Drawing a dead flower doesn’t have to be difficult. With some simple tips and tricks, even the most inexperienced beginner can learn to draw a detailed, lifeless blossom in just a few easy steps.
To begin with, start by gathering the necessary tools. You’ll need some graphite pencils in various levels of darkness, as well as soft blending tools such as blending stumps and cotton swabs. A creamy white oil pastel is also a great way to add fine details and highlights to your dead flower.
Once you have collected the supplies needed to draw your flower, it’s time to focus on the dead petals. Start by sketching out the petals quickly, using basic shapes to get a feel for the flower. Extended pencil strokes create the look of edge withering within each petal, which adds to the overall dead flower look. In addition, use thick and thin lines to bring your petals to life, as this provides more depth and volume to the illustration.
After establishing the petal shapes, use a darker pencil or an oil pastel to create the “veins” or crevices within each petal. Carefully add these details around the edges of the petals, bringing out the variations in color. The veins help add dimension to the flower, and create a realistic, lifelike effect. The veins don’t have to be too rugged looking, as the flower is already dead and should appear faded, not frayed.
Once the veins have been added, it’s time to give the flower its overall color. This can be done by gently blending light bluish grays, purples, and browns to create a dim, faded look overall. Remember to also mix in some shaded charcoal gray and use a cotton swab to blend them together for a uniform coverage. To complete this step, use some creamy white oil pastels to add gentle highlights to the petals and around the edges. This will give the flower a subtle, yet still ethereal touch without looking too harsh or overdone.
In order to bring the flower to life, we need to add the mid-tones. Use a lighter graphite pencil to fill in each petal with a paper-mustard yellow color, adding small patches of white set against the gray to give the flower contrast. To create the center of the flower, use a combination of soft browns, rust reds, and a hint of bright yellow or orange to give the flower a realistic and natural look.
For the finishing touches, use a medium graphite pencil to outline the petals. This will give the flower an extra layer of depth, as the outline will make the flower look more realistic and dimensional. Finally, use a soft blending tool to blend together the remaining colors to create a beautiful and fully-realized dead flower.
