Foreword: The Charm of Creating Botanical Illustrations in a Hand-Drawn Style
Hi! It's GwaGwa( ˶ˊᵕˋ)੭♡
Recently, I've been doing a "one flower a day" challenge, and I'll be sharing my process from observing flowers, completing the draft, to coloring.
Feel free to follow me and draw along!
This tutorial will be conducted entirely using Clip Studio Paint EX for digital drawing.
If you're curious about how to digitize your hand-drawn sketches, feel free to check out the previous tutorial! (ゝ∀･)
《This tutorial is quite long, so I've broken it down into many chapters, allowing students to directly find solutions for specific problems later on!》
Beginner Concepts—Creating Simple Line Sketches Starting with C, S, I!
You'll learn to simplify shapes and quickly outline your flowers!
Deconstruct flowers, like assembling a model, so you no longer fear how to observe large amounts of branches and leaves.
Understanding C, S, I Line Drawing Techniques!
What are C, S, I? These frequently heard drawing techniques are not as difficult as they sound.
Below, I'll share my preferred ways of using them through demonstrations!
Simplify Shapes, Quickly Outline Your Flowers!
Let's observe this reference image. What do you see at first glance? How would you draw it ( •́ _ •̀)?
A Tedious Way of Observation
If you draw like in the image, you're not wrong, but we can learn a more efficient way!
Flower shapes often contain a large number of S and C curves, which is why many people unconsciously use a lot of S and C when sketching from observation.
A Good Observation Method
In the illustration, a large number of I straight lines are used to draw the sketch, which can quickly and accurately capture what the eye sees!
"When sketching outdoors, be sure to try this method; it can efficiently train your quick sketching ability!"
Geometric Disassembly, Assemble Your Own Flowers!
It can be observed that although the angles are different, the structure of each flower is quite similar!
We can try practicing with geometric shapes.
Stp1. Leaves, Petals—Figure-8 Practice
The figure-8 shape is a great helper for easily deconstructing twisted shapes when depicting petals and leaves.
Stp.2 Flower Angle—Cone Practice
- Sector Circle = Cone
As shown in the video, you can first use a sector to determine the size of the flower, then use 2~3 small circles to draw and decide the blooming angle of the flower, helping you quickly practice flowers from various directions.
Stp.3 Complete Flower—Sphere and Rectangle Practice
Did you notice? By using these three shapes ● ▲ ■, geometric shapes,
you can create all sorts of combinations! It also helps you with good shape references during your original creation process.
※Combined Vase Sketch >> Finalization Process Demonstration
Assemble your own flowers! This step can help you train your aesthetic sense for object placement!
Key points of this section:
- By disassembling petals, leaves, and branches, you can freely create and copy flowers like assembling LEGOs.
- Use I-straight lines to outline the flower, quickly capturing what's in front of you.
- Utilize the three geometric shapes ●▲■ to capture flowers and plants.
Keep Leveling Up!—Three Ways to Draw Flowers!
We've already gained an understanding of the basic shapes of petals, leaves, and angles—.
Let's break down the compositional logic of three types of flowers together. After practicing, you can also analyze your favorite flowers and plants!
Lv.1 Sunflower
Let's start with the simple and cute sunflower!
Use sectors, circles, and straight lines to establish the basic shape of the sunflower.
Use the cross offset (blue dots) to find the pattern of the petals.
Use the figure-8 shape to capture the leaves.
Lv.2 Morning Glory
- The basic shape of a morning glory is like a pentagon + star, and from the side, it looks like a small trumpet.
Lv.3 Rose
- The basic shape of a rose is like a cinnamon roll, with petals arranged in an interlocking spiral pattern.
Style and Texture Expression! Watercolor Style, Crayon Pastel Style
I'll guide you through learning the characteristics and logic of these two styles, helping you have more combination options when creating!
Watercolor Style
Crayon Pastel Style
Paper Texture!—Instantly Achieve a Hand-Drawn Feel
I personally prefer to use this step at the very end. Using texture at the beginning can make it difficult for the fill tool to color and can affect color selection during the coloring process due to layer effects.
Therefore, I recommend doing this step only when you're finalizing your artwork!
Here is the brush texture pack used in this tutorial. Students can also use their own preferred brushes; as long as the concept is understood, any brush will work!
Watercolor Style: Watercolor effect
Brush Characteristics: Semi-transparent layers, wet edge effect, color blending
Finally, we've arrived at watercolor effects! Next, you will learn:
How to simulate the transparent blending of watercolors.
Small tips for enhancing the layering of your artwork.
Students can see that the brush itself already has many textures, so after setting up the paper texture, you can turn it off first.
※These are the brushes used in this demonstration.
Stp.1 Color Swatch Selection—Make your color palette!
Color selection principle: High lightness, medium-high saturation.
A handy helper for keeping colors clean!
One light, one dark principle helps increase contrast and enhance dimensionality.
Stp.2 Render the base color.
※Brushes used in the tutorial
Stp.3 Watercolor edge effect.
※Detailed steps:
Click the Line art layer > Click Border effect>Watercolor border> Layer Opacity: 35%~45% > Range: 0.4 > Opacity influence: 20 > Lightness influence: 40 > Blur & width: 0.70
Pastel Style: Crayons style
Demonstrated Brush Characteristics: Impasto color mixing, rough edges, smudging effect
※Brushes used in the tutorial
Stp.1 Render the base color.
For color selection methods, you can refer back to the Watercolor Style↑ section. Here, I will directly demonstrate how to express pastel characteristics, without further elaboration.
Epilogue: Turn Your Drawn Flowers into Brushes!
Once we've learned these techniques, we can use flowers more flexibly!
Stp.1 Draw Flowers, Register as Material
"Edit > Register Material > Image"\
"Edit > Register Material > Image"
- "Enter the material name."
Enter the material name.
- "Check the option > Use as a brush tip shape."
Check the option > Use as a brush tip shape.
- "Choose a location to save it (optionally add tags)."
Choose a location to save it (optionally add tags).
Stp.2 Duplicate Brush, Set Parameters
+ "Next, freely duplicate an existing brush."Next,Freelyduplicateanexistingbrush.
+ "Open the brush editing panel."Openthebrusheditingpanel.
+ "Click > Brush Tip > Material > Add Brush Tip Shape."Click>BrushTip>Material>AddBrushTipShape.
+ "Enter the material name and locate the flower material."Enterthematerialnameandlocatetheflowermaterial.
+ "This completes the initial setup."Thiscompletestheinitialsetup.
The above are suitable settings for drawing grasslands and flower fields. Everyone can adjust them to create their own unique brushes( ˶’ᵕ’˶)
This concludes today's tutorial. The finalization process is attached below.
If you have any questions or requests, feel free to ask! ^ ^
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