Learning how to draw a cannabis leaf can be a fun and creative exercise. Whether you want to design a marijuana leaf logo, create weed-themed art, or simply practice sketching botanical subjects, following some simple step-by-step instructions makes it easy to produce nice-looking pot leaves.
In this complete guide, we will cover everything you need to know to draw a weed leaf from start to finish.
Why Learn to Draw Cannabis Leaves?
Here are some great reasons to practice sketching pot leaves
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Design logos, labels, banners for cannabis brands or products.
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Produce concept art and illustrations featuring weed themes
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Explore the unique shape and anatomy of the cannabis leaf.
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Improve skills shading organic shapes and textures.
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Relax and unwind through the meditative process of drawing.
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Prepare for a career in cannabis-related design and marketing.
Whether you want to create professional marijuana-inspired artwork or just enjoy doodling this distinctive leaf shape for fun, learning the step-by-step process opens up endless creative possibilities.
What Does a Weed Leaf Look Like?
Cannabis plants contain two main types of leaves – palmate leaves that emerge during the seedling and vegetative growth stages, and serrated finger-shaped leaves that develop during flowering.
It is the iconic seven-pointed serrated leaves that people most associate with cannabis plants and pot leaf imagery. Here are some key features:
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5-11 long, slender leaflets in a fan shape, with 7 leaflets being most common.
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Saw-toothed edges from pronounced serrations along each leaflet.
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A long central petiole connecting the leaf to the plant’s stem.
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Larger fan leaves at the base of plant, smaller leaves near top.
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Dark green color, sometimes with purplish hues.
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Coarse, rugged surface texture.
This signature cannabis leaf shape is what you want to aim for when learning to draw a pot leaf. Keeping the long pointed leaflets and jagged edges in mind will help your leaf drawings look instantly recognizable.
Step-by-Step Instructions to Draw a Weed Leaf
Follow these simple step-by-step instructions to easily produce a nice looking cannabis leaf sketch:
Outline the Basic Shape
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Draw a vertical line to represent the central leaf vein/petiole.
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Divide the line into quarters. Draw a horizontal line across the upper quarter mark.
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On the lower half of the line, divide it into thirds. Draw a horizontal line across the first lower third.
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Extend the original line down slightly more than the lower third segment. Draw another horizontal line across this extension.
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Connect the two upper horizontal lines at roughly 20 degree angles, forming a wide V shape.
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Repeat on the lower lines but angle inward to create an upside down V.
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Draw lines diagonally outward from the bottom end of the central vein to each bottom corner of the V shapes.
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Divide the upper quarter segment into thirds. Draw short horizontal lines across each third.
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Repeat on the V segments, angling the lines toward the center. There should be 7 total horizontal lines.
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Connect the horizontal lines to form the outlines of 5-7 leaflets in a fan shape.
Refine the Leaflets
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On the top half of each leaflet, draw curved lines to round out the shape.
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Add curved lines along the sides of the central vein to depict raised ridges.
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Finish connecting the horizontal lines to complete each leaflet shape.
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Accentuate the leaf margins by outlining the perimeter.
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Draw jagged serrations along the edges of each leaflet for a cannabis look.
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Darken the main central vein and veins of each leaflet.
And that’s it! You now have a nice, polished cannabis leaf drawing in classic pot leaf shape.
Variations to Try Once You Master the Basics
Once you get comfortable with the standard 5-7 leaflet pot leaf, you can start incorporating variations:
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Try leaves with 9, 11 or 13 long slender leaflets.
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Sketch leaves at different growth stages – larger mature leaves and smaller new growth.
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Give your leaf drawings different color shades like pale green, dark green or purple-green.
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Experiment with watercolor or colored pencil to capture interesting textures.
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Draw leaves chewed by pests, dried out, or with spots and imperfections.
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Depict the leaves growing in different angles or shapes.
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Combine multiple leaves in interesting compositions.
The cannabis leaf offers endless options for creative exploration. Learning the basic techniques gets you started – then you can develop your own unique weed leaf drawing style.
Common Questions About Drawing Pot Leaves
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about rendering cannabis foliage:
How many leaves does a pot leaf have?
While cannabis leaves can have 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 leaflets, the typical pot leaf design has 7. This 7 leaflet configuration is the most instantly recognizable cannabis leaf shape.
What does an immature cannabis leaf look like?
Younger emerging leaves have smoother edges and a rounder overall shape. As the plant matures, the leaflets become longer with deeper serrations along the margins.
What color should I make my marijuana leaf drawing?
Shades of green are typical, but you can take artistic license. Try different hues ranging from vibrant lime green to deep forest green. Adding yellows, oranges, reds and purples also produces nice effects.
What tools should I use to draw a pot leaf?
For quick sketches, pencil is ideal. But you can use pens, markers, colored pencils, paint pens, or watercolor as well. Digital drawing tools like tablets are also a great option.
