14 Perfume Drawing Step by Step Lessons for Miss Dior, Chanel No. 5 and Other Iconic Bottles

Table of Contents

1. Before You Start
2. Miss Dior Among Peonies
3. Chanel No. 5 on Mirrored Tray
4. YSL Libre and Lipstick
5. La Vie Est Belle Ribbon
6. Jo Malone and Candle
7. Prada Paradoxe on Marble
8. Flowerbomb Grenade Bottle
9. Guerlain Bee Bottle
10. Tom Ford Black Orchid
11. Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb Box
12. Rose Gold Atomizer Bottle
13. Perfume Bottle and Hand Mirror
14. Perfume Bottle on Lace Doily
15. Perfume and Jewelry Box Scene
16. Frequently Asked Questions

Perfume drawing is one of my favorite ways to spend an evening with markers, because every bottle is basically a tiny glass sculpture asking to be copied. I love how a few fineliner lines and one gold gel pen flick can turn a flat page into something that looks like it belongs on a mirrored vanity tray.

Below you get 14 bottles and small vanity scenes, each broken into clear stages with a color swatch beside it so you always know which marker comes next. Pick the one that matches a bottle you actually own or adore, and draw along today.

Before You Start

• Start every bottle with a very light pencil sketch so you can erase stray lines before the fineliner stage locks everything in place.
• Test each alcohol marker on scrap paper first, since brands vary in how much they bleed through thinner sketchbook pages.
• Keep your fineliner strokes thin and confident on glass edges, then save thicker lines for caps, bows and labels only.
• Build marker color in light layers rather than one heavy pass, so the glass keeps that soft see-through look instead of going flat.
• Let each marker layer dry for a minute before adding a darker shade on top, or the colors will bleed into mud.
• Save the white gel pen for last on every single piece, since it reads best over fully dry, fully colored glass.

Miss Dior Among Peonies

Start this one with a very light pencil sketch of the bottle’s square shoulders, the oversized bow cap and two peony heads tucked beside it. Keep the peony petals simple, just loose overlapping curves, since detail comes later in marker, not in pencil.

Once the sketch feels right, go over the bottle outline, bow and petal edges with your fineliner, letting the pencil disappear underneath. Erase any pencil that still peeks out before you touch a single marker, because graphite under alcohol marker tends to smudge into a gray haze.

Lay a pale cream wash across the glass and tabletop first, then while that dries, build blush pink in soft circular layers over the peonies and bow. Add gold on the cap and label once the pink layer is fully dry, since gold over wet pink will bleed.

Finish with white gel pen dots and dashes along the glass edges for shine, and a touch of deeper pink shadow where petals overlap. If your peonies feel too stiff, loosen your wrist and let the petal lines wobble a little, real flowers are never perfectly round. If you enjoy drawing girls alongside your beauty scenes, the girl pencil drawing ideas make a nice companion page.

Chanel No. 5 on Mirrored Tray

Sketch the bottle as a simple rectangle with slightly rounded shoulders, then draw a round tray beneath it and a loose scatter of pearl circles around the base. Keep the pencil light, this bottle’s charm is in its clean geometry so straight lines matter here.

Ink the bottle, tray rim and every pearl with your fineliner, then let the pencil go once it’s covered. A ruler helps for the bottle’s straight sides if your hand wavers, nobody will know you used one.

Wash pale gray across the tray to suggest a mirrored surface, keeping the edges soft so it reads as reflective rather than flat. Layer cream over the glass next, leaving the label rectangle bare paper for now, then once everything is dry, fill the label and cap in solid black with gold along the cap rim and inside each pearl.

White gel pen shine goes last, a few sharp dashes on the bottle’s corners and a dot on every pearl, plus a thin gray shadow line where the bottle meets the tray. If black marker feels intimidating, a fine black gel pen gives the same crisp edge with more control.

YSL Libre and Lipstick

Draw the bottle’s distinctive angled cap first, it sits diagonally on the bottle like a tilted hat, then build the rounded body beneath it. Add a lipstick tube beside the bottle, keeping its bullet shape simple, a rounded top tapering into a straight tube.

Ink both objects in fineliner, taking extra care with the cap’s diagonal angle since that’s what makes this bottle recognizable. Let the ink dry fully, then erase every bit of pencil underneath before markers touch the page.

