How to draw a Rose: 6 methods in one month.

Well, this is it.
A month of a Rose is officially over.

It began with a simple will to learn and to develop as an artist and use the new knowledge to work on some new Rose illustrations.

To do this I've searched for methods on and off line and this is a list of my favorite tut:

1. Method 1: taken form DrawingNow site which has a wide variety of drawing How-to's; the method shows how to draw from it's to when it's fully open  
2. Method 2: Based on a graphic tut for Illustrator created by Thereisa K. Also sketch/view from a top.
3. Method 3: Drawing of a Rosebud form How To Draw site. The site presents many cartoon drawing tutorials
4. Method 4: Drawing step shows how to draw a blooming rose - from general shape to a bud. The second part of the tutorial shows how to shade the sketch.
5. Metgod 5: How to draw stuff explains hot to draw a Rose using a shape of a heart.
6. Method 6: The method is taken from an old art book - references attached

Also there are some additional links I found and shared some time ago. 

There were several goals in this project:

1. I wanted to learn - finally - how to draw a flower that is considered to be one of the most difficult to draw. 
2. I wanted to find as many possible methods available on web for that matter. 
3. I wanted to get ready for st. Valentines day which is coming really really soon.
4. 
   

Obviously this is not the end of it and there are tasks for the near future:

1. Make at least 10 full A4 size sketches of a real life roses - 1, 3 and a bouquet. 
2. Use other medium beside pen and paper - maybe colored pencils, pastels, water colors - which I love so much - and oils maybe.
3. 
   

There's also some conclusions to the experience:

1. When choosing a method for drawing one should first look at the flower and then decide what method fits the given flower. The method depends on the flower's size, it's blooming phase, it's position on a bush, in a vase or a bouquet. Each flower requires it's own method. And sometimes it's even better to combine 2 methods in 1.
   
2. Work big, not small only. I made 3-4 sketches on the same sheet. Now I need to enlarge the scale a bit. 

Let the rose journey continue!!!

Have a great month,
D.

How to draw a rose: Additional links

Hi all!!!

Although the Rose month is coming to its end I wanted to share some more useful links I found and used during this month. The sketches above are mine using these tuts.

1. How to draw a Rose in five steps - I wouldn't say that it's a method per se but it suggests a way of sketching two full roses with leaves and steams.

2. This How to draw a rose with RMD tutorial was created by Jake Cloud for RMD drawing tool. In this tutorial he uses geometrical figures to structure a flower. It is really nice and simple if you want to create a fully open rose.

3. There is an all known Draw 50 Flowers, trees and other plants by Lee J. Ames and P. Lee Ames, but to tell you the truth - I looked at the method they're suggesting and ran away from it. It looked too complicated for me at this point. But that is regarding to their Rose sketch method only. I know I will use this book when working on other flowers.

I believe that as I find more methods I'll be updating this post, but for now - enjoy these additions.
If you there are more methods that you found elsewhere - feel free to post them and I will gladly publish them :)

Have a great day,
D.

How to create a romantic heart with illustrator

Valentine is near and it's time for some new Heart tutorial.

This is the image of what we're going to create.

Notice that I'll be using lots and lots of shortkeys in this tutorial; in the future it will make your workflow way shorter.

Let's begin!!!




1. Open a new document for your illustration. (Alt+ N) and make it square. I've made mine 200mm by 200mm.

2. Create a perfectly shaped circle on your artboard. To do so press L on your Keyboard and then Shift+Alt+Drag until you're circle fills half of the artboard.

3. Press Shift+C on your keyboard to select a Convert Anchor point. 

4. Press A on your keyboard, choose both vertical points of the circle and hold the  Down arrow on your keyboard you have a nicely shaped heart end.

5. Now choose an upper anchor point of a new shape and drag it down until it almost levels with the vertical points of the shape. 

6. Press A, then the Alt key and raise the handles to almost vertical position so your heart gets a nice curvy shape. The basic shape is ready. 

7. Now let’s add so some color to it. Choose a dark burgundy color from your color picker.

8. Go to Effect - Stylize - Inner glow. 

9. Change the settings to Mode - Normal; Color - Bright red. Play with the Blur size until you're satisfied with the result. Check Preview to see the result before submitting.