Ready to Start Drawing Weed Leaves?
Now that you know the step-by-step process, it’s fun and easy to produce nice looking pot leaf sketches whenever inspiration strikes!
Drawing cannabis leaves is great for honing your technical skills while also unleashing your creative side.
The ritual process can be very relaxing as well. And you get to end up with beautiful botanical themed art to adorn notebooks, greeting cards, posters, T-shirts, and more.
So get out your sketch pad and drawing implements and start rendering some vibrant cannabis foliage. Let your imagination explore all the possibilities!
The anatomy of a weed plant
Now that you know how to draw a weed plant, you may feel like an old pro. But do you know how the plant works as a whole? We showed you how to draw a pot leaf, which is the weed plant’s most famous shape. But the leaves are just one part of the whole picture. In fact, you don’t even smoke the leaves!.
Next, let’s look at the different parts of this plant to help you improve your drawings.
First, there is the stem, which holds up the entire plant. Stems can be extremely strong considering the sizes some weed plants reach.
Branches tend to shoot off from the main stem, making a large and wide plant. Across all of these branches are fan leaves, the most recognizable part of the plant. Fan leaves are what we just taught you how to draw. The plant has branches and fan leaves, and there are also little nodes where the branches meet the stems.
The cola is a bunch of buds clustered tightly together. There are several colas found in weed plants, but the main one typically sits atop the entire plant. There are little pistils on the bud, which hold the reproductive parts of the plant. You’ll notice little hair-like structures, usually orange or other colors, and those are stigmas.
You will notice a shimmery coat of resin on the buds of the plant. These resinous coverings are known as trichomes. They contain the bulk of the terpenes and cannabinoids and make the plant very sticky. Most of the trichomes are on the buds, but you can also find them in other places on the plant.
Throughout the colas, you’ll find sugar leaves. These are usually trimmed off of the plant post-harvest. Fan leaves are bigger than sugar leaves, but sugar leaves are usually covered in trichomes, which makes them strong and useful.
We still haven’t talked about all the parts of the cannabis plant or the different kinds of cannabis plants. Sativa plants look different than indica plants, and hybrids and hemp have different characteristics as well. Plus, male and female variations of the plant leave room for differences as well.
But if you want to draw the cannabis plant in a way that looks more real, this information will help.
You may not have guessed it from our reference drawings, but we are not artists here. That doesn’t mean we can’t offer a simple tutorial for drawing an iconic .
We hope our guide for how to draw a weed plant will help you master your next drawing. Want to draw things from real life? Get some green at Piece of Mind and start drawing!
A step-by-step guide to drawing a weed plant
We assume you are looking for instructions on how to draw a pot leaf, specifically. Full-length weed plants aren’t nearly as iconic looking as the 7-pointed leaf.
We’ll give you written instructions along with a simplified drawing. Each step is shown by a different color, but when you’re drawing your weed leaf, only use one color to make the outline. You can add the details later.
Step 1: Draw an inverted ‘T’
The first step is to prepare all of the lines. You’ll start by drawing a basic upside-down ‘T’ for the first lines.
Step 2: Add two lines in a V-shape between the inverted ‘T’
Carefully place two lines in the spaces on the left and right of the middle line. Start your line near the far side of each section, with the height reaching just about halfway. If this is confusing, look at the drawing below to see where the V-shaped lines should go.
Step 3: Add an inverted ‘V’ below the horizontal line, about half the size of the first ‘V’
Invert and mirror your first ‘V’ and make it about half the size. It should sit below the horizontal line from the inverted ‘T’.
See the below for a visual.
Step 4: Add a series of zigzag lines around each established line
Weed leaves have jagged edges all across their sides. You can get as detailed as you’d like with this part. A few simple jagged lines will do, but you can also do a more intricate drawing.
Be sure to keep the lower leaves smaller. The three lines on the upper half of the drawing should be fuller than the lower leaves.
See below:
Step 5: Add a petiole (stalk connected to the leaf)
Stem, stalk, petiole, whatever you want to call it is fine. Here is one of the last steps. You can make it as complicated or easy as you want. The easiest way is to just draw a simple line to represent the petriole. Or you can do a looped drawing like the one shown below.
Tuck the petiole between the inverted ‘V’ at the bottom of your weed plant.
Step 6: Add detail to the individual leaves
Adding dashes across the leaves of your weed plant is the easiest way to give it some extra detail and make it look more real. Connect them with the middle lines of each leaf.
See the below for reference:
Step 7: Color in and finalize your weed plant drawing
It’s up to you how detailed you want it to be. But since you’ve already come this far, why not fill in the color and finish the weed plant?.
And there you have it! Your very own hand-drawn weed plant. There is no doubt that this is a very basic drawing of the famous plant, but it does the job.
Do only the outline steps if you want an even easier version. Skip any steps that have inner lines and details.