My top 5 Favorite Flower Drawing & Reference Books
When the weather gets warmer, and the pollen gets yellow (you know what I mean if you’ve visited the south US in the spring), I start doodling and drawing more flowers. I should probably do that more in the winter (because it makes me happy), but winter is so…blah. I even started a Pinterest board just for leaves on tree branches. Today, I wanted to show you the flower drawing & reference books I keep close at hand.
Similar to why I love to bullet journal, I love a physical book as a reference when I draw. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t fear mindlessly scrolling away and losing my reference or that I can hold the book in my hand or perhaps I’m just old school.
It doesn’t matter the reason why I have floral reference books, and I thought I would show you some of the books I use as my flower drawing references. And what’s more, is I thought you might find it useful even if you tuck it away for reference later on in your artistic journey. To help a little more, I created a comparison guide for the flower drawing books & references. If you have your own reference books, this table is a great way to show the differences in the books.
Book Overview
We want to move to a new house in the next year or so. Don’t tell my husband, but I want a big library with reference books galore. But I won’t buy them until we’ve moved to a new house and all the books have their own home. I ultimately intend on keeping them sorted by type and not by the author. All of my flower books in one section, all of my dragon books in another. (FYI: I have one dragon book.)
Some of the books are more beginner friendly. Others have more information and photos plus line illustrations. They range from Peggy Deans’ Botanical Line Drawing to a book that I found on Amazon that shipped from England and took two months to find me.
Botanical Line Drawing
How to Draw Modern Florals
Wild Flowers by Colour
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers
An Illustrated Guide to Garden Flowers
I made a quick video featuring each of these books – you can watch the video below or head over to my YouTube channel to check it out.
Additional Floral-Related Resources
For some other fantastic resources – check out the series books by National Audubon Society Field Guides. I want to get the ones on birds and rocks & gems. They have amazing photography and line drawings too. I’m not at all intrigued by the amphibians and reptiles. I don’t like snakes one bit.
I happened on an astounding resource of wildflowers here. There are so many more books I want to leaf through and hold in my hands. But I do want to be picky when it comes to resources. I need my flower drawing books to add something or give me a new perspective. Come to think of it, I need all my books to add something or provide a new perspective.
This list is not a comprehensive list. There are so many more ‘how to’ books ‘how to’ books and reference books for florals. What I’d love to know from you is which ones (if any) have you tried and what you thought!
Where to Start with Flower Drawing Books?
If you want to start drawing flowers but feel overwhelmed, start with a step-by-step guide. The Botanical Line Drawing & How to Draw Modern Florals books are great for starting. You’ll learn many petals and shapes. You could draw from them for ages.
Botanical Line Drawing By Peggy Dean
- Great for beginners
- Line drawing only
- 200 + Flower & Nature Illustration
- Organized by type
- Use the hashtag on Instagram #botanicallinedrawing when drawing items from Peggy’s book
I listed ‘organized by type as a half-circle on my comparison because there are a couple of sections in her book: leaves, flowers, cacti & succulents & more nature.
One thing I didn’t expect from The Botanical Line Drawing book is that none of the flowers were labeled. You don’t need a name to draw it, but I would like to know the name. Because using #unknownflowername isn’t as fun as #trillium or even #pennywort on Instagram. It’s a personal preference, and it hasn’t stopped me from referring to her fantastic book over and over again and immensely improving my floral drawings.
I’m very excited about her new book! Guide to Nature Drawing & Watercolor.
How to Draw Modern Florals by Alli Koch
Create beautiful and realistic-looking flowers. There is plenty of line work inside the petals and leaves that you can choose to add or leave out when drawing your own modern florals.
- 20+ Detailed Outline drawings (you’ll see the width of the stems and more detail of the flowers)
- Flower names – each one is labeled with their common flower name
- Beginner friendly – with step by step drawings & instructions, you can start small & work into more complex drawings
Need Line Drawings AND Reference Photos?
I like to look at pictures and line drawings. I use the photographs for real-world reference, colors, and imperfections. But I also like line drawings so I can see the form and lines of the flower. That’s why I like Wild Flowers by Colour, Field Guide to Wildflowers and the Illustrated Guide to Garden Flowers. But these books don’t show step-by-step instructions on how to draw flowers.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers
One thing I really like about this book’s pictures is that each picture shows the general shape of the flower – so you can see how they grow together and the general shape of the petals. I use this book to cross-reference different flowers I find on Pinterest to make sure I’m calling it by the right name.
- Broken into flower family classifications
- Real-life photos
- Some illustrated drawings (does not have each one illustrated)
- Common & Scientific names
An Illustrated Guide To Garden Flowers
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find many more on Amazon. If you see it, grab it – it’s my favorite. With both photos & illustrated line drawings of each flower, it is a wonderful reference book. It’s geared to those who want to raise flowers, but it makes a wonderful flower drawing reference book.
- Scientific & Common Names
- Illustrations
- Real-life photos
- Multiple sections in addition to flower type, it has sections of annuals & perennials & bulbs.
Majorie Blammey’s Wildflowers by Colour
I cannot remember who first referenced this book, but I thought it was amazing when I first saw it. By chance, I found it for a very decent price on Amazon from a private seller and had to wait impatiently for it to ship from the UK. There are no real-life photos, but instead, each flower is a color illustration.
- Common names
- Classified by color then by type
- Color line illustration
Tip: I found many other books at my local library, and my library lets me renew three times before having to return them.
The thing with drawing books of any kind, even if they are step-by-step and you feel like you’ve graduated beyond that skill or if you need super simple instructions, you can still find value in a reference book. I love going back through the books I own. I always end up learning something new or seeing something I’d forgotten.
What if You’re Practicing Kon Marie and Just Got Rid of Your Books or Don’t Want Any More Books?
First of all, if you threw out a bunch of books because you just Kon Marie’d your house (yes, I made it a verb), good for you. I’m working on decluttering, too. Flower drawing books aren’t ‘clutter’ to me if you’re wondering. But if you’re strictly digital and want nothing to do with buying books, follow me on Pinterest! I keep several boards with inspiration. Feel free to pin any images you’d like as a reference.
If you’re interested in drawing flowers, let me know what resources you enjoy (or ones you’ve found), I’d love to check them out.