Poppy Drawing Ideas

How to draw a poppy step by step

A poppy is mostly one shape repeated: a wide crumpled petal. Once you can draw one petal you can draw the whole flower.

1. Draw a small circle for the centre. A poppy has a dark button in the middle, so give it real size.
2. Add four or five wide petals around it. Poppy petals are broad and thin, like crumpled tissue, so let the outer edge wobble slightly instead of drawing a smooth curve.
3. Let the petals overlap where they meet. They sit on top of each other rather than side by side, which is what gives a poppy its full look.
4. Draw the stem. Poppy stems are thin, slightly bent and covered in fine hairs, which you can suggest with a few short ticks along the line.
5. Add the leaves last. Poppy leaves are deeply cut, almost feathery, so draw them as a jagged outline rather than a smooth oval.

Darken your final lines at the end and rub out the guide circle.

Which poppy should you start with

If this is your first flower

Start with the simple single poppy bloom or the poppy with five petals. Both face straight at you with nothing else on the page. The bud is even quicker if you want to warm up first.

If you have drawn flowers before

Try the poppy with a seed pod, the side view poppy or the poppy with a long stem and leaves. The flower stays simple and you are adding one part at a time.

If you want a challenge

The field scene needs several poppies at different heights that still look like the same flower. The wreath needs even spacing around a circle, which is harder than it sounds.

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 poppy look right

• The petals are too smooth. A poppy petal is thin and crumpled. A perfectly smooth edge makes it look like a buttercup.
• The centre is too small. The dark middle of a poppy is large and obvious. Shrink it and the flower stops reading as a poppy.
• The leaves are too plain. Poppy leaves are deeply cut and jagged. Smooth oval leaves belong on a different plant.

Poppy or rose

People mix these up when the petals overlap. A rose spirals inwards with many petals wrapping around a hidden centre. A poppy has four or five petals in one layer around a centre you can clearly see. If your drawing has no visible middle, it has turned into a rose.

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.