Flowpaper
Symmetry drawing: how it works and how to start
A symmetry drawing is one shape repeated around a line or a centre point, so that a few simple marks become a whole pattern. You draw one part. The symmetry makes the rest.
Three kinds of symmetry
Most symmetry drawings use one of three arrangements. In each picture below the same small hook is drawn once and repeated.
- Mirror One line. The second half is a flipped copy of the first, like a butterfly or a face.
- Turned A centre point. Each copy is turned, never flipped, so the pattern spins like a pinwheel.
- Kaleidoscope Several mirror lines through one centre. Neighbouring copies are mirror images, as in a kaleidoscope.
The turned and kaleidoscope pictures both have four copies, but they feel different. Turned copies chase each other round the circle. Mirrored copies meet face to face at every line, so they join into closed shapes: petals, diamonds, hearts. That is why snowflakes and many mandalas are kaleidoscopes.
How many copies to choose
In a kaleidoscope, every mirror line through the centre adds two copies. More lines make a finer, lacier pattern from the same marks. Fewer lines leave each shape bigger and bolder.
- 1 line 2 copies
- 2 lines 4 copies
- 3 lines 6 copies
- 4 lines 8 copies
| Mirror lines | Copies | Angle between lines | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | – | Butterflies, faces, masks, leaves, vases |
| 2 | 4 | 90° | Tiles, crosses, bold flowers |
| 3 | 6 | 60° | Snowflakes, which have six arms, and six-petal flowers |
| 4 | 8 | 45° | Mandalas, rosettes, lace |
How to start one on paper
You need a square of thin paper, such as printer paper, a pencil, an eraser and a window with daylight behind it. These steps make a kaleidoscope with four mirror lines and eight slices.
- Fold the guides. Fold the square in half, then in half again, then once more from the centre corner to the opposite corner, making a triangle. Unfold it. The four creases cross at the centre and divide the paper into eight equal slices. Each crease is a mirror line.
- Draw in one slice. In pencil, draw a few simple marks inside one slice: a curve, a loop, a dot. Let some of them touch the creases on either side.
- Mirror it into the next slice. Fold the paper along the crease between the drawn slice and its neighbour, so the drawn slice is behind the empty one. Hold it against the window, and trace the lines you can see through the paper. Folding does the flipping for you.
- Go round. Unfold and repeat at the next crease, each time copying from the slice you have just finished, until all eight slices match.
- Add a ring. Draw the next marks a little further from the centre, in one slice only, and go round again. Build outward ring by ring.
- Finish. Go over the lines you want to keep in pen, rub out the rest, and colour each slice the same way.
For six slices, draw three lines through the centre, 60° apart, with a ruler and protractor instead of folding. For a mirror drawing, fold the paper in half once.
What to draw first
- Start small, near the centre. A few marks close to the middle soon make a flower or a star. Work outward from there.
- Touch the mirror lines. A shape that touches a line joins its reflection and becomes one closed shape. Half a heart drawn against a line becomes a whole heart.
- Leave some shapes free. Marks that don’t touch a line stay separate, and repeat as a ring of small shapes, like beads.
- Draw one long curve. A single line from the centre to the edge, curving as it goes, turns into a set of petals or a swirl.
- Leave gaps. Empty space repeats too, and it keeps the pattern from turning into a dark tangle.
- Go slowly. Every wobble is repeated as well, so smooth, unhurried lines look best.
On iPhone or iPad
Many drawing apps can do the copying for you. Look for a setting called symmetry, mirror or kaleidoscope, choose the number of lines, and draw in one slice. The app repeats each stroke into the others as you draw, so you can watch the whole pattern grow.
In Flowpaper
Flowpaper, the app this site is for, has kaleidoscope symmetry built in:
- Tap the canvas setup button in the toolbar.
- Under Symmetry, choose one of the five settings: off, or one to four mirror lines through the centre of the canvas, giving 2, 4, 6 or 8 copies.
- Draw anywhere. Each stroke is repeated around the centre as you draw. Its brushes respond to the speed of your finger or Apple Pencil, so slow lines and quick ones look different.
Symmetry is included free, and you can record the drawing as a video as it grows (see how to turn a drawing into a video). Flowpaper is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
Flowpaper’s settings described as of October 2026.