You’re enchanted by the vibrant and cheerful daffodil and craving to capture it in your sketchbook? Well, this helpful tutorial will be your savior.
Coming in a wide array of colors, sizes, and shapes, this spring-blooming flower offers a diverse selection for artists or any flower-obsessed. In this guide, we’ll show you how to draw a yellow daffodil with a slender stem and long-form foliage.
Ensure that you capture the correct proportions of the various parts of the daffodil. The length of the trumpet, the width of the petals, and the relative positioning of the parts are crucial for a realistic representation.
Besides, we’ll guide you to observe how light falls on the flower and creates highlights and shadows, making your drawing more realistic.
Now, get your materials ready and follow every step below!
How to Draw a Daffodil Flower – Step by Step Tutorial
Step 1: Start with the flower head first, right at the middle of your canvas. The flower of a daffodil consists of a central trumpet-shaped corona surrounded by smooth petal-like tepals (including three petals and three sepals).
Refer to our picture below for the first small shape.
Step 2: From the bottom of this shape, add curved lines with different lengths to represent the corona’s veins.
Step 3: Use wavy lines to cover those lines in step 2. Then we’ve got a complete sketch for the trumpet corona.
Step 4: Moving to the tepals, draw the first one using curved lines. Then add an extra line along its upper edge to imply that the tepal is folded.
Step 5: Finish the rest tepals using the bilateral symmetry. Notice that at this viewpoint, we’ll clearly see five big tepals, the last one is mostly hidden by the corona so that only its tip appears at the bottom.
Step 6: To make the flower look more natural, draw extra small lines to add details and create shadows.
Step 7: After mastering the most challenging part in this daffodil drawing, be confident to sketch the rest parts.
For the stem, extend long, slender lines from the bottom of the flower head. As above, you can add extra details to make it more realistic.
Step 8: Next up comes the leaves. Notice how they emerge from the base of the stem and form long, strap-like structures.
Start with the first one at the right side of the stem. Draw two long curved lines first to create an outline for this leaf. In place between them, add a group of curves extending from the bottom, with different length and thickness, to mimic the veins.
Step 9: With the same technique, sketch the second leaf on the left side of the stem. It should be slightly wider near the base and taper towards the tips.
Step 10: Draw the third leaf behind the flower.
Step 11: And the last big leaf too. Add extra curves to shade the bottom part of each leaf.
Step 12: It’s time for the next fun part – coloring. Choose a color palette for your own daffodil or use ours as a reference. Then follow each step below for a simple way to elevate your drawing.
Firstly, color the corona with an orange base.
Step 13: Use a darker hue to add shade to its center.
Step 14: The tepals will brighten in yellow so add a light coat first.
Step 15: Apply a darker tone to make them more vibrant. Yet don’t forget the shading part – mostly the area nearby the corona.
Step 16: For the stem, a green hue is a safe option. Similarly, shading is essential to make the stem realistic.
Step 17: For the leaves, a flat base will come first.
Step 18: Then comes a darker coloring layer to make the details outstanding.
Congratulations! You’ve just got an astonishing daffodil on your paper.
Instructional Video
Final Step
While you are super satisfied with that daffodil drawing, you might extend this journey further by various ways.
Yellow daffodils are the most common and iconic, but there are many other color variations available. You can choose to color it white, pink, or combinations of these colors. Want to run a bit wilder? Break the limit and try blue, purple, a gradient, or any hue that you like.
Additionally, consider the background of your drawing. It can complement and enhance the daffodil’s appearance, making it stand out more effectively. We’ve just shown you an example below, which is simple yet still charming. You might choose to stick to it, advance it, or go with a more complicated one (like adding a garden or a small corner of your room).
Have you made up your mind yet? As long as you make it with creativity, your daffodil drawing is sure to be a stunning piece of artwork.
