I mentioned on a recent Instagram post that my favorite types of plants are ferns, and it gave me the idea for this blog post! So, I thought that I would share with you how to draw 7 different types of fern leaves. I also did a previous series on drawing leaves, so if you want to check those out too, then just click the following links: part 1, part 2, and part 3.
7 Ways to Draw Fern Leaves
- So for the first leaf, draw a line for your stem, then add long ovals horizontally through the middle of your stem (I am showing simplified outlines for the examples, so I used an oval shape here, but if you're using paint, it's pretty much just a horizontal line). I start off with smaller/shorter leaves at the top, but the rest is pretty much the same length. I also like to add a trio of leaves pointing upwards at the top to finish.
- For the second type of leaf, draw your stem and add the trio of leaves at the top. Then you're going to add inverted teardrop shapes (narrow at the stem, round on the ends) on both sides of your stem, tilting slightly upwards. The most important thing for this leaf type is to make sure that your leaves start off short at the top, steadily get longer towards the middle, and finally become shorter again at the bottom. Think of a diamond shape for this leaf.
- The third leaf is super easy. Draw your stem and then add a squiggly line from the bottom all the way around the stem until you reach the bottom of other side.
- If you think of the second leaf as a diamond shape, the fourth leaf is more like a triangle. Draw your stem and add symmetrical branches tilting upwards on both sides (basically a "v" shape). The branches should steadily get longer as you move down the leaf. Then, on each branch draw scalloped lines all the way around. Don't forget the top too!
- The fifth leaf is similar to the first, but instead of ovals or lines going horizontally, you're going to draw figure 8's or infinity symbols. It also is important to keep the leaves very close together, leaving very little gaps in between. Lastly, add a middle leaf at the top (gotta have that trio!).
- The sixth leaf is almost like a mix of leaf two and leaf four, with it's own little flair! What I mean by this is that, it's diamond shaped like the second leaf, has the scalloped leaves like leaf four, but is different from the others because the bottom leaves start to tilt downwards. Start by drawing your stem, and then adding your "v" branches. Make sure to start small at the top and get bigger/ longer as you move down the stem. when you get 3/4th of the way down the stem, start to tilt your branches downward instead of upwards (inverted "v" shape). Lastly, add those scalloped leaves to each branch, as well as the top.
- For the last leaf, draw a similar frame to leaf four. But instead of adding scalloped leaves, you're going to draw single, inverted teardrop shapes on each side of the branch for the leaves. On this leaf, I tend to be very systematic with how many leaves I draw. So start with drawing the trio of leaves on top - this will be considered your branch 1. The first "v" shape will be branch 2. So on branch two I draw two pairs of leaves (the last "pair" will actually be a trio, so add the middle leaf at the tops of each branch), branch three has three pairs, branch four has four pairs, etc. Sorry if the wording here is confusing, but if you look at the example then I think you will see what I mean!
And those are the seven fern leaf types! Hopefully I was able to explain everything satisfactorily, but let me know if you have a question. For more art tutorials, free downloads, and other art related posts, follow along on Bloglovin' by clicking the button below! :)
