The word botany refers to the science of plants and plant life. To draw a flower so that it is botanically accurate--that is, presented realistically, as it appears in life--you must start by finding an example of that specimen to draw from. It is important to keep the proportions correct and to draw the minute details as they are presented to you.
Instructions
1. Choose the specimen you will be drawing. If you choose to draw from a living flower, still in a garden or growing in the ground, note that there are advantages and disadvantages to this method. Changing light and weather conditions, as well as the effects of the wind, may make drawing your flower difficult if you are not fast. If you will be drawing from a flower you have picked, note that you will be fighting against time as the flower wilts.
If you are drawing from a photograph, choose a photograph that is high-resolution and large enough that you can see all details.
2. Sharpen your pencil.
3. Draw the stem starting at the base. Most stems are long and thin without knots or gnarls. Make a long line that proceeds upward along the stem of the flower, then make another line back down the other side. You may add details (like thorns and leaves that branch off) later.
4. Draw the outline of the leaves as they branch from the stem. Note the edges of the leaf. If the edge of the leaf is serrated, first draw the shape of the leaf without the serrations, then return later to input the serrations along the outline you have already drawn. Draw the veins in the leaves lightly--they are not prominent parts of the flower and should not be presented with dark or heavy marks.
5. Resharpen your pencil, if necessary, in order to draw with a clear and precise line.
6. At the top of the stem, draw the head of the flower. Start with the core of the flower and draw each petal outward. It is important to carefully study the flower's petals and the flower's nexus, or core. Resist the temptation to draw what you think you see, instead of what you really see. For example, a child drawing a daisy will often not draw a daisy facing the sun, but a daisy facing the child, with the center of the daisy pointing at a 90-degree angle to the stem. In reality, many flowers face upward and toward the sun. A viewer from the side of the flower will see the foreshortened view of the petals.
7. Draw the veins in the flower petals and other details, such as the thorns on the stem.
8. Add shadows where necessary--on the undersides of the leaves and the undersides of the petals. Color lightly with your pencil and darken the shadows as necessary.
