How to Draw a Realistic Rose Step-by-step with Pencil

Learn how to draw a realistic rose step-by-step with pencil in this easy drawing tutorial! Sketching this flower might seem complicated but when you break it down into simple steps anyone can do it.

If you have always wanted to learn how to draw or simply want to sketch a rose then this is the art lesson for you. Beginning with simple pencil drawings is a great way to practice art skills and techniques.

Pencil Sketch of a rose with pink and red pastel drawings of roses with drawing materials — *How to Draw an Easy Rose*

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Materials
Art Lesson
Tips and tricks
Variations
What to do with your Sketch
Video
Transcript
Lesson Downloads
Frequently Asked Questions
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Roses are not only a symbol of love and other emotions but are also a timeless flower of great beauty. This art lesson demonstrates all the details about drawing a rose from real life.

“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"? Call it whatever you want but roses definitely have a certain glamour and appeal.

Different colored roses actually symbolize different feelings. Red, represents love while white is a symbol of purity or innocence. Yellow stands for friendship and orange for passion. Black roses are often thought of in times of mourning or death.

In ancient greek mythology roses were associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite also protected the body of Hector using the "immortal oil of the rose”, in The Iliad.

The rose is also the national flower of England. This tradition dates back to the fifteenth century during the English Civil Wars.

Many cities around the world have festivals and special days that celebrate roses. Just consider the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl in Pasadena California or St. Georges Festival in Catalonia Spain.

Everyone can draw and be creative, just try it and see! Drawing this dramatic and enchanting flower is a fun challenge to tackle.

Remember that drawing a rose is not an easy thing to do. You might not get it perfectly on your first try, so just keep practicing!

Materials

The materials needed for this art lesson are very simple, you probably have them on hand already:

Pencil
Paper (Drawing paper is best but you can use whatever you have available. I am using a 5.5 x 8.5 inch spiral bound multimedia sketchbook with 98lb paper)

Art Lesson

1. Sketch an oval with a bowl shape underneath

3. Add leaves and stem to bottom of rose

2. Starting from the center, draw in the petals

Begin by sketching in some guide lines very lightly. Draw a circle or an oval. This will be the top of the rose. Then drawn a semi circle or bowl shape below that. This is the front of the rose.
Sketch in the petals starting at the center of the flower. The first petal will probably look like a backwards “c”. Look at the photo I have provided you or look at your own rose for reference.

The rest of the petals will fan out in a spiral getting larger as they move towards the outside of the rose.

Each petal will start by touching the petal inside it, and then go up and over. Finally the petal will turn back toward the center, usually touching the inner petals.

Do not get too concerned about drawing each petal exactly the way it appears. Petals and flowers are always shifting and changing so just try to go for the basic shapes.
Add any parts of petals that fold over on themselves (these will usually be highlighted with shadows beneath them).
Sketch in several leaves at the base of the flower. The sides of the leaves round outward and come together into a point. Think about a triangle shape with rounded edges. The back part of the leaf sits under the flower and is not visible.
Draw in a stem coming down from the bottom of the rose, if you want.
Erase any of your guide lines that you don’t need anymore.
Shade it in by starting at the center of the flower. The center will be fairly dark. You can turn your pencil on the side and push from the top to shade in large areas quickly.

The areas where the petals meet will be shaded in darker. Look at the picture or a rose from life to really determine where the lights and darks are.

Darken the areas where the petals overlap and then shade out to the edge of the petals lighter and lighter. Your shading will blend out from dark, to medium, to white, or the color of the paper.

Take your time shading to get a nice even transition between the lights and darks.
Shade in your leaves and stem as well.
Now you can go back over the entire drawing and darken up any areas that need a little more shading. Now is also a good time to erase any lines or shading that need to be cleaned up or removed.
Finally, look at your overall drawing. Make sure it feels balanced and everything is the way you want it to appear.
Add any other finishing touches or extra details. You could also draw in the background if you want.

Tips and tricks

Turn your pencil on the side and push from the top to shade large areas more quickly.

Turn your paper as you shade in your drawing to make it easier.

Avoid rubbing your hand over your drawing as you are working to prevent smears.

Don’t worry too much about the individual petals just go for the basic overall shapes and shading.

Variations

It is fun to add color to your sketch. Try adding color with water color paints, soft pastels, colored pencils or even markers.

Practice drawing a rose from real life. For an extra challenge draw it from different points of view like looking down from the top, from a three quarters angle or directly from the front.

Observe rose buds. They have the same structure as open roses but you would draw them with a tighter outward spiral.

You could also go all out and draw a whole bouquet of roses!

What to do with your Sketch

Framed drawing of a rose hanging in a living room — *Framed drawing of a rose*

Your sketch will make a lovely homemade gift for Christmas, Hanukkah, birthdays or any other special occasion. Who wouldn't love to receive such a thoughtful present.

You can also frame your drawing and decorate your home. A hand drawn rose is a stunning addition to any room.

Video

Step by step tutorial on How to Draw an Easy Rose

Transcript

Read Transcript

Hi everyone. In this lesson you will learn how to draw an easy rose. This step-by-step tutorial will help guide you in drawing what you see. You will also learn a few basic drawing skills and work on shading your rose in.

