Whether you decide to paint or draw, every artwork should start with a sketch.
Plant Drawing and Painting
How often do you take the time to appreciate the natural beauty around you? Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can still enjoy the quiet activity of drawing and painting plants. In this tutorial, I’ll share helpful tips and provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to paint and draw plants.
First, we’ll take a look at the basics of what you need to paint and draw plants (pencils, paints, brushes, paper, etc.). Then we’ll go into the general characteristics of plants and leaves. You should be able to put what you’ve learned into practice and easily your next plant artwork.
Preparation for Your Plant Drawing
The most important thing for your plant drawing is a good reference. Use a houseplant that you can place in front of you, or go outside and find a plant that you want to paint or draw. This way you have the real plant as a reference in front of you and can take your time to examine it.
Instead of using a living plant as a reference, you can use a photo instead. One advantage of using a photo is that it is already two-dimensional, just like your final drawing will be. But, it’s always best to start with a living plant since important information can be lost in a photo, and you can only work with what you see in it.
What You Need to Draw Plants
Decide whether you want to draw only with pencils or also with colored pencils, for example. For the sketch of your plant, use a hard pencil like a 2H. These lines will disappear under the later drawing.
When you go for a pencil drawing, make use of the variety of pencil hardness. You will be able to draw shiny leaves for example which need strong contrasts.
If you decide to draw with colored pencils, pick out the colors you need for your plant in advance. I recommend trying out the colors on a separate paper to see how the colors work with each other.
Also, use good drawing paper and an eraser if needed.
What You Need to Paint Plants with Watercolor
When painting, begin with a pencil sketch, just like when drawing. Before you begin, choose suitable watercolor paints for your plant. Take into consideration not just shades of green, but also accompanying colors such as yellow, red, or blue. Study your plant to ensure the best color choices.
For your painting, different watercolor brushes will be necessary. Depending on the plant, a small round brush, a large round brush, or a flat brush can come in handy. Using watercolor paper is a must. This way, you avoid paint bleed-through and your paper does not become wavy.
Drawing Leaves
When drawing a plant, the leaves can often pose the biggest challenge. This is why it’s important to have a good reference to guide you.
A reference is especially crucial because we tend to only think of a leaf as a simple green surface. Without the intensive study of plants, it can be difficult to recall the intricate details of a leaf.
It’s helpful to review some basic facts about leaf shapes and colors to further enhance your drawing skills.
Drawing Different Leaf Shapes
At first glance, plants such as the Monstera adansonii or parlor palm may not seem like the most enticing references to draw. The intricate foliage can be overwhelming, leaving you unsure of where to begin.
But, there is a very simple trick to drawing such leaves. All we have to do is imagine simplified shapes for them like circles, hearts or arrows. If we start our sketch this way, we can elaborate on these shapes in the next step.
By the way, the same trick works for drawing trees and flowers.
Choosing the Right Leaf Colors
No matter if we create our artwork with watercolors, colored pencils, or other paints: To portray a plant it is important to choose the right hues.
Green is not just green, as some plants can have yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, and even blue undertones. This undertone in turn affects the green more or less depending on the plant.
In some plants, characteristic patterns are also added. A Scindapsus pictus has shimmering silver spots, while a Syngonium podophyllum has fine, pixel-like coloring along the edges of its leaves.
Flat Shapes
Flat shapes are great for filling in large areas of color, painting straight lines, and blending. A few of the most common brushes in the flat family are flat shaders, filbert, angular shader, and wash brushes. This is what we like to use each type for:
• Flat shaders: These brushes are a little longer than chisel blenders and allow you to create a longer stroke. They are great for filling in large areas of color or using the chiseled edge for thin lines. • Filbert: Filbert brushes are like a flat shader; however, they have a rounded tip instead of a straight one. These brushes are great for creating soft edges. For example, a rose petal or cloud. They work well for blending and creating dry brushed textures as well. • Angular shader: Angular shaders are perfect for crisp edges and allow for precise control. The angled tip is perfect for blending in tight areas and making thin lines. • Wash/Glaze: A wash brush is a must-have for creating base coats, applying color to large areas, and broad strokes. Every artist should have at least one in their arsenal.
Round Shapes
Round brushes are an extremely versatile brush to paint with! They’re perfect for detail work and thicker strokes. They come in various shapes such as round, liner, spotter, quill, and long round. Learn more about the different round shapes below:
• Round: Your basic round brush can be a normal round or a long round shape. These brushes are great for small details or filling in large areas depending on how much pressure you apply and the brush size. Larger round brushes (higher numbers) can hold quite a bit of water in the belly of the brush but still end in a fine tapered point. This allows for a variety of strokes and the ability to move from large coverage to tight detail without having to dip back into the paint often. • Liner: The long hairs on a liner brush allow for consistent thick to thin lines when painting things like vines, tree branches, and foliage. • Spotter: Spotter brushes are ideal for detail work. You can create very fine and precise lines in miniature paintings. • Quill: These brushes specifically have a large belly to hold more paint and allow you to create large washes of color.
Types of Paint Brushes in Specialty Shapes
When creating things like grass, fur, or clouds it can help to use a specialty-shaped brush. There are many specialty-shaped brushes, but we’re going to discuss just a few. The following are the most typically used shapes:
• Fan: These brushes are great for blending and softening the edges of paint strokes. You can also use it to dry brush and create hair, trees, grass, and shrubbery. • Round Blender: Use a round blender when you want to soften an area and blend the colors together. • Filbert Grainer/Grainer: In this brush, the hairs are thinned and spread apart near the tip to allow for painting fur, grass, cross-hatching, and other textures. • Mops: Mop brushes are the best for moving low viscosity paints and blending. You can also use them as a soft wash brush to spread the color.
Want to learn more about the different types of paint brushes we have? Check out our detailed guide here.
