How to Draw a Lotus Flower

Welcome to this drawing tutorial! Thank you for letting me share my love for drawing with you :D Feel free to use whatever tools and materials you like the most, I highly recommend drawing with a pencil when you first start so you can make mistakes without stressing about it! Never be shy about erasing ^.^

Step 1. Guidelines

To start our lotus drawing we will put down some guidelines to help us decide the size and proportions of the flower ahead of time. This is really useful because you can plan the image from the start and have a good idea of what it will look like on the page.

Draw a straight horizontal line close to the top of the page, this line will define the top part of the lotus.

Step 2. Left Vertical

Now we will add a line from the left end of the last line going downwards. Remember not to be shy about erasing and trying things over again, getting the right set up will make the end result so much better.

Step 3. Right Vertical

Now add a vertical line to the right end of the horizontal line, you can see in the diagram how we are defining the central part of the flower.

Step 4. Bottom Horizontal

Now complete the rectangle by adding a line at the bottom. Try to capture similar proportions to the image below, you can play around with different proportions once you’ve gotten a bit more comfortable. This rectangle is wider than it is tall.

Step 5. Side Ramps

Now add diagonal lines coming from the top left and top right corners moving down and out from the rectangle. These lines will help us define the outer tips of the flower petals to the sides.

Step 6. Bottom

Add lines that connect the diagonal lines to the box.

Step 7. Center Line

Draw a horizontal line that dissects the center of the box, we will use this line to draw the petal that is in the middle.

Step 8. Petal

Now that we have all our guidelines in place we can begin drawing the petals. The previous steps might have felt a bit tedious but they will make all the next steps a lot easier. Draw two diagonal lines coming down from the top center point, draw them coming down about 2/3rds of the way down and then stop. These lines should not be touching the bottom of the rectangle.

Step 9. Petal Bottom

Continuing from where the diagonal lines ended, we draw two lines curving inwards until they touch the bottom of the rectangle. Notice how these lines are only slightly curved, try not to make them too round.

Step 10. Left Petal

With our center petal complete we will start drawing the petal to its left. Draw a diagonal line moving upwards from the edge of the center petal. Pay attention to its starting and end points, it starts at the corner before the curve on center petal and stops at the edge of our guideline.

Step 11. Side Curve

Draw a curving line that starts at the top left and curves down to the base of the rectangle. Draw this line fairly straight towards the tip and more round towards the base.

Step 12. Right Petal

Now repeat the last two steps but for the right side. The symmetry of the lotus is part of its appeal, so try to make these petals similar to each other. It doesnt have to be perfectly symmetrical, because that would look unnatural anyways, but close enough that it feels balanced.

One thing to keep in mind when drawing any flower is that the petals usually flow out from a central point. This happens because the flower starts as a bulb and is supported by a stem in the middle, so all the petals are connected at this base. If you look at the diagram above you can see how the lotus has the effect of a sun over the horizon that is shooting out rays of sunlight. Understanding these more broad concepts of how flowers are drawn will help you draw them from imagination! :D

Step 13. Back Petal

Now that we have our three central petals in place, lets draw the petals that are behind. Draw a diagonal line from the left petal moving up and slightly to the right. Make sure to look at the diagram to see which line was added. This petal is behind the other petals so there will be less of it visible, this means we only see its lines where the other petals arent covering it.

Step 14. Complete Petal

Finish this left back petal by adding a diagonal line from its top moving down towards the center. the line ends at the edge of the central petal. Notice how it looks like this petal is behind the others.

Step 15. Right Petal

Now repeat the steps for the last petal but this time on the right side. Pay attention to how the tip of the petal is more towards the outsides than it is towards the middle, this helps sell the dimension and beauty of a flower. This can be challenging to capture at first but with a little practice you will start to notice these subtle details!

Step 16. Edge Petal

Now that the central petals are complete we will begin to draw the petals to the sides. Draw a curving line from the base of the left most petal that curves slightly upwards. Notice how this line does not follow the base guideline we drew earlier, getting this curve right will help the petal feel like its opening up.

Step 17. Top Curve

Add a curve from the left tip of the last line curving back into the edge of the lotus. I really love how its starting to feel layered and elegant :D

Step 18. Right Petal

Now we repeat the bottom curve for the right side, still keeping in mind that this line curves up towards the right.

Step 19. Top Line

Draw a line for the top of this new petal.

Step 20. Tiny Petal

Add a small triangle in the space between the left bottom petal and the central-left petal. Use the diagram to help you see the angle of this triangle. This helps make the flower look more full.

Step 21. Tiny Right Petal

Now repeat the last step for the space on the right side. With this step complete we have drawn in the structure of all the flower petals! :D

Step 22. Erase & Cleanup

Erase away the guidelines we drew and redraw any petal liens that accidentally get lightened. I am using a kneadable eraser which is a puddy/playdough like eraser that you can mold into whatever shape you want. I prefer these erasers because they dont leave any shavings :D.

Step 23. Petal Shading

Add two lines close to the base of the central petal that curve slightly to the left.

Step 24.Shading

Add similar shading to the rest of flower petals, keep the shading close to the base and in the corners to help give the flower some dimension.

Step 25. Bottom Bulb

Draw a semi circle at the base of the central petal. This is the bulb that holds the flower together and connects the stem.

Step 26. Leaf

Add a leaf to the left side of the base and start the edge of a second leaf. Make sure these leaves are pointing downwards and that they start towards the center of the flower.

Step 27. Leaf + Stem

Finish up the leaf on the right, notice how I gave them slightly different shapes to make it feel more natural. Getting in the habit of giving elements slight variations will help the drawing feel more organic and less manufactured.

Once youve completed the leaf, add two vertical lines for the stem. Give these lines a slight bend and curvature so they dont feel too static.

Step 28. Stem Shading

Add shading to the stem right before it connects to the flower. This helps sell the idea that the stem is below the flower.

Final Step!

Celebrate your drawing!

Yaay finished the drawing! Thank you so much for letting me share my love for drawing flowers with you! I really hope this was fun for you and maybe (just maybe) this tutorial has helped you realize that you can totally learn how to draw. I learned drawing at a later age so I know that this is a learnable skill that anyone can pick up at any time (with effort, of course).

Check out more of the tutorial on the site! I've put lots of effort into creating these free resources because I want more people to fall in love with drawing. So feel free to share the link to this tutorial with friends :D That would be tremendously helpful to me on this mission to spread the love for drawing.

I have created a 20 page Printable Workbook (PDF) that will teach you how to draw different floral arrangements. I wanted to create something that could really speed up someone's learning and actually get them drawing. I poured tons of time into it to make it as useful as possible to someone who wants to capture the elegance and beauty of flowers, I would looove it if you grabbed your copy and drew with me some more!