How to Draw a Heart: The Ultimate Guide for Romantics

N A big red heart with a bow on it is the universal symbol of love. Here, in a series of simple steps, we will demonstrate how to sketch a large, lovely heart symbolizing love. The perfect heart shape, detailed coloring, and a finishing bow are all demonstrated in this detailed tutorial. Let's get started on our love sketch right away, so grab your supplies.  

Instructions for a Beautiful Heart Drawing

Outwardly, a heart does not appear to be a particularly challenging shape to draw. It's a bit more challenging to master the art of drawing a heart with perfect symmetry, though. Typical of our drawing guides, we start by sketching in a variety of basic shapes that will serve as the drawing's framework before we add in the final outline details.  

The steps for drawing hearts are outlined in the image collage below.  

If you want to draw a heart, you can use any medium you like. Digital artists can create their works on graphic tablets, while traditional artists can use paint or colored pencils.  

Get out your preferred medium and start sketching some hearts!  

First, sketch an isosceles triangle

Here, you'll begin by sketching the heart's outline on a piece of paper in the shape of an equilateral triangle. To do this, locate the middle of your paper or canvas and draw the triangle inverted.  

It doesn't look like a heart yet, but using the triangle as a guide, you can make a lovely sketch of a heart with perfect symmetry.    

Second, draw a dividing line.

The bottom point of a triangle is its center. Using this point, sketch a line straight up through the triangle's apex. This partition will create a functional split in the center of the chest.  

This guideline will be used later to ensure that your heart sketch's curves are perfectly symmetrical.  

Third, make a left-handed circle.

You can use two circle shapes to get a nice curve at the top of your heart. Doing so will make sure the curve is uniform across its width.  

A circle should be drawn on the left side of the triangle such that it intersects the division line just a little bit and touches the triangle's left point.  

Fourth, sketch a second circle

The next step involves doing the same thing on the opposite side of the triangle.  

Fifth, finish the heart's foundation.

Currently, you'll be forming the heart's lower curves. Draw a curve from the triangle's apex to join the two adjacent circles on either side of the heart.  

Now the final form of the heart sketch should be starting to emerge.  

Method Number Six: Outlining a Heart

This is the easiest step, and when you're done, your heart drawing will be complete. Complete the heart's curvature on both sides using the two circles and the dividing line.  

Any remaining trace of the building lines can be eliminated at this time.  

Ribbon Strip Drawing, Step 7

To begin, sketch the outline of the ribbon's horizontal stripe to represent your heart. These primary lines need to be construction lines because they will be curved slightly in the next stage.

Put the intersection of two parallel lines, one horizontal and one vertical, at the center of your heart.  

Step 8: Including a Ribbon Curve

Recreating the illusion of depth is crucial when trying to draw a realistic heart. You can make this heart look more three-dimensional by curving the ribbon you drew around it. Doing so will give the impression that your ribbon is encircling a heart. The ribbons can be arranged by simply bending the lines down at both ends.  

When you're done, you can simply erase the chalk lines that were used during construction.  

Part 9: Making the Bow

This is yet another building phase; if you're working on a graphic tablet, add a new layer now. Use a pencil that is both lightweight and easy to erase if you must. Create a tiny circle that is centered on the upper ribbon line. At a 45-degree angle on either side of this, draw two even larger circles.  

You'll use these forms later on to make the bow's ultimate shape.

  

Assembling the Bow's Final Elements

To complete the bow, draw the two flaps that extend downward from the small central circle.  

Drawing the Heart's Bow, Step 11

The bow's outline can be made using the construction shapes you just drew by adding a more realistic curve. Slim down the interior of the larger circles. To make them appear more three-dimensional, a curve should be added to the base of each. To the central circle, add two small arcs. Make a small slit at the bottom of each flap as a finishing touch.  

After that, you can once again get rid of the construction lines.  

12th Step: Get Rid of the Bow Overlap

Erase the overlapping lines between the ribbon's bow and the heart.  

At this point, your heart sketch should resemble this.  

Putting on the First Coat of Color (Step 13)

You'll need to do some layering to achieve a realistic color that really brings out the three-dimensionality in your heart drawing. Fill in the entire heart with a light red color using a regular paintbrush and some red paint.  

You can add more red to the bow by coloring in the sections that fall within the lines of the heart.  

Adding Value to Your Heart Drawing

Shading the outline of the heart sketch will give it more depth. Add some shading to the heart by painting a thin line of black around the outside with a soft blending brush.  

With a clean blending brush, blend the colors together and lightly smudge the shadow in the direction of the heart's center.  

15: Highlighting the Heart Sketch with Color

Use some white paint and a thin, precise brush to add highlights to the heart's outline and focal point in your drawing. Put a white highlighter along the left side of your heart's outline, and then along the left side of the right curve.  

Then, using a small, soft brush and some white paint, draw additional curves within the heart's outer and inner curves.  

The Final Step: Dyeing the Bow

We're going with pink for the bow, but you can use any color you like. You can easily fill in the bow with an even coat of paint using just a regular brush and your preferred color.  

The last step is to give the bow some depth and definition.  

Stage 17: Completing Our Love-Themed Drawings

You'll only need to add some shading and structure to the bow and ribbon before your perfect heart drawing is complete. Paint the edges, the inside of the three-dimensional curve, and the edges of the ribbon where it curves around the heart with a slightly darker shade of your ribbon color.  

Add some stripes to the corners to complete the heart.  

Voila What a beautiful heart you can now draw! With this knowledge of heart dimensions in hand, you can quickly and easily begin sketching hearts for your friends and family.  

Explore this link to our heart-shaped web story.

Normal Questions and Answers

Can I Learn to Draw a Beautiful Heart From This Guide?

Yes Though you might not think you require instruction to draw a heart, following our construction steps will help you create a beautiful illustration. Then, we'll show you how to color and shade your heart drawing.  

How Do You Know What Color Heart to Draw?

Red is the conventional hue for hearts because of their symbolic significance in romantic relationships. However, your coronary artery can be painted any shade you like. Your imagination is boundless.