Step 1. Guidelines

• Draw a box that has the overall proportions and perspective of the bow that you want to draw. Using guidelines makes it much easier to learn how to draw and memorize how to draw a subject matter.

• Add some lines indicating the center point of the 4 lines that create the box, we will use these lines to place the center knot of the bow.

Step 2. Center

• Draw a small box in the middle of the guideline box that has rounded edges, this is the center of the bow. Pay attention to the placement and size of this box, it’s slightly taller than it is wide.

• I have found that rounded bows tend to be slightly cuter so I want to make sure there is enough room for the rounded corners of the bow.

Step 3. Rounded Forms

• Adding the outer forms of the box by drawing lines that move diagonally outwards from the center box and then curve around at the corners of the box. Note that the edges of the bow don’t touch the inner corners of the box (marked in pink on the example image). 

• Repeat this step for the opposite side as well. When you draw this step in different perspectives, one of the sides will be larger than the other but since we are facing this bow straight on they will be of similar size.

Step 4. Ribbons

• Draw two ribbons coming down from the center knot. These forms will go past the guideline box and would I also recommend making them slightly wider towards the ends. 

Step 5. Render + Color

• Now that you have defined the shape of the bow, you can add shading and color to your liking. You can see in the example how the highlights are towards the top of the bow and the shadows towards the bottom. 

• Feel free to skip this step if you are focused on practicing the overall form and dont want to spend too much time shading.

Using Bows as Hair ties

Step 1. Guidelines

• Draw in the base form of the hair that you are drawing, make sure that the hair is slightly pinched around the hair tie portion to show that there is tension there. You can see in the example that I have drawn two lines wrapping around the region where the ribbon is wrapped.

• Draw a box that has the dimensions and perspective that you want for your ribbon, this box should sit over the top of the hair tie portion. 

Step 2. Bow & Ribbons

• Draw a rounded box that sits on top of the hair tie guideline, this will be the center knot of the bow.

• Add the rounded forms of the bow as we did in the previous exercise, make sure to pay attention to the proportions and perspective of the bow.

• Add the ribbons under the center knot.

• If the hair tie portion of the ribbon is visible, make sure to draw it in. In the example image, you can see that the bow is covering the hair tie (as seen in the pink guidelines) so I won’t be drawing that portion in.

Step 3. Color & Rendering

• Add rendering and color to the hair and ribbon. Make sure to add some loose strands of hair to make the hair feel more elegant. I won’t be going over how to draw in the hair because there are plenty of free tutorials and a mini-course that you can check out below if you want more help with that step in the process.

This mini course is designed to help you learn how to draw flowing hair from imagination. We go through a series of drawing exercises to help you develop your drawing skills so that you will be able to draw hair with ease. The worksheets provide a very clear and concise way of practicing that will get you fast results. Let’s draw some flowy hair together!