How To Draw Succulent
Can’t live without succulents? Get your fix and learn to draw the prettiest little spell-casters of the plant world. Drawing succulents is not only an enjoyable activity – it can even prove therapeutic! So plug in your headphones, queue up a favorite playlist, forget the world around you and get lost in the art.
First things first, you will need to prepare your tools and set up your drawing space. Whether it is your kitchen table or a dedicated drawing desk, choose a comfortable place with ample lighting, grab a sheet of paper, some pencils/pens, erasers and a ruler to start with.
Now comes the fun part – familiarizing yourself with the succulent shape. They are all different, depending on their species, but generally feature a rosette structure surrounded by fleshy leaves. Take an up-close look at the succulent while observing its structure. Try to imagine the lines, angles and shapes that come together to form it. This won’t take long – succulents are complex yet highly symmetrical.
With your strokes of pencil, begin to map outline the succulent in its entirety. This can be done using simple curved lines, outlining the shape of each leaf and continuing until each branch is visible. Then it is time to refine: use your ruler to draw sharper edges and boundaries, further defining the leaves of the succulent and giving it even more detail. Once you get a detailed outer profile, it is time to start using dots and lines to create the interior tracery of the leaves. Finally, erasers can come to play for fine-tuning and making sure your line work is clean and neat.
Now that the structure is complete and you have perfected the contours, it is time to draw the plants other features: the dark colored spines, the color of the leaves and so on. This can be done either with a few shades of graphite pencils, or even out of the box with some watercolors, pastels or markers, to add a fun touch to your succulent drawing.
Using graphite pencils, you can add some texture to your leaves by drawing quick “stubs” of different lengths to signify the bumps and edges of the succulent leaves. These will add depth to your drawing and, when done right, will stand out differently when light hits your page. You can also add some thicker curls of graphite to represent shadows and further emphasize the textures of the leaves.
For a unique, individualized look, personalize the succulent’s color using markers, be creative and experiment, who knows – you may just find the next hot new color combination for succulents. This can add a bit of fun to the drawing and make it a true one-of-a-kind piece.
When the succulent drawing is complete, you can choose to frame it or simply step back and enjoy it hung on the wall – or both! You could even spruce up a mundane corner in your house with a few succulents drawn, with their bright colors and unique shapes. Take some time to measure the proportions and sizes of the plants to make sure everything looks natural too.
There you have it: drawing the succulent is easy and enjoyable. So next time youʼre feeling creative, fire up your pencils and put that little trinket of nature to paper.
