In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Thistle Flower in 4 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represents how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.
Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.
At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Thistle Flower.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Thistle Flower - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: The first step is to draw the center of the thistle by drawing upward lines and then two curved lines below that.
Step 2: Next add small curved dashes inside the center of the flower.
Step 3: Then draw the leaves which should be smaller near the top and larger moving downward. Each leaves should have lines on both sides to create the barbs.
Step 4: Lastly draw the stem which starts out wide below the flower and then should be a much skinnier straight line moving down.
Interesting Facts about Thistles
Thistles are common weeds that grow along side roads and open fields. Everything about a Thistle is prickly: the leaves, the stem, even the flower. Thistles bloom in pink, white, purple, or yellow. The flower is just a spikey tuft of petals. The weed is very popular with nectar collecting bugs. Thistles are a common meal for some butterflies. They only live about 2 years. It takes a whole year for a thistle to develop fully. The flower top doesn’t come until year 2. Because they have made their way into literature and folk lore as symbols of perseverance, some gardeners grow them as part of their displays.
Did you know?
- Thistles are popular food for goldfinches.
- In ancient literature, Pliny, a famous writer believed Thistles could cure baldness.
- Thistles are the national flower of Scotland.
- There are 14 kinds of Thistles.
- Russian thistles are weeds that tumble with the wind.
- Thistles were used by the royalty in Scotland as symbol of their noble birth.
Theme: Turn you classroom into Scotland for a day. Hang some photos of castles, plan a traditional Scottish meal, and tell the legend of the Thistle. Then try to stop you students from talking in a Scottish accent.
How to Draw a Thistle Flower – Step-by-Step Tutorial