Begonia Drawing Ideas

How to draw a begonia step by step

Begonia is the one flower on this site where the leaves matter as much as the bloom. Draw the leaf wrong and the plant will not read correctly no matter how good the flower is.

1. Draw a small oval for the centre of the flower, off to one side rather than dead middle.
2. Add four petals around it: two larger ones opposite each other and two smaller ones between. Begonia flowers are not symmetrical, and that is what gives them their look.
3. Overlap the petals where they meet. Begonia petals sit on top of one another in a loose spiral rather than in a flat ring.
4. Draw a short thick stem. Begonia stems are fleshy and juicy looking, not thin and wiry.
5. Add the leaves, and give them real attention. A begonia leaf is lopsided, with one half clearly bigger than the other, and a pointed tip. The uneven leaf is the most recognisable part of the whole plant.

Darken your final lines and keep the leaf veins light.

Which begonia should you start with

If this is your first flower

Start with the simple single begonia bloom or the bud. Both are small and have nothing else on the page.

If you have drawn flowers before

Try the large petal close up, the flower with leaves or the double bloom. The close up is the fastest way to understand how the petals overlap.

If you want a challenge

The potted plant and the wreath both need several flowers and leaves arranged together. The trailing branch needs the blooms to hang convincingly rather than sit upright.

What you need

An HB pencil, plain paper and an eraser. A 2B pencil helps if you want darker final lines. Nothing on this page needs a tablet, a light box or special paper, and none of these were drawn with any.

Three things that make a begonia look right

• The leaves are symmetrical. A begonia leaf is lopsided on purpose, with one half larger than the other. Making both halves match is the single most common mistake.
• The flower is too symmetrical. Begonia blooms have two large petals and two small ones, not four equal ones. Keep it uneven.
• The stem is too thin. Begonia stems are thick and fleshy. A wiry stem makes the plant look like something else entirely.

Why begonia leaves look wrong

If your begonia does not look right, it is almost always the leaves. Draw the centre vein first, but place it off to one side rather than down the middle. Then build one half of the leaf larger than the other around it. That single asymmetry is what people recognise, even if they could not tell you why.

Ways to use these drawings

Copy any of these by hand, or download and print them for yourself, for your children or for your classroom. They work as colouring sheets, tracing practice, a warm up before a bigger drawing, or line art for a card. If you want to use one in something you sell, write to us first.