This tutorial will show you how to draw a rose. It takes only eleven steps. Although the tutorial is focused on anime and manga, many of the drawing tips and examples can be used for traditional art.
Roses are a common flower in manga and anime. Roses can be used as background scenery, as part of an outfit, or in romantic scenes. These flowers are complex and can be difficult to draw due to the unique shapes of their petals. This tutorial will help you make it easier. Start with a simple shape and build on it to create the complex rose.
You should not use a computer unless you are drawing digitally. Instead, you can use a pencil to draw the lines and finish your drawings.
Step 1: Make a construction drawing of the rose flower
The overall shape of rose flowers that are not fully opened is similar to a wineglass. This shape will be sketched lightly. However, before you begin to draw the lines, make sure to draw two guidelines. To ensure that the “glass’ is equal in both halves, draw a vertical line across the center of your drawing area. To place the oval-shaped rim, draw a horizontal line.
Give the bottom of the “glass” a rounded shape. The shape of the “glass” should become narrower towards its top, and then curve outwards from the center. To create the “opening”, add the oval at the top of the rim.
The “eye-level” will determine the height of the oval. For example, if you were to draw a rose at the eye level of your viewer, the top of the oval would be straight. However, if you look at the rose very high up, the oval would appear to be close to a circular shape.
In this instance, we will draw the rose slightly below the eye.
For a detailed explanation of perspective drawing and eye level (which it is closely related to), please visit:
Tutorial for Beginning Artists and How It Relates To Anime
Step 2 – Draw the stem and leaves
Once you have completed the construction drawing, add the stems and leaves. These are simple shapes so you can make the outline of the stem and leaves the same way as they appear in the final drawing.
The stems of roses bend towards the areas where the leaves are growing out of them. This is because there is only one set, so only one bend. It will appear that the stem is thicker toward the flowers. This part is known as the receptacle. Make sure you include this information in your drawing.
Once you have finished the stem, add the leaves to a group of 3. This is how rose leaves grow. Each leaf can be drawn with only two curve lines.
Please note that you can only draw the flower portion of the rose if you don’t want the stem.
Step 3 – Add Front Petals & Sepals
This example shows dark lines around the petals to help you distinguish them from the construction lines. If you are using pencil and paper, however, you should continue to draw light lines.
Begin by adding the “front sides” of the rose petals (facing the viewer). These should be drawn starting at the bottom and ending at the top.
You might also find it helpful to remember that petals are stacked within each other and can alternate in a braid-like fashion.
You can now leave out the small curves and bends that rose flowers are known for. These will be added later.
The following tutorial will show you how to draw a hair brad.
How To Draw Anime & Manga Style Braids
Above is a large illustration of the front petals.
Draw the “front” set (small, lower-level leaves of the flower) of sepals with pointed ends that curve slightly downwards. Two of them can be drawn pointing towards the sides, and one more towards the viewer.
Step 3 – Draw your Back Petals and Sepals
Next, add the next set. These should be drawn starting at the center, and moving outwards. The overall shape of the petals should be so that they wrap around the “wine glasses”. To help you, use the curve of an oval.
A large version of the drawing can be seen with all the petals.
In the background, draw two more petals. Each one should be placed between the front- and side sepals.
Step 5 – Draw Outer Petals
You can add another pair of rose petals to the sides. These will make the rose appear more natural than if it was constructed strictly according to lines. These can be drawn following the shape of the “wine glasses”, but leaning away from it as they move towards the top.
Step 6 – Add the “Frills”.
Rose petals have a distinctive feature: they tend to have small, “wavy” bends at their edges. It’s similar to frills found around the edges of old-fashioned clothes.
Step 7 – Finish the flower line drawing
You can draw on paper with a black pen or a marker. But be careful not to make mistakes. You can also use a pencil to darken the lines if you are concerned.
After you have completed the entire drawing, darken the outline of the rose if you wish to continue.
Step 8 – Draw the details of the leaves
If you plan to color the rose, you’ll need to either draw them in color immediately or create a light sketch so that the rose will be invisible when you color it. The tutorial will show you how to color the leaves.
The veins can be drawn in the same way as the petioles.
Step 9 – Complete the Full Rose Line Drawing
To finish the line drawing phase of this tutorial, use darker lines. Please note again that you should not use dark outlines if you plan to color the rose.
Step 10 – Apply color
This step involves filling the rose flower with red, and the stem with green.
The petiole, veins, and stem should be the same color as the stem. The rest of the leaves should be colored a darker color.
For reference, you can see the color drawing of each leaf in the closeup.
Step 11 – Apply Shading
You can shade roses in anime style using “Cel” shading. It’s possible you already know it from the 3dvkarts net tutorials.
Apply a darker shade to the shaded areas of the rose. Shade the rose using no gradients. Just draw a straight line between the dark and light areas.
Shading the flower
Based on the lighting conditions in which the rose is being lit, the areas that will receive shading will vary. In this instance, we shade the rose as if the light were coming from the upper left corner of the drawing.
This means that shadows will be generally along the right and bottom sides of the flowers as well as the left side of the inner petals.
Shading the Sepals
The back sepals should be shaded, and the one on the right the darker leaves. The petals will cast a shadow on the front/middle sepal, so shade it in part.
Shading the Stem
The shadows cast by the flowers/sepals will be large on the top of the stem. This shadow is followed by one on the right (facing away from the sunlight).
Shading the Leaves
The leaves can be left as is, but they should be oriented slightly away from the sunlight.
Conclusion
Even in simplified anime/manga styles, roses can be difficult to draw. It can be helpful to start with a drawing of the rose and then build the rose around it in multiple steps. This will help you organize what may otherwise seem like a chaotic mass of petals.
You can find more tutorials on anime and manga here:
- How to Draw Male Anime Characters Step by Step
- Tutorial Drawing Manga Speech Bubbles