How to Draw Better Flowers Vlog

Hi everyone! If you're here and interested in surface design, you probably already love drawing. Some of you will have discovered a natural talent for it, and some of you will be unsure whether it's hiding in there or not.

But either way, if you love to put pencil to paper, we want you to know that you can be a really great designer. You just need the right skills, and of course, lots of practice. And while we can't help you with the practice part, we can certainly help you with the skills. So let's go!

To be a great surface designer, you need to become proficient at drawing and painting. There are no surprises there. However, it can be surprising to find that what you consider a good drawing generally might not really be a good drawing for surface design. Here, your motifs are used in a larger piece of art that needs to be printed, produced and visually understandable on a product sale. so there are particular skills surface designers need to master. 

First up, light and shadow. Decide where the light source is coming from in your drawing and keep it in your mind as you render. This will add depth and realism to your designs, especially if you emphasize it a little bit.

Observe how light affects different surfaces and practice shading to create dimension. Just don't overwork it, particularly if you're printing to fabric, as too much shading can look like a dark blob on the end product. 

Next, let's talk about perspective. Understanding perspective will help you create more dynamic and realistic designs. For instance, a flower drawn from a 3-quarter angle can be more interesting than a flower that's drawn front on.

Try to capture any foreshortening you see happening in your reference images. For example, petals pointing toward the viewer may appear quite short and round, while petals pointing up will appear much longer. It gives your work a sense of space and depth, which is crucial for surface design. 

And finally, let's discuss how to simplify a flower motif for textile design. When you're designing for textile production, sometimes less is more. So here, I'm taking a reference of a flower and leaving out the stamen because it makes the design cleaner and more versatile for different applications.

But I avoid removing too much detail because the drawing can become a bit simplistic and childlike. If you can include some light and shadow, perspective, and simplify your drawings just enough, they'll not only read like realistic flowers, but they'll print up nicely for you too. 

Remember you can only improve by doing. Practice really is the key to becoming the best designer you can be. Draw, paint and design over and over again. Don't get discouraged by any mistakes. They're all part of the learning process.

So keep practicing, stay creative and you'll see your designs improve every time. Thanks for reading! If you found this video above helpful,  subscribe to our channel for more tips and tutorials on surface design. And don't forget to hit the bell icon and get notified whenever we upload a new video. See you next time!

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