Before photography, botanical illustration was used to document the form, color, and details of plant life, but today, many contemporary artists and illustrators still strive to showcase the beauty of flowers through their art. One of those artists is Kate Kyehyun Park, who paints beautiful blooms in watercolor.
The Korean illustrator’s ever growing portfolio showcases her talent for creating beautiful botanical watercolor illustrations, but she doesn’t keep her skills to herself. Instead, she shares her drawing tips on Instagram, detailing the various steps to rendering different kinds of botanicals with pencil and paper. From poppies to cosmos flowers, her instructive sketches show how you too can achieve perfect proportions and realistic details in just three steps.
First, Park breaks the flower down into simple shapes. For example, her hand-drawn tulips start out as a line for the stem and a simple oval shape for where petals are. She then adds details, refining the petal shapes and how they overlap each other. The third step involves refining the shapes further and adding smaller details like petal veins and textured centers. Now that you know the secret to drawing flowers, you can sketch entire gardens of blooms!
Here are some tips for how to draw a flower before you dive in. These simple things to keep in mind will help you be more successful as you follow Park's tutorials. Begin by remembering the general structure of the flower. There's the root, the pedicel, the leaf, the bud, and much more within the flower itself. There's no need to memorize where every single part is located or what they are called, just keep the flower's general structure at the forefront of your mind as you draw your blooms alongside Park.
Also, make sure you have all of the supplies you need to begin:
- paper
- pencil
- eraser
- pen/marker
- watercolors
- paint brushes
- jar of water
Going beyond your basic supplies, you will also need to have a flat surface with enough space to set up your laptop, tablet, or smart phone to follow your instructions from Park.
Scroll down to learn how to draw flowers and check out more of Park’s work on Instagram.
Korean illustrator Kate Kyehyun Park shares her drawing tips on how to draw a flower in three easy steps.
Not sure how to add color? Watch how Park builds up delicate watercolor washes.
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Kate Kyehyun Park: Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Kate Kyehyun Park.
This article has been edited and updated.
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