How to Draw a Rose

هەنگاو بە هەنگاو

1. هەنگاو 1

   Block in the big circle of the rose.

   Everything else gets measured against this, so draw it in one motion rather than in short careful passes. A slightly lopsided shape drawn confidently is more use than a perfect one built out of twelve nervous strokes, because you can correct a shape and you cannot un-see a hesitant line.

   چاودێری بکە Drawing it small to leave room for detail. The big shape is most of the drawing - use the space.

   پشکنین It should fill most of your page, with a margin all round.

2. هەنگاو 2

   Draw a small loose spiral at the centre.

   Two turns, no more, and off-centre rather than dead middle - a real rose's core is rarely symmetrical. This spiral is the seed of the whole drawing and every petal you add later reads as wrapping around it.

   چاودێری بکە Making the spiral too big, which leaves no room for the layers.

   پشکنین The spiral should be roughly a fifth of the circle's width.

3. هەنگاو 3

   Wrap the first two petals around the spiral.

   These are tight, small and mostly straight-edged - they hug the core. Each one starts behind the spiral and comes round in front of it, which is what makes the centre read as wound rather than as a doodle.

   چاودێری بکە Drawing them as separate shapes beside the spiral instead of around it.

   پشکنین At least one petal edge should pass in front of the spiral.

4. هەنگاو 4

   Add a middle layer of three or four larger petals.

   Bigger, and starting to open. Each has a wide curving top edge and narrows toward the centre where it attaches. Vary them deliberately - three identical petals look manufactured, and a rose is never symmetrical.

   چاودێری بکە Spacing them evenly around the circle like the points of a compass.

   پشکنین No two petals in this layer should be the same size.

5. هەنگاو 5

   Let one petal in the middle layer curl over at its top edge.

   A curled edge is the single most convincing thing in a rose drawing. Draw the top edge, then a second line just inside it that stops before the ends - that sliver is the underside of the petal showing through.

   چاودێری بکە Curling every petal, which cancels the effect out.

   پشکنین One petal should show a thin band of its own underside.

6. هەنگاو 6

   Add the outer layer: four or five big, loose petals.

   These are the ones that flop. They are wider than they are tall, their edges are irregular, and some of them dip below the horizontal because gravity has got to them. Let them break outside your original circle in a couple of places.

   چاودێری بکە Keeping them neatly inside the construction circle, which makes the rose look inflated rather than open.

   پشکنین At least two petals should cross your circle guide.

7. هەنگاو 7

   Break the outline: give the outer petals ragged edges.

   A rose petal edge is not smooth. Add two or three shallow notches to the outer silhouette - not a scalloped pattern, just enough irregularity that the eye stops reading it as a drawn arc.

   چاودێری بکە Making the notches regular, which looks like a doily.

   پشکنین The outline should be uneven, but still read as one round mass from arm's length.

8. هەنگاو 8

   Draw the stem, coming out from behind the flower.

   From behind, not from underneath. A stem that starts at the bottom edge of the flower looks stuck on; one that disappears behind a petal looks attached. Give it a slight curve - straight stems look like wire.

   چاودێری بکە A perfectly vertical stem meeting the flower at its lowest point.

   پشکنین The stem should vanish behind a petal rather than touching the outline.

9. هەنگاو 9

   Add the sepals and two leaves.

   Sepals are the small pointed leaves that clasp the base of the flower - three of them, splaying outward and slightly back. The leaves come off the stem at an angle, never opposite each other at the same height.

   چاودێری بکە Placing both leaves symmetrically, which reads as a logo.

   پشکنین The two leaves should be at different heights and different sizes.

10. هەنگاو 10

    Pick a light direction and mark the darkest point: the centre.

    However the light falls, the middle of a rose is the darkest part of it, because it is buried under every layer of petals. That single dark note is what gives the flower depth, and it is the one place you can safely go very dark.

    چاودێری بکە Shading the outside dark and leaving the centre pale, which flattens the flower into a disc.

    پشکنین The centre should be the darkest area on the page.

11. هەنگاو 11

    Shade under each petal edge that overlaps another.

    Every overlap casts a small shadow onto the petal behind it. These little wedges of dark are what separate the layers - without them the petals dissolve into each other, however accurate the outlines are.

    چاودێری بکە Shading whole petals evenly instead of just under the overlapping edges.

    پشکنین You should be able to tell which petal is in front anywhere they cross.

12. هەنگاو 12

    Soften the edges on the far side of the flower.

    Edges that turn away from you are softer. Go back over the outlines on the shadow side and lighten them - smudge them if you are on paper. Three kinds of edge in one drawing - hard, soft, and lost where two darks merge - is the whole trick.

    چاودێری بکە Keeping every outline at the same crisp weight.

    پشکنین Squint at it. Some edges should disappear entirely.

13. هەنگاو 13

    Shade the side of the stem away from the light.

    Work in one direction rather than scrubbing back and forth. Scrubbing gives an even grey, which is exactly the thing that makes a drawing look flat, so lay the strokes the same way and build the darkness in passes.

    چاودێری بکە Being too timid. Beginners routinely stop two or three steps short of dark enough.

    پشکنین The dark side should be clearly darker than the mid tone, not slightly.

14. هەنگاو 14

    Go over the lines you want to keep, and lose the guides.

    This is the step that turns a construction drawing into a finished one, and it is the one most people skip. Press harder on the outline and the features; leave the small stuff light. That difference in weight is what makes a drawing look deliberate rather than traced, and it costs thirty seconds.

    چاودێری بکە Going over everything at the same weight, which flattens the drawing back out.

    پشکنین The outline should be clearly darker than the smallest details.