Wash cream over the bottle glass and tabletop first, working in one direction so the marker doesn’t streak. Once dry, warm the lipstick bullet in pink, then once that layer sets, add gold over the cap, the ring at the bottle’s neck and the lipstick’s metal casing.

Finish with white gel pen along the bottle’s curved edge and a tiny dot on the lipstick tip, plus soft gray shadow where each object meets the table. If your gold marker runs thin, a gold gel pen on top of yellow ochre marker gives a nice metallic boost. This pairing works well next to other small still life setups, like the ideas in still life drawing ideas.

La Vie Est Belle Ribbon

Sketch the bottle’s gentle hourglass curve first, then add the star-shaped stopper on top and loop a ribbon loosely around the neck with a few soft folds. Ribbons look best with three or four overlapping curves rather than one stiff bow, so let the pencil stay relaxed.

Ink the bottle outline, star stopper points and every ribbon fold with fineliner, then erase the pencil once the ink is dry. The star’s points are the trickiest part, draw them slowly rather than fast to keep the angles even.

Wash cream over the glass body, skipping the stopper so it stays ready for gold. Once that cream layer dries, build soft pink across the ribbon in light layers, letting some folds go a touch deeper in pink than others for dimension.

Fill the star stopper and label text in gold once the ribbon is dry, then finish with white gel pen shine along the bottle’s shoulders and ribbon highlights, plus a shadow of deeper pink tucked into each fold. A loose, slightly uneven ribbon always reads more natural than a perfectly symmetrical one.

Jo Malone and Candle

This bottle is refreshingly simple to sketch, just a tall clean rectangle with a short cap, so spend your pencil time instead on the candle jar beside it and a tiny flame flickering above the wick. Keep both objects sitting on the same baseline so the scene feels grounded.

Ink the bottle’s straight edges carefully, a ruler is genuinely useful here, then ink the candle jar and flame freehand for a softer feel. Let everything dry before erasing pencil, since rushing this step smudges fineliner badly.

Wash cream over the bottle glass and candle wax together, since they share that warm translucent quality. Once dry, add a soft gray band around the bottle’s lower third where Jo Malone’s label usually sits, then once that’s set, fill the cap and candle lid in solid black with gold lettering on top.

Finish with white gel pen shine on the bottle’s glass corners, and a few warm gold-white dots scattered around the flame to suggest candlelight glow. If black feels too heavy for the cap, try a dark warm gray marker instead for a softer look.

Prada Paradoxe on Marble

Sketch this bottle as a soft rounded dome shape, almost like a smooth pebble, sitting on a flat marble slab drawn as a simple rectangle. The rounded silhouette is the whole personality of this bottle, so take your time getting that curve smooth before moving to ink.

Ink the bottle’s outline and the marble slab’s edges, keeping the marble’s corners crisp since that contrast with the soft bottle shape is part of the charm. Erase pencil fully once dry, marble drawings show smudges more than most surfaces.

Wash pale gray across the marble, leaving a few thin wandering lines of bare paper for veins. Once dry, layer warm amber across the entire bottle in smooth strokes, going over it twice for richer color since amber tends to look washed out with just one pass.

Add gold to the cap and the round label once the amber is fully dry, then finish with white gel pen shine along the bottle’s curves and a gold gel pen traced gently along a few marble veins. If amber marker isn’t in your set, layering yellow and light brown markers together gets you close.

Flowerbomb Grenade Bottle

Sketch this bottle’s rounded body first, it curves like a soft grenade shape, then draw the many-sided faceted cap on top as a cluster of small flat shapes. The facets look complicated but they’re just a ring of triangles, so draw them lightly and adjust before inking.

Ink the bottle’s smooth outline and every cap facet line, taking your time on the cap since those crisp edges are what sell the faceted look. Let it dry, erase pencil, and check no stray lines remain before markers go down.

Wash pale pink across the whole bottle first, then while the bottom half is still slightly damp, drop in deeper magenta so the two colors blend into a soft gradient. This wet on wet blend is the trickiest part, if it pools too much, dab gently with a tissue.