Let’s get started started. Start with drawing a circle or an oval and a bowl shape underneath it. That will make the bottom of the rose. Start at the center just by drawing that first petal.

Take a look at the photo and work on drawing what you see. However, don’t get too hung up about drawing each individual petal so much as just drawing an overall basic shape.

The petals are going to be tighter and closer together near the center and as you go out to the outside of the rose the petals are going to radiate out more. Flowers petals are always shifting and moving so just going for an overall shape, the basic jest of this rose.

Now, where the petals overlap they will appear whiter (highlighted) so we will leave them the color of the paper. That is what we are drawing right there, is these, the front of the petal as it falls forward.

I need to make that a little bit bigger right there. Really think of this as just a sketch.

Adding in the bottom and a few leaves.

Okay, I always like to like to keep an eraser handy. It’s rarely perfect the first time.

My photo does not include a stem, but if you would like to add a stem you can do so, like that.

Now go back any and erase any lines that you don’t need. Those were the lines from our original circle.

Now to start shading this in. Starting at the center and working my way out. I’m going to make that center really dark. And then start shading in a little bit where the petals are overlapping.

So I’m really working hard here on getting a wide range of value all the way from the darkest darks out to the whites and everything in between. So as I’m shading you can start to see the form of the rose really start to take shape a lot more.

And shadows underneath the petals where they are overlapping. Really take your time here. I’m going pretty quickly so your video doesn’t take forever, but take your time and get your shading exactly the way you want it.

You can also turn your pencil on the side here and push down from the top. And turn your paper as you go along if you need to.

Just keep in mind that drawing a rose is not an easy thing to do so keep practicing. A little hint of shadow right where those petals are overlapping on the front. Some value on the stem and a little bit more in the leaves.

That’s how you draw a quick and easy rose. I hope you will join me next time for another art lesson here at Art Look Learn.

How to Draw an Easy Rose

Learn how to draw a realistic rose step-by-step with pencil in this easy drawing tutorial! Sketching this flower might seem complicated but when you break it down into simple steps anyone can do it.

Equipment

Pencil
Paper (Drawing paper is best but you can use whatever you have available. I am using a 5.5 x 8.5 inch spiral bound multimedia sketchbook with 98lb paper)

Instructions

Begin by sketching in some guide lines very lightly. Draw a circle or an oval. This will be the top of the rose. Then drawn a semi circle or bowl shape below that. This is the front of the rose.
Sketch in the petals starting at the center of the flower. The first petal will probably look like a backwards “c”.
The rest of the petals will fan out in a spiral getting larger as they move towards the outside of the rose.
Each petal will start by touching the petal inside it, and then go up and over. Finally the petal will turn back toward the center, usually touching the inner petals.
Add any parts of petals that fold over on themselves (these will usually be highlighted with shadows beneath them).
Sketch in several leaves at the base of the flower. The sides of the leaves round outward and come together into a point. Think about a triangle shape with rounded edges. The back part of the leaf sits under the flower and is not visible.
Draw in a stem coming down from the bottom of the rose.
Erase the guide lines.
Shade in the rose, starting at the center of the flower.
Darken the areas where the petals overlap and then shade out to the edge of the petals lighter and lighter. Your shading will blend out from dark, to medium, to white, or the color of the paper.
Take your time shading to get a nice even transition between the lights and darks.
Shade in your leaves and stem as well.
Now you can go back over the entire drawing and darken up any areas that need a little more shading. Now is also a good time to erase any lines or shading that need to be cleaned up or removed.
Finally, look at your overall drawing. Make sure it feels balanced and everything is the way you want it to appear. Add any other finishing touches or extra details.

Notes

Turn your pencil on the side and push from the top to shade large areas more quickly.

Turn your paper as you shade in your drawing to make it easier.

Avoid rubbing your hand over your drawing as you are working to prevent smears.

Don’t worry too much about the individual petals just go for the basic overall shapes and shading.

Lesson Downloads

Rose Photo for Drawing Download

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you draw an easy rose?

Sketch in some guide lines very lightly. Draw a circle or an oval. Then drawn a semi circle or bowl shape below that.

Add petals starting at the center of the flower. The first petal will probably look like a backwards “c”.

The rest of the petals will fan out in a spiral getting larger as they move towards the outside of the rose.

Sketch in several leaves at the base of the flower. Finally, draw in a stem coming down from the bottom of the rose, if you want.

How do you shade in a rose?

Shade your drawing by starting at the center of the flower. The center will be fairly dark. The areas where the petals meet will be shaded in darker.

Darken the areas where the petals overlap and then shade out to the edge of the petals lighter and lighter. Your shading will blend out from dark, to medium, to white, or the color of the paper.

Take your time shading to get a nice even transition between the lights and darks.

Shade in your leaves and stem as well.

How do I color in my rose?

Look at the colors in your real rose or that the picture that you are drawing from. Many different colors usually make up one flower. Think about the main color of the flower, highlights, shadows, and a variety of hues in between.

The highlighted areas will often be white or a lighter version of the rose. The shadows will appear to be the the main color of the flower with black or brown added in.

You can add color to your drawing with watercolor paint, colors pencils, soft pastels or even markers.