This is it. Your red glowing Valentine heart is ready.

Have a great Valentine's Day :) 

How to draw a Rose: Method 6

This method was borrowed from an old "learning how to draw" book that I have. It's called "Drawing flowers" by a Russian artist Andrei Aseev, published in 1995. Since I couldn't find an online version of this book so I allowed myself to publish the relevant page.

The given method claims that you can divide the flower to stages/levels/half spheres - as shown - and add some curvy petals to it.

This is the "by the book" sketch. Looks a bit schematic, but I guess that that's just the way I drew it.

These are the "real life" attempts. As you can see I drew one of the roses three times and this is why. The first attempt came out a bit messy. I didn't like the result so I drew it again. The second attempt was a bit neater, but still not that good. For some reason I thought that maybe it was because I drew it really small, so I decided to do it a bit bigger.

I think that the last version looks much better than the small ones.


So I guess there is one thing I did learn: never draw tiny. And don't save the paper that much. Draw bigger.
I guess this will be one of my tasks for the next month - draw a full size A4 Roses.

Enjoy your drawing and have a great day,
D.

Also in this series:
How to draw a Rose: Method 1
How to draw a Rose: Method 2
How to draw a Rose: Method 3
How to draw a Rose: Method 4
How to draw a Rose: Method 5

How to draw a Rose: Method 5

Hi all,

This is a Fifth part of the How to draw a rose series. This method actually presents a different look on how to draw a rose. It's really cute because it uses a heart as a basic shape for what many claim to be of the most romantic flowers in the world. So basically you draw a shape of heart and then you sketch your way around.

This is the very first attempt and I really got lost in there.
Although it was interesting.










And these are the implementations of the method.

It was an interesting method, I must say. I guess with some experience one can sketch one's way around the hearts shape, especially if there's no need to create a realistic rose, but something more abstract.
Anyway, it's another way to draw a rose, something that is worth to be considered. I'll remember it for the future.

I hope you found this method useful.

Have a great day,
D.


Also in this series:
How to draw a Rose: Method 1
How to draw a Rose: Method 2
How to draw a Rose: Method 3
How to draw a Rose: Method 4
How to draw a Rose: Method 6

How to draw a Rose: Method 4

This is the Forth rose drawing session and I begin to realize why is a Rose considered to be one of the most difficult flowers to draw. It is so easy to get lost in all these petals!!!! I have no idea just how artist of the past managed not to get lost in this flower!!! I mean, today it is so easy to take a photo of it without fearing it to wilt or just print the image out, number the petals and then just follow these numbers!!!

Anyway, the method for this session was found on Drawingstep website and it’s also step by step method, slightly different from others.

In the beginning you mark a general shape, then – the bud and then you work your way around it.

That is the first result using the site reference.

Looks ok, I'd say.

And these are the attempts to apply the same method to images found online.

I did more sketches then I show here, but obviously I won’t flud the blog with them. 

I hope you enjoyed this method and found it useful. There's another link that uses the same method - you might find it more useful. Or maybe not :) 

Have a great day, 

D.

Also in this series:

How to draw a Rose: Method 1

How to draw a Rose: Method 2

How to draw a Rose: Method 3

How to draw a Rose: Method 5
How to draw a Rose: Method 6

How to draw a Rose: Method 3

I've decided to take some time off the open rose and focused on a rose bud.

Obviously it is much simpler than the open rose, but it is something one shouldn't neglect. After all, every flower starts as a bud.
So here it is, the first sketch taken right from the above link. First I outlined the bud and then added the details.
It didn't take me very long to complete, although I must admit, I wasn't in a rush at all. Looks a bit schematic, but that's the reference.

The following sketches are based on a ShutterStock references, there are plenty of great hight quality rose images to be found.
Of course, since these were the photos of a real life flowers it took me a bit longer to sketch. Some of them I redrew several times, but I think it was worth it.

Many more sketches followed these one's. I actually had fun using this method and right now I have about 15 sketches of different roses. It's not that much, but I'll keep practicing and I hope you do too.

Have fun sketching,

D.


Also in this series:
How to draw a Rose: Method 1
How to draw a Rose: Method 2
How to draw a Rose: Method 4
How to draw a Rose: Method 5
How to draw a Rose: Method 6

How to draw a Rose: Method 2

This link is actually a tutorial of How to draw a rose using Illustrator by Theraisa K, but I think one can learn from anything.

