ART INSPIRATION Articles 1 min read

Sketching Floral Subjects

Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! Discover competitions in a variety of media and enter for your chance to win cash prizes, publication in leading art magazines, global exposure, and rewards for your hard work. Plus, gain valuable feedback from renowned jurors. Let your passion shine through – enter an art competition today!

Inject some fresh excitement into your floral sketches with Suhita Shirodkar’s fun ideas for capturing this endlessly captivating subject.

Who doesn’t love to paint flowers? While a vase of blooms is a gorgeous subject, floral sketches can go far beyond still lifes and bouquets.

Your depictions of flowers can take the form of botanical studies or become a record of the seasons. They might take on a starring role in your urban sketches or offer the perfect incentive for trying out some experimental techniques. The possibilities are endless!

Capture a Lifecycle

Instead of capturing flowers only at the height of their bloom, record a flower throughout various stages. Challenge yourself to capture a range of textures in the process—from the soft, fuzzy feel of new growth to the crumpled, translucent petals of withered blooms.

A Record of Your Ever-changing Surroundings

Paint the flowering trees and plants in your neighborhood to capture the ever-changing world around you. When that nondescript tree suddenly bursts into bloom, be there with your sketchbook to record its new, showy avatar. Over time, you’ll find yourself becoming more keenly aware of the cycle of subtle changes taking place in the natural world around your own neighborhood.

(slideshow)

Suhita Shirodkar
Wherever they’re found—in a vase or bouquet, a formal public garden or backyard—flowers offer enough variation as a subject to keep creativity humming happily for ages.
Suhita Shirodkar
This double-page sketch records six days in the life of a bouquet of daffodils.
Suhita Shirodkar
This beautiful jacaranda tree produces clusters of fragrant purple flowers. I was ready with my sketchbook when it burst into bloom.
Suhita Shirodkar
In this sketch of a local farmer’s market, I captured the activity of shoppers combined with the color and beauty of the flowers at the stall.
Suhita Shirodkar
In this sketch, I’ve experimented with a monochrome approach to a floral bouquet.
Suhita Shirodkar
In this sketch, I captured a small bunch of tulips using a variety of media.

A City in Bloom

Don’t think urban sketching and flowers go together? Think again. Flowers are a much bigger part of urban settings than you might imagine. You can sketch the places that supply flowers—whether it’s a neighborhood florist, market stand or the local grocery store—or observe them in a city garden. Add people to your sketch as they stop to smell the roses or pause to enjoy a tree in full bloom.

Experiment Wildly

Flowers are a truly fun and forgiving muse, which makes them perfect for experimentation. The next time you sketch them, try using a new medium or technique. If you always use watercolor, try rendering your subject in dry media, or put away your color and surprise yourself by creating floral art in monochrome. You might also want to bring out all those supplies you’ve been hoard- ing and try them out in floral sketches.

Inspiring Subject, Guaranteed

With so many ways to look at flowers—and myriad ways of rendering them—you can be sure this is a subject you can explore in new and different ways every time you crack open your sketchbook.

Suhita Shirodkar (sketchaway.wordpress.com) is a visual journalist and an urban sketcher. She also teaches sketching workshops around the world and online.

Join the Conversation!

Become a member today!

Choose an option below to join now.

$14.99/month

Join Now

 

Free Gift Included

$99.99/year

Join Now

 

  • Stream over 850 videos anytime, anywhere.
  • Enjoy exclusive events with live discussions from today’s top artists!
  • Get access to the Artists Magazine archives and save 30% on additional magazines.

View All Benefits

*Membership cannot be purchased with Gift Cards.