Follow along with this easy sunflower drawing tutorial that has just six simple steps. All you need is pencil and paper!
Why draw a sunflower….
Sunflowers have a special place in my heart. Is there a more cheerful flower?
I’m not the only one that loves sunflowers! Sunflowers are a famous subjects of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous paintings If you’d like to make that art history connection be sure to check out this free Van Gogh artist study.
Sunflowers are the national flower of the Ukraine. A display of sunflower drawings would be a great way to show support for the country of Ukraine!
Sunflower drawing materials….
This sunflower drawing lesson requires just two things- paper and pencil. It doesn’t get any simpler than that!
One little extra that will make this pencil drawing, and every other pencil drawing, sooo much easier is a quality eraser. A polymer eraser will erase any guidelines smoothly and without creating holes in your paper. These little guys are worth their weight in gold!
And, of course, the subject of our drawing is a sunflower. Use a real sunflower, an artificial one, or even a picture online. Your kids should have one of those things to reference as they draw.
Let’s learn how to draw a sunflower….
Step one- Draw a large circle somewhere on your paper. This circle is the outer edge of the center of the sunflower. Encourage your young artists to make these initial circles BIG so there is plenty of room for detail!
It doesn’t need to be a perfect circle and it doesn’t need to be directly in the center of the paper. Imperfect things are more interesting!
Draw a second circle inside the first. The second and largest circle is a guide for the the width of the sunflower petals.
These circles are concentric. This means the two circles share the same center. This second circle is just a guide. It will not be a part of the final drawing so it’s best to draw this one very lightly.
Step two, drawing sunflower petals…
The petals of each sunflower will stretch from the inner circle to the outer circle. Encourage your young artists to take this time to really look at a sunflower, in person or online. Each petal of the sunflower will be slightly different. Some may be torn, nibbled, rolled, bent, or even missing.
Step three- more sunflower petals…
In order to draw a sunflower that looks full and detailed more sunflower petals are needed. Behind the first row of petals draw a new row of petals peeking out.
The two rows of sunflower petals will overlap, meaning only a bit of the second row will show. Encourage your kids to take their time here and add as much detail to the second row of sunflower petals as they did to the first.
Step four- drawing the sunflower stem and leaves….
This big beautiful sunflower needs a sturdy stem to hold it up. A single line just isn’t enough. Two parallel lines that diverge slightly as they near the bottom of the sunflower create a sturdy stem.
Study the leaves on your real sunflower or your reference image. Add a leaf or two to your drawing. Letting it overlap the stem or go behind the petals of the flower will make it look more realistic.
Step five- adding texture to the sunflower center….
Draw two more concentric circles inside the center of the sunflower drawing. Draw these lightly as these outlines don’t necessarily remain in the final drawing.
The center of a sunflower is filled with seeds and therefore a variety of texture. Fill each ring of the sunflower’s center with a different texture representing the sunflower seeds. The seeds are usually evident as small ovals or circles that are closer or further apart in different areas of the sunflower.
There is no correct texture to choose in your sunflower drawing. Remind your kids that any small shape or line can be repeated to create a pattern that will appear to have a texture!
Step six, add value to your sunflower drawing….
At this point your students have learned how to draw a sunflower. All the petals and leaves have been defined by lines. This is a great time to erase any unwanted guidelines and also to add some value by shading with a pencil.
Value is the lightness or darkness of color, including the black color of a pencil. See more info on value on this free one page printable all about value!
A composition is most pleasing to the eye when there is a sense of balance. One way to accomplish that is through a balance of light and dark. Choose some areas to add details, lines, and shadow.
Sunflower petals that are behind other petals will be in shadow and be darker. Encourage your kids to spend a some time layering on very light layers of value with their pencil. Build darker values by adding multiple layers of pencil, one over the other. It is easy to add a darker value but much more difficult to erase a harshly drawn line.