It's a sort of progression to the first method, where you create 5 large non identical and non perfect circles for the large outside petals and 3 smaller for the inside ones. Also you create 4 crescent shapes one in front of the other and a small darker circle for the central part.

For the sake of the exercise I first created this Rose with Illustrator and it took me exactly 10 minutes to do. On the way I've decided to double the number of petals and that what came out of it.

This is the actual sketch. It took me about 30 minutes to complete. It was easy enough to make the basic sketch, although I changed it a bit too: 2 layers of 5petals and 2 layers of 4.

The challenge was to tweak the petals to make them look real.

These are the attempts made to implement this method to rose images I found online.
I started with the outside petals, counted them and tried to position them according to the reference.
Tweaked them a bit to give them the right shape.
Then I moved inside the rose looking for smaller shapes. I must say, it wasn't easy. There are so many petals, and they all so different!!! And what can I tell you, it's not a 2 minutes drawing anymore :).

The bad thing is that when I get to the center itself I get so much lost that I tend to "fabricate" the petals just to finish the flower. And that is just not good.

But you know, it's a learning process and so I guess that I just have to keep trying.


Have a great day,
D.


Also in this series:
How to draw a Rose: Method 1
How to draw a Rose: Method 3
How to draw a Rose: Method 4
How to draw a Rose: Method 5
How to draw a Rose: Method 6

Valentines day: Starting with a frame finishing with an image.

In my 2012 Year's plan I promised myself that I will get ahead of myself for any upcoming holiday (see paragraph 7).

So now, when New year's celebrations are over, it's time to get ready for one of the most romantic holidays ever - The St. Valentine's day. It's all about hearts, chocolates and cupids shooting arrows.

The thing is that........ I myself am not a romantic person. I mean, I love flowers, and chocolates, but when it comes to illustration - I have a HUGE blackout!!! I have NOTHING!!! And for several years in a row I made nothing for Valentines, absolutely nothing!!!! And obviously, it drove me crazy!!! Because, you see, it is so sad to get zero inspiration from such a romantic period of the year.

For the last week I've been struggling again with myself and my pencils, I think I even made a few holes in my drawing paper while erasing so called sketches!!!! (naaah, I'm kidding :) ) But it was a frustrating week from that point. Even a Keyword system didn't help here, I had nothing!!!

A few days ago I had this idea of switching my thought form Valentine as it is to frames. Just frames. Somehow I've managed to disconnect and reconnect and then I just sketched several frames.

And then it just started to flow!!!

These are the sketches,

and these are some ready images.

So I guess, frames can be some kind of gateway for me, a starting point of some kind,

I just hope that until the end of this month I will have at least 20 (and hopefully more) Valentine images.

Right now these and other images are available in my ShutterStock gallery and in my Graphiking Giftshop.  

I wish you a great and productive day,
D.

How to draw a Rose: Method 1

Welcome to the "How to draw a Rose" series.
This is the first of the total 6.

To make no mistake, I am not the one teaching, but the one learning how to draw a flower using as many various methods as I can find, on and off the web .I've always tried to learn how to draw a Rose but never did it methodically as I plan to now.

At first I will go with the simplest method possible and then I'll move on.

So one of the sites I found was DrawingNow which gives a pretty simple demonstration on How to draw a Rose.
My conclusion after the first attempt is that when you draw the Rose form its center, its starts with 2 then 3 petals and, as it opens, it gets to 4 and lastly 5 petals at the widest part.

This is my very first attempt.

It took me exactly 2 - or even less - minutes to do this sketch. What I liked the most about this method is that it doesn't require of you to be accurate but gives you a general idea of the flower's structure.









The following sketches are an attempt to use this method by drawing a Rose for photos and illustrations I found on web.Of course, these are far from being perfect, but for now that's not the point.

I must say that this one was easier than I thought it would be, but it might be just a method :).

I invite you to join me on this project and learn with me.
Good luck!

P.S. For those of you who like to cook I found this post on How to make gum paste roses.
Looks yummy!!!

