Sketching plants

You know the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” The same rule can be changed into “Don’t judge a person by its ink.” Getting some body art inked is probably one of the best ways for self-expression—be it a drawing in remembrance of your past beliefs, shenanigans or a minimal tattoo filled with deep meanings. No tattoo design is meaningless or ugly because there’s always something bigger behind it. At least to the person who chose the unique tattoo.

I really want to get better at drawing plants. Somehow, though I love to just sit and look at them, they're not as much fun to draw . ...

Sketches: Plants 3 designed by Manfred Rohrer. Connect with them on Dribbble; the global community for designers and creative professionals.

pen and ink on the paper

Window drawing with plants as part of the Sketching Project Still Life topic.

I thought I’d share a bit more of my process for quick botanical sketches. Plants are a great subject to draw for beginners, as they are very patient (don’t move or run away) and interesting and pretty to look at. I never get tired of drawing flowers. The first step is always to get a grasp of the absolute basics – basic shapes, volumes and angles. Almost always I start with a very rough (and light) pencil drawing, just to get a feel for the placement of the different shapes.

There's this weird correlation between LEGOs and life stages. If, at first, your only interest is to chew the blocks and smash them into one another, then later you actually start to build something out of them. After a while, your LEGO bricks are probably thrown into a dark corner of a closet, with only a few sneaky pieces left lying around for you to step on and swear loudly. Some years pass, and you suddenly remember your long-forgotten LEGO bricks, pull them out of the closet and start…

Steps for drawing your favorite tree in a realistic style. An easy guide for beginners to draw trees with pen and ink, including many examples.