Once dry, color the cap facets and neck ribbon in gold, then finish with white gel pen dots on alternating facets for sparkle and a soft gray shadow beneath the bottle’s base. A light touch with the magenta keeps the gradient glowing instead of muddy.

Guerlain Bee Bottle

Draw this bottle’s rounded, almost pumpkin-like shape first, then scatter small oval bee shapes across its surface, six or seven is plenty. Keep the bees tiny and simple, just an oval body with two thin wing lines, since detail this small gets lost fast.

Ink the bottle’s outline and each little bee, working slowly since fine details like this are easy to overink into a blob. A fine black gel pen can work better than a marker-style fineliner for these small shapes if your nib is too thick.

Wash gold across the whole bottle for that warm amber glass look, then once dry, layer soft cream over the shoulders to suggest where light catches the rounded glass. Fill each bee body in solid black once everything beneath is dry, along with a small ribbon bow at the neck.

Finish with white gel pen shine along the bottle’s curves, and a gold gel pen traced carefully around each bee to make them glint. If the bees feel fiddly, start with just three large ones near the center rather than scattering many small ones.

Tom Ford Black Orchid

Sketch the bottle as a tall, elegant rectangle with gently rounded corners, then add one simple orchid bloom resting near the cap, just a few curved petal shapes overlapping. This bottle’s drama comes from its black glass, so keep the orchid sketch loose and secondary.

Ink the bottle outline and orchid petals, then erase pencil once fully dry. Black glass bottles are forgiving of small ink wobbles since the dark marker covers most imperfections anyway.

Wash pale gray over the bottle first so some translucency shows through later, then once dry, fill the bottle body in solid black, leaving a few thin vertical streaks of the gray peeking through for a glassy effect. Layer soft purple over the orchid petals once the black is completely dry, so the purple doesn’t pick up stray black ink.

Finish with gold on the cap and label, then streak white gel pen vertically down the black glass for that glossy reflection and dot a highlight on the cap too. If pure black marker looks flat, a dark warm gray underneath it first adds a touch more depth.

Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb Box

Sketch an open box shape first, like a shallow tray, then nestle a simple perfume bottle inside it surrounded by a few loose tissue paper waves. The tissue paper doesn’t need many folds, three or four soft curves around the bottle base reads perfectly well.

Ink the box’s straight edges, the bottle’s outline and the wavy tissue lines, keeping the tissue linework looser than the box’s crisp corners. This contrast between structured box and soft paper is what makes the scene feel staged, like a real unboxing moment.

Wash cream across the box interior and tissue first, then once dry, layer soft pink over the bottle itself so it reads as the clear focal point. Gold goes along the box’s outer rim, the bottle cap and a ribbon tied around the box exterior, added once the pink layer is completely dry.

Finish with white gel pen on the bottle’s glass and a few bright dashes on the tissue paper’s raised folds, plus gray shadow tucked into the box’s inner corners for depth. If your tissue paper looks stiff, add one extra loose curl overlapping the bottle for movement.

Rose Gold Atomizer Bottle

This vintage-style bottle is a fun change of pace, sketch a round bottle body, then add an atomizer bulb on top connected by a thin neck, with a small tassel hanging from the fitting. Keep the tassel simple, just a bundle of thin lines ending in a loose knot.

Ink the bottle’s round shape, the atomizer bulb and every tassel thread carefully, since thin overlapping lines like these are easy to lose in a thick fineliner stroke. A fine 0.1 or 0.2 tip works best for the tassel threads specifically.

Wash pale pink across the glass bottle, then once dry, layer soft cream over the fabric atomizer bulb to give it a slightly textured look different from the smooth glass. Rose gold marker comes next on the metal cap, the fitting and the twisted tassel cord, added once the cream layer has fully dried.

Finish with white gel pen shine on the glass bulb’s curve and bottle body, plus a soft gray pooled shadow beneath the whole bottle. If rose gold marker isn’t available, blending a pink and gold marker together gets a similar warm metallic effect.

Perfume Bottle and Hand Mirror

Sketch the bottle first with a simple rounded shoulder shape, then draw an oval hand mirror lying flat beside it, handle extending off to one side. Keep the mirror’s oval nice and smooth, an uneven oval reads as a mistake faster than almost any other shape.

