Only some people know how to draw a rose. That’s why a step-by-step tutorial like this blog post will be useful. It will be even better if you have an artist give you tips for drawing or sketching a rose, shading, and more.
In this article, I will show you how to draw a rose like a Pro. You can read the guidelines and watch the tutorial video for a better understanding of the drawing process. But first, let’s see what we need to draw a rose!
Drawing doesn’t require a lot of art supplies as watercolor paintings or other paintings do. Below is the list of what you will need to draw a rose.
- A sketchbook or a paper sheet
- 2 Pencils (2B and 4B). One pencil is enough but you can get one more with a higher blackness (B) to increase the contrast in your sketch.
- A soft eraser
- A pencil sharpener or a cutter
- A stump or tissue paper for shading (optional)
- A reference photo of a rose (optional)
You can easily find art supplies at any stationery. Before drawing, try to sharpen your pencils so it’s easier to create thin lines.
Now, if you are ready, let’s go through the steps for how to draw a rose!
Step-by-step How to Draw a Rose
Step 1: Draw Shapes
I have seen a lot of people jump right into drawing rose petals. This habit could be risky because they might get a rose drawing that looks off, the petals might not relate to each other, and the whole shape of the rose just doesn’t look right.
I would recommend starting with simple shapes from big to small ones to define the whole shape of the rose, the position and relative sizes of the petals. Follow the smaller steps below to create shapes for the rose on your paper:
- Draw a horizontal oval to define the upper part of the rose
- Draw two straight lines from the oval to create a cylinder with the bottom bigger than the top
- Add two straight lines at the bottom of the cylinder to create the shape of a glass
- Check with your reference photo if you have to define the position, direction, and sizes of the petals.
- Draw general shapes of the petals with straight lines. Don’t press your pencil too much as we will need to erase some lines later on.
- Be aware of the relationship between the petals.
- Sketch general shapes for the stem and the leaves.
Notes:
(1) The stem should align with the central line that goes vertically through the rose.
(2) The leaves of roses are symmetric so they grow opposite to each other. A rose leaf has a pointing tip and sharp edges.
(3) Some roses have thorns on the stems.
Step 2: Soften the Lines
In step 2, I use a 2B pencil to soften the shapes with wavy lines. This makes the petals look more natural. We don’t need to stick too much to the reference photo by every millimeter. You can draw soft lines loosely and quickly.
We can draw a very soft thin line to mark where the petals fold but it shouldn’t be a thick & strong line.
After that, use an eraser with a sharp edge to erase the straight lines we drew in the previous step. We will have a rose sketch like this one.
Step 3: Add Details
Add some details such as the lines on the leaves and thorns on the stem (if you want). Small details can make the rose more interesting. Don’t overdo this step, otherwise, the details might distract the audience’s attention.
Step 4: Shading
By now you already have a beautiful sketch of a rose. You can either start coloring the rose or read on to learn some tips I have for shading the rose with pencils. The shading will add more shadows & light to the rose, which makes the rose even more eye-catching.
There are different ways and styles of shading a rose. The most simple way is to use thicker lines to represent shadows. I’m going to show you how to shade the rose with straight lines.
To do that, you need to hold the pencil further away from its tip and flex your wrist. Move the pencil from left to right using your wrist, and move your arm slowly to create parallel straight lines. Don’t put too much force on the pencil because we want to add darker lines in the next step.
Start the pencil strokes from the darkest parts of the petals to the lighter parts. Press the pencil a bit when you start and reduce the force in your hand when it moves to the lighter side.
The result should be separate & parallel lines. The lines should not overlap each other.
To add more shadows to some parts of the petals, especially the space between two petals where the light cannot reach, add another layer of thicker lines in different directions from the previous layer. Keep adding more shadows until you are satisfied.
And this is my final rose drawing after all the steps.
You can watch my tutorial video and follow along to draw a rose:
What’s Next?
Congratulations! You have learned steps for how to draw a rose! To unleash your creativity, you can learn how to paint a rose with watercolor. It could be a great painting to decorate your bedroom.
Check out some guides to watercolor painting for beginners and my tutorial video for how to paint a rose.
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