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Drawing Extraordinary Plants: Observing and Imagining

Lesson 7

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Drawing Plants From Around the World

In this lesson, you will draw a plant from around the world. You will use lines, shapes and visual textures to draw these plants using reference photos.

You will need:

1-2 sheets of white paper,�9 x 12” or 12 x 18”

An Ebony or regular pencil

The photos on slides #5-10

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Using Photo References

What was it like to draw a natural object from observation in the last lesson? Did you notice anything interesting about your object by observing it closely?

Artists often draw physical objects that are in front of them. But artists also draw things that they can’t directly observe, using photos as reference.

How do you think drawing from a photograph might be different from drawing an actual object?

Chinese Lantern Plant

Getty Images

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Exploring Extraordinary Plants

Look at the photos of plants from around the world on the following slides.

Choose 1 photo of a plant that inspires you that you want to draw.

What distinctive features �do you notice?

Why do you imagine this plant has these features?

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Plant Images (1)

African starfish

Main habitat: South Africa

Photo: Raffa C. Garcia

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Plant Images (2)

Trachyandra tortilis

Ribbon plant

Main habitat:

South Africa and Madagascar

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Plant Images (3)

Chinese lantern plant

Main habitat:

Southern Europe, South Asia and Northeast Asia

Getty Images

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Plant Images (4)

Pittosporum tenuifolium�(Golf Ball)l

Main habitat:

Mexico

Photo:

David Ohmer

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Plant Images (5)

Venus flytrap

Main habitat:

US coastal plain in

North and South Carolina

Shutterstock

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Plant Images (6)

Rafflesia

Main habitat: Indonesia

Photo: Sumeet Luktuke

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Planning Your Drawing

Take out your paper. Think about the following prompts before you start.

What is the largest shape of the plant?

Is the plant tall or wide? Which parts are larger and which parts are smaller?

Where do you see lines? What kinds of lines are they?

What kinds of lines, shapes or patterns show the texture?

What details do you notice?

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Planning Your Drawing 2

Now, take out your drawing paper.

Will your paper be vertical or horizontal?

How big do you need to draw your plant to fill your paper?

Where on your page will you draw the largest shape of your plant?

Trace the shape of the plant on your paper with your finger.

Make a mark with your pencil where your plant will hit the edges of your page.

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Drawing the Shapes

Look at your plant photo and begin drawing the largest shapes that you see.

What kind of lines make up the edge of �the shape?

Are they thick or thin?

Start by drawing your plant lightly at first �to sketch the shapes.

Once you draw the lines that best describe your plant, go over these to make them darker.

You don’t need to erase anything.

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Drawing Plants From Around the World: Drawing Details and Textures

Keep drawing slowly.

Remember, artists use photos for inspiration and to learn what something looks like. But an artists’ drawing expresses their personal way of seeing, and it will look different than the photo.

After drawing the large shapes of your plant, add any smaller shapes.

What details do you notice? Add these to your drawing.

Draw the textures that you see.

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Reflection

What did you first notice about your plant?

What new details did you discover about your plant while you were drawing?

How is this plant different from other plants that you’ve seen?

How did you draw your plant’s distinctive features?

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Vocabulary

Reference

Distinctive

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Remote Arts Learning Partnership

Module One �

Studio in a School NYC Project Team

Julie Applebaum, Senior Director

Belinda Blum

Andrea Burgay

Traci Talasco

Graphic Design

Don Giordano

Cover image: Trachyandra tortilis (ribbon plant)

Copyright © 2021 Studio in a School NYC LLC