Ink the bottle’s outline, then the mirror’s frame and handle, saving the mirror’s glass interior for marker only. Let the ink dry fully and erase every pencil mark, mirrors show smudges very clearly since so much of the shape is open space.

Wash pale gray across the mirror’s glass surface to suggest reflectiveness, then once dry, add soft blush to the bottle and a faint blush smudge inside the mirror too, hinting at the bottle’s reflection without drawing it in detail. This hint of reflection is the fun trick of this piece, it reads as clever without much extra work.

Gold goes on the mirror’s frame, handle and bottle cap once the blush is dry, then white gel pen finishes both glass surfaces with sharp little highlight marks. For more ideas on drawing beauty objects together, the easy step by step drawing ideas page has related cozy scenes worth browsing.

Perfume Bottle on Lace Doily

Sketch a slim, elegant bottle first, then draw a round doily beneath it with a scalloped lace edge, just a ring of small connected bumps around the circle. You don’t need to draw every lace hole, a suggestion of pattern reads just as well as the real thing.

Ink the bottle’s outline and the doily’s scalloped edge, keeping the scallops even in size so the lace reads as neat rather than ragged. Erase pencil once the ink sets, and don’t worry about inking every lace detail, fineliner dots can suggest the rest later.

Wash cream across both the doily and bottle glass together, then once dry, add small gray dots in a loose grid pattern across the doily’s open lace areas using a dry brush touch with your marker tip. Blush pink comes next, filling the liquid inside the bottle and a thin ribbon tied around its neck.

Finish with gold on the cap, white gel pen shine on the bottle’s glass, and tiny white dots along the lace scallops for extra sparkle. If the lace pattern feels tedious, limit the dotted detail to just the outer third of the doily and leave the center plain cream.

Perfume and Jewelry Box Scene

Sketch the bottle standing tall first, then draw an open box shape beside it, lid propped open, with a simple draped necklace spilling over the edge, just a wavy line with small round beads along it. This scene has a lot of small pieces, so keep every shape loose in pencil before committing to ink.

Ink the bottle, the box’s straight edges and the necklace’s chain links one at a time, working slowly through the beads since overlapping small shapes are where ink mistakes happen most. Let it dry completely and clean up any stray pencil before markers start.

Wash cream across the bottle and the box’s interior lining first, then once dry, deepen the box’s interior with rich plum for that velvet jewelry box look, leaving the bottle untouched by this color. Gold comes next on the cap, the box hinges and every bead along the necklace, added once the plum has fully dried.

Finish with white gel pen shine on the bottle’s glass and a dot of light on each necklace bead, plus a soft gray shadow where the box rests on the table. If the necklace beads feel fiddly, draw five or six large ones instead of many tiny ones for an easier, bolder look. For more structured drawing fundamentals before tackling a busy scene like this, the art fundamentals guide is worth a look.

What to Do Next

Pick the bottle that matches a scent you actually love, gather your fineliner and markers, and work through its stages one at a time without rushing the drying steps. Once you finish a few, try mixing bottles and small objects from different lessons into one vanity scene of your own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What markers work best for perfume drawing on glass bottles?

Alcohol-based markers work best because they layer smoothly and build soft gradients without streaking. Pair them with a fine black fineliner for the outline and a white gel pen for the final glass shine, which together give that glossy vanity-illustration look.

How do I make the glass on a perfume bottle look transparent?

Leave patches of bare white paper inside the bottle shape rather than coloring it solid. Add just a light wash of your main color around the edges, then finish with a few white gel pen streaks to suggest reflected light on curved glass.

Do I need to draw the whole label on each bottle?

No, a hint of the label is enough, like a gold rectangle or a few short lines suggesting lettering. Focus your detail on the bottle’s silhouette and cap instead, since those shapes are what make each perfume instantly recognizable.

What paper should I use for alcohol marker perfume drawings?

Use a marker-friendly or mixed media sketchbook with slightly thicker paper to stop colors bleeding through to the next page. Thin printer paper lets ink and marker soak through fast and makes blending much harder to control.

How do I fix a marker mistake on a perfume bottle drawing?

Let the mistake dry fully, then layer a slightly darker shade of the same color over it to blend it in naturally. On glass areas, a fresh white gel pen highlight placed nearby often distracts the eye from a small marker slip.