How to Draw a Poinsettia

Poinsettias are native to the Pacific Coast of Mexico. These fiery flowers are shrubs to small trees that can actually grow up to 16 feet tall.

Red poinsettias are America's favorite, but poinsettias are also cream colored, orange, and pale green. Some even have marbled leaves.

In this section, we'll show you how to draw the above poinsettia. You can draw this flower freehand while looking at your computer monitor or print out this page to get a closer look at each step.

Follow the red lines in each illustration to learn exactly what to draw in that step. The lines drawn in previous steps are shown in gray. Here, we'll show you an illustration of each step and then give you a description of how to draw it.

1. Outline the Flower

To draw two poinsettia flowers, sketch in large leaf shapes by drawing curved lines that meet at a point.

2. Sketch Blossoms

Lightly sketch a group of small circle shapes at the center of each flower. Around each of these groups, sketch four smaller leaf shapes. Define the outer leaves by using lines that curve inward.

3. Outline the Petals

Redraw the outlines of the petals to make small points along the curves.

4. Draw Veins

Draw veins in each petal and leaf. Do this by sketching two curving lines down the center with smaller sets of curving lines branching off to the edges. In each center circle, draw two short, parallel lines topped with an irregular circle.

5. Details and Shading

Shade the petals with a series of short parallel lines on the side of each vein closest to the tip. Make the leaves darker than the petals by shading them with lines on both sides of each vein.

Your perfect poinsettia is ready to be framed. Continue to the next section to learn how to draw a flowering plant with blossoms that morph into tiny red berries!

In the next section, learn how to draw a lily of the valley.

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