, from their centre edge outwards, stopping short of their tips. Use this deep colour to add to the rich, shadowy centre of your rose. Proceed with caution, keep stepping back from your drawing and studying your photograph or real rose, being sure not to overshade or muddy the tones by going in too heavy.
Select a vibrant colour with a rich, deep tone (I went for Turquoise) Using the bullet tip of your pen, identify the darkest areas of your rose, from its delicate, tightly wrapped spiral centre, to the areas of the petals that tuck tightly in towards its centre. Using a colour such as turquoise allows you to work more dramatically and helps you to avoid an over shaded, muddy piece. I would always absolutely avoid choosing black to add shade or depth when working in colour.
Switching back for a moment to a lighter tone ( I chose Salmon) blend the darker tones and shading together, this is another wonderful feature of Promarkers, you can lift dry colour and blend by simply working on top of previous colours used.
Choosing an earthy tone such as Cocoa, use the bullet tip of your pen to further enhance those deep, dark areas, work carefully and mindfully, always referring back to your photograph and remembering to use dark tones sparingly.
Tip. Keep all of the colours you have used so far next to your work, now chop and change between them, adding and refining your work as you go.
Review your work from a distance, can you imagine picking that beautiful bloom off your page? If so, it is time to stop and create some leaves surrounding your rose and add some beautiful greens to make that rose ‘Pop’.
Conclusion
I have given you a step by step guide to drawing a rose and then adding shade, colour and tone. I hope you find this helpful and inspiring no matter the level you feel you are at. Keep practicing and the more you draw a rose the easier it will become.
If you have any queries please do add your comment below.
Join me in my next article where I will guide you through drawing and adding colour to the leaves of a rose bush. I will take you through drawing branches, adding sepals and thorns and show you how to create a beautiful repeat design inspired by a summer rose garden.