There’s something lovely about sitting down with a pencil and a flower.
No expensive supplies. No complicated techniques. No need to produce something worthy of framing. Just a flower, a piece of paper and ten quiet minutes.
And yet so many of us immediately say the same thing:
“But I can’t draw.”
We think you can.
Not because everyone is secretly a brilliant botanical artist, but because drawing from nature doesn’t have to be about creating a perfect picture. It can simply be another way of looking.
Start by really looking
The next time you spot a flower you love, resist the temptation to immediately photograph it.
Instead, stop for a moment.
Look at the centre. How many petals can you see? Are they actually all the same shape? Which ones overlap? Does the stem grow perfectly straight?
Almost certainly not.
Nature is wonderfully wonky.
And that makes drawing it much less intimidating.
Step 1: Forget the flower
This sounds slightly strange, but when you begin drawing, try not to think:
I am drawing a flower.
Instead, look for shapes.
Perhaps the centre is a small circle. The whole flower might fit roughly inside a larger circle or oval.
Draw those shapes very lightly.
These are simply guides, so don't worry about making them beautiful.
Step 2: Add your petals
Now start at the centre and work outwards.
Rather than drawing the flower you think exists, keep looking back at the real one.
You might notice that one petal is much shorter than its neighbour. Another disappears behind two others. One curls slightly towards you.
Draw what you see.
Those little differences are often what make a botanical sketch suddenly feel alive.
Step 3: Let the stem wander
One of the easiest ways to make a flower drawing feel stiff is to give it a perfectly straight stem.
Look again.
Real stems bend, lean and twist towards the light.
Try drawing yours with one relaxed, flowing pencil movement.
Then add the leaves, paying attention to where they actually join the stem and which direction they point.
Don't worry about symmetry.
Think movement instead.
Step 4: Notice the tiny things
This might be our favourite part.
Once the basic flower is on your page, look closer.
Really closer.
You may suddenly notice tiny lines running through a petal. Speckles around the centre. A curled leaf. A half-open bud. A ragged edge where an insect has taken a bite.
Add some of them to your drawing.
You don't need to add everything.
You're simply recording the details that caught your attention.
And that's part of what makes your drawing yours.
Step 5: Add a little colour
You can absolutely stop at pencil.
In fact, simple botanical pencil sketches can be beautiful.
But if you fancy adding colour, keep that simple too.
Try coloured pencils, watercolour, watercolour pencils or whatever happens to be sitting in your drawer.
You don't need to colour every inch of the flower. A few washes of pink across the petals or green along the leaves can be enough.
Let colours overlap.
Leave some white paper showing.
Colour outside the lines if you want to.
This isn't a botanical examination.
Try the ten-minute flower challenge
Here's something to try on your next walk.
Find one flower.
It doesn't have to be spectacular. In fact, we'd encourage you to choose something ordinary: a daisy in the grass, a dandelion, a clover flower or even one of those tiny flowers growing determinedly through a crack in the pavement.
Sit somewhere nearby if you can.
Take out a notebook and pencil.
Set a timer for ten minutes.
And draw.
For those ten minutes, forget about whether the finished picture is good.
Instead, see how much you can notice.
You might be surprised by how peaceful it feels.
Your sketchbook doesn't have to be beautiful
This is worth saying because social media can give us a rather distorted idea of what a sketchbook is supposed to look like.
It doesn't need to contain page after page of exquisite paintings.
A real nature journal can contain wonky flowers, unfinished sketches, scribbled notes, leaves taped to pages, colour experiments, dates, places and things that didn't quite work.
That's the point.
It's a record of noticing.
And years from now, that slightly crooked little drawing of a flower you found on an ordinary Saturday walk might mean far more to you than a technically perfect picture ever could.
So grab a pencil.
Go outside.
Find a flower.
And give yourself ten minutes to really see it. 🌼
Happy drawing,
Libby & Alice x
P.S. If you're the sort of person who keeps beautiful scraps of paper, notices flowers on walks and can't resist a little botanical illustration, you'll probably feel very at home with us.
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