How to Draw a Calla Lily — Easy Step-by-Step Pencil Drawing
Draw one open rounded calla lily. It should have an inward roll and a throat which is slightly darker than the exposed outer surface of the flower. Also draw stem and one leaf.
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What you’ll learn: Render one curling surface like this: a broad opening, a rolled edge, and a spadix in the center, tucked inside the flower. This surface should have a clear light-to-middle-tone difference between the inner surface of the throat and the outer face of the flower.
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Place the flower direction and stem
Create a light rough guide for the bloom (upper part of page) leaning to one side. Then draw a gently curved line down from the narrow base of the flower to indicate the direction of the stem. Leave plenty of space to the left of this stem for one large leaf.
Now use this loose shape as a kind of place holder for the flower. Draw the upper part of the flower to be quite wide and the base to be quite narrow. Add a short direction line through the flower to show its lean. Continue from the flower's lower base in a soft curve for the stem guide, leaving a little clear paper beneath its end. Keep clear space above the bloom and leave room to one side of the stem for the leaf; the leaf itself comes later.
Why this works
These faint marks will help us figure out where the drawing will go. The little lean in the flower is quite gestural and the stem should follow that gesture rather than making a sharp corner with it.
Build the main wrapped flower form
Sketch the broad upper rim of the flower roughly and leave it uneven. Round off the right hand lip and follow the lower sides of the flower down in soft curves towards the narrow base of the flower. Sweep the near edge across the opening, then down in a soft S curve to form the front of the flower.
Draw the contours of the cup of the flower using the light bloom guide to determine the height and width of the cup and its lean. Draw the far upper edge of the flower using a few soft curved lines to form a point at the left side of the flower. The right lip of the flower should be rounded before you draw the edge down to the front of the flower. The lower outer sides of the flower are drawn using soft curved lines that swell out to form the sides of the flower and then taper inwards to form the narrow base of the flower. Draw the near rim of the flower using soft curved lines that sweep across the opening of the flower and then continue down in a soft S curve to form the front wall of the flower. Leave a small gap for the stem. You can then erase the light bloom guide and the direction line using short eraser strokes. Keep the stem guide for now. If erasing softens a small part of a firm contour, draw just that part back in.
Why this works
You draw the far edge and the near edge to form a large space for the opening of the flower. The near edge continues round to form the curved front wall of the flower. This curved front wall hides part of the narrow side of the flower behind it. You do not need to draw any extra petal shapes as the connected edges show one surface wrapping around the opening. The light bloom plan can now be removed from the page once you have drawn the firmer edges to form the shape of the flower on their own.
Add the inner fold and central spadix
Add an inner edge to the right roll. The inner edge of the right roll starts where the upper rim meets the rounded lip. It curves down into the opening to join the near rim, leaving a visible strip between the two edges. Inside the opening draw a simple upright central spike (spadix). The lower end of the spadix is to be hidden by the near rim edge.
Add a curved returning edge to follow the right lip. The curved edge follows the shape of the upper shoulder down to where the near rim goes into the front of the flower. It’s a rolled surface, so leave enough width between its two edges to show that turn. You don’t need a second border line around the whole opening. The two sides of the spadix taper gently towards a softly rounded top. The two lower edges of the spadix stop at the near rim of the flower. The base of the spadix is hidden by the front surface of the flower.
Why this works
The returning strip is part of the same surface as the rest of the flower, and shows where it rolls inward. It can also show the changes in width of the surface as it curves. The spadix sits inside the opening of the flower, and the near rim covers its base. Stopping the lower edges at this rim shows which surface is in front.
Add the stem and leaf form
Add two close edges to the curved flower stem. Beside it, draw one broad pointed leaf on a slender stalk of its own, with an internal curve running from the leaf's base towards its tip. Let that leaf stalk lead towards the same lower area as the flower stem.
Draw two curves down from the base of the flower on either side of the stem guide. Leave a thin strip of paper between them. Once the two edges are in place, erase the stem guide between them with short eraser strokes. If this softens a small edge section, draw back only that section. A broad leaf should be drawn on the left of the stem, the leaf being broad in the middle and tapering to a point. A long, slender stalk should issue from the base of the leaf, and follow down the page towards the same lower area beside the flower stem. Draw a long, gentle curve within the leaf, from its base towards its tip, to indicate a bend in it. The rest of the leaf should be drawn very simply, with no small teeth or network of fine veins.
Why this works
The turn in the stem direction is made into a supportive form by the width of the form. Calla leaves are on their own stalks from the base of the plant, so the leaf's simple stalk returns towards that same lower area beside the flower stem. The internal curve of the leaf follows the bend of the blade of the leaf, whilst the outer contour of the leaf gives it width.
Show inside and outside with selective shading
Lighting: Imagine light coming from the above left and just in front of the flower. Use a light middle value for the inner throat of the flower and a small, darker shadow just under the inward roll of the cup. The exposed ridge of the rim, the spadix and the greater part of the outer surface of the flower should all be pale.
In the lower inside of the cup, near the spadix, start groups of light strokes that follow the cup’s curve towards its hidden base. These will make this sheltered area darker than the broad outer face of the flower. Continue adding more light strokes where necessary to create deeper tones in the inside of the cup. Fade the tone towards the upper opening of the flower. Under the returning edge of the roll create a small, deeper shadow on the surface that this edge is covering. Leave the ridge beside that shadow pale. Give the outside of the flower only very faint strokes for its lower-side turn, and use the same restrained tone on one side of the leaf. Stop the inner-surface strokes at the spadix and near rim of the flower, and leave the surrounding paper clear.
Why this works
Three values for the curl: exposed surface of the paper (as shown), a mid-value for the inner surface of the throat, and a small, deep overlap shadow for the turn of the surface. Here the inner throat is darker than the exposed outer surface because less light reaches its sheltered turn. The whole flower does not have to be rendered in gray tones. The local shadow belongs under the edge of the rolled surface. Longer strokes of the pencil follow the curve of the receiving surface itself.
A few useful checks
- If the flower looks like a flat triangle, make the lower sides of the flower soft and curved shoulder-like. Leave room between the far edge and the scooping near rim. A connected and visibly open cup shape will give sufficient form to the shade.
- The roll on the right should have some visible width. The inner edge of the roll starts at the junction of the broad upper rim and the rounded right lip. From there it bends into the opening of the flower and joins the near rim where the front wall begins to sweep down. A detached curve inside the flower cannot make this turn.
- Make a small spadix which goes inside the opening of the flower and let the near edge of the flower hide the lower end of the spadix instead of making a complete little object in the foreground of the flower.
- Your flower will need to narrow into the stem, and the two edges of the stem should continue down from the base of the flower. The leaf will have its own stalk, leading toward the same lower area as the flower stem.
- Check your shading: If the inside and outside look equally pale, add a little more shading to the lower part of the throat and under the rolled edge. If they look equally dark, take some of the tonal value from the outer face to reveal the spadix within.
Try a small change
Optional: Draw a second small calla lily with its opening on the opposite side. Plan just the bloom, the rim and the spadix. You don’t have to include the leaf or add any shading. You are simply turning the same form around, not finishing another drawing.
Your connected rim, hidden edge and a little shade now make one surface curl in space. In another sketch, try bringing the opposite side of the opening forward.
Your drawing, with guidance
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