Also in this series:
How to draw a Rose: Method 2
How to draw a Rose: Method 3
How to draw a Rose: Method 4
How to draw a Rose: Method 5
How to draw a Rose: Method 6

January: Month of the Rose

Since it's Valentine's Day next month, and since the Rose is considered by many to be one of the most romantic flowers in the world, I've decided to dedicate this month to learning how to draw a rose.

I’ll be using books, online tutorials and images and, of course, fresh roses.

Also it will be a great opportunity to learn a bit about this spiky flower. So first thing first: the research.

The first thing I've learned is that there are more than 100 species of Roses and it’s been cultivated for thousands years now. As a color it's considered to be something in between Red and Fuchsia.

It's been a religious and a romantic symbol in many cultures such as Roman and Greek Empires; it is a national symbol of England and an all times symbol of love and beauty.
It was often used in ancient European architecture, mostly during a Gothic period.

There are several Rose festival’s held all over the world, such as Portland Rose Festival  and Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, USA.

Today it still has plenty of usage besides being the most romantics flower - be it in politics, rituals or medicine.

But most of us just love the rose for what it is – a beautiful flower with an amazing scent that can make any one’s heart melted.

Love and be loved,
D.

2012: The plan

2012 is here and it's time to make some plans.

During the past few years when writing my resolutions and plans for the year to come I used to create a monthly schedule for everything: Jan - 1, 2, 3; Feb - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc.

Since experience shows that method doesn't really work for me, I've decided to divide it to quarters, and see what happens. Also I will share a list of the things I want to do this year, at least, things that have to do with my development as an artist and illustrator. 

The list will be absolutely intuitive, just a rough plan of what I want to achieve this year.

So, let us begin:

1. Sketch, sketch, sketch!!! As much as possible!!! 
2. Learn how to draw all Chinese calendar characters to get ready for the next year in advance.
3. Same for the Zodiacs, of course :).
4. Do a 5, 10, 15 minutes exercise once a week. It shouldn't be hard to dedicate half an hour of my time to such a development.
5. Draw 12 flowers during this year, but do it in such a way that it will become a second nature. I mean, I love daises, but come on, I must move on. 
6. Work on Portraits and Human figure. 
7. Get ahead of myself and be ready for the holidays at least 2 week before it comes. Which means, start preparing for it at least 2 months in advance.
8. Learn about Illustrator Brushes and Symbols - thanks for the reminder, Ryan.
9. Do Drawspace lessons more often.
10. Become a regular on Illustration Friday. I've made one or two illustrations in the past, but that doesn't really count.
11. Draw at least 1 hour a day - every day! and keep it documented in my Journal. (added on March, 2012).
12. Learn how to shade properly. (Added on March, 2012)
13. Learn to draw water and water drops. (Added July 28th, 2012)
14. Learn to draw domestic and wild animals. (added August 2012)

Other things are in order to:

1. Work on my Graphiking gift shop - enlarge both shops assortment and income. (circa 800 items in Jan 2012)
2. Keep blogging - at least once a week.
3. Develop readership of this blog.
4. Work on some HTML, CSS and all to make the blog and the shop look better.
5. SEO. Nothing to add.
6. Airbrush course (added Oct 21st, 2012)

I believe that this list will grow with time, so keep checking it.

See you soon., 
D.

Happy new year greeting card!!!

Hello and happy New Year!!!

Although a New Year celebrations are soon to be over I wanted to share here another New Year card I've designed for the occasion.


It was created for Daynix Computing Ltd and I tried to make it as neutral as possible, without the obvious winter elements.


Since it's a year of a Water Dragon - and drawing a dragon is still a bit of a challenge for me - I wanted to bring some water elements/resemblance to this card. So when you look at it's frame you could easily take it for both snow or water waves. The decorations are pretty neutral and standard, and a midnight starry sky - well, it's a midnight starry sky.

I added some catchy phrase - and that’s it. It took me about 1:30 hours to prepare; luckily, the idea was somehow there, which made the work really simple.

Well, I like it.

Have a great year!

Happy New year!!!

It's January the 1st, and a year of a Water Dragon is soon to begin.

I wish you all a great, creative, eventful and interesting year, loads of health and happiness. 

Next stop - Valentine Day!!!
P.S. A higher resolution image can be found in my ShutterStock gallery.