The lotus is a flower that grows out of the mud or water in and around India. It is the most symbolic form of plant life for many Eastern religions, and it appears over and over again in religious art. It symbolizes the Self rising up through the unconscious, growing from darkness into light. The Hindus associate the lotus with the goddess Lakshmi. The Buddhists see the lotus as a symbol of purity because its petals and leaves do not show any evidence of the mud from which it grows. It symbolizes life itself. The flower signifies all that grows from the earth, and it has come to mean creativity as well as reproduction.

The lotus is often depicted as an eight-petaled flowers. The outer layers can increase in multiples of four. The petals of the lotus can be round or pointed. You can draw single petals if you choose to. As Loretta Roome says, there is no right or wrong way to paint a lotus. It can float horizontally or hang from a vine. Discover it for yourself as you paint it.