How To Draw A Realistic Tree Step By Step

How to Draw Copse

Updated: 16 February 2022

In this guide, I will demonstrate how I simplify the drawing process, and I promise that by the end of it yous will be able to describe your favorite tree.

In guild to draw realistic trees with pen and ink, it is of import to pay attending to accuracy of the form (construction), and to learn how to create the illusion of effulgence values and transitions with pens.

Bamboo

When looking at Whatever tree, examine its basic shapes.

It is a practiced practice to draw its elementary shapes first:

One time you lot empathize these simple shapes, y'all tin can employ your creative license and your knowledge to recreate information technology.

There is no signal cartoon every single leaf as you see it (when using a reference epitome as a guide).

Bamboo trees pen drawing Bamboo

Banana Tree

For trees with big leaves, similar a banana tree, first describe a written report of the leaves from unlike angles.

For a realistic issue, make sure at that place is no symmetry, and that each leaf is unique.

You can use markers; they work well with pens.

Banana leaves, drawing and painting with markers

Olive Tree Trunk

Wait at some reference images, or actual trees, before drawing the tree torso.

Offset, depict outlines to create the form (structure).

Remember:

Draw thin and gentle outlines, so they are non bold.

Next, add some guidelines and bones details.

Adding some details to olive tree trunks

Last step is texture drawing.

Focus mainly on brightness values, while cartoon marks with shape and direction like the reference image.

Olive tree trunks pen drawing Olive tree trunks

Keep in heed:

Each olive tree torso has its ain "personality", simply all olive trees share mutual basic shapes.

How to Draw Leaves

Drawing leaves can be challenging. Understanding their structure, and breaking the drawing process into steps, will produce a satisfying and realistic result.

Each tree leaf is in different management, has a different caste of foreshortening, and is overlapping other leaves.

Merely put, the form and texture of leaves is abstruse and messy.

To draw that, you need to be sketchy and loose with your marks, and to avert any pattern!

Next step is to pay attending to brightness values. That is how you create the illusion of volume. Pregnant, three-dimensional and non flat.

To create that illusion, scribble more lines for darker values, and fewer lines for brighter values:

How to add depth and volume to leaves when drawing

In addition, pay attention to leaves size, depending on the tree type, and how distant it is from the observer.

For big leaves, sketch big marks, and vice versa:

Different pen marks size for different leaves size

While the treetop is messy, at its edges yous can add some indication of leaves type and size.

A drawing of an olive tree with pen and ink Olive tree

After understanding the characteristics of a specific tree (olive tree in this instance), it is quite easy to describe it from imagination.

If some terms like foreshortening and overlapping are new to you, read my guide on how to draw with a sense of depth. It covers 15 methods to add depth to your drawing or painting.

Good to know:

Mostly, I use a pen with pecker size 0.1. It is small enough to create fine details.

Photos & Contrast

When I am taking photos of a tree, I do it from several angles.

If possible, I circle the tree to get a photo from every angle.

I select a photo that has high dissimilarity as my reference image.

Dissimilarity between highlights and shadows is crucial for a drawing to stand out, and to take presence.

Not enough contrast leads to a flat drawing with no depth. Also much contrast looks cartoonish.

Realistic olive tree pen drawing Olive tree

Pine Trees

Important:

Before diving into complex texturing and rendering, if yous are a beginner, you might want to practice the next pace.

Draw any random tree shape, sketch some random marks to fill information technology up, and then draw more sketchy marks in i side and at the bottom of the tree (to create a darker value for the shadow area).

This should non accept more than 5 minutes! The avant-garde texture yous will see after this example is just a matter of many hours of practice to refine the texture marks.

Pine trees are relatively piece of cake to depict from imagination.

They have very small, needle-similar leaves.

I like to outset past gently cartoon the form, and then fill it with pocket-size, random marks, that are NOT in whatever specific direction or with reoccurring shape.

Final step is to depict more than marks for darker areas, depending on the management of low-cal you choose.

How to draw pine trees from imagination with pen

Pino trees come in many types and shapes.

Looking at a reference image tin can help at the beginning, merely equally a guide to draw the form, and to pay attention to night and light areas.

Other than that, effort to be loose and sketchy with your marks.

When drawing a shut-up view, you can indicate the needle-like leaves at the edges of the tree.

Realistic pine tree pen drawing Pine tree

Snowy Pine Tree

A pen has only one effulgence value. Therefore, yous have to utilise different techniques to create the illusion of transitions in brightness values.

One technique (or way) is to use hatching. Hatching means cartoon parallel lines.

By cartoon lines with different degree of spacing between them (or with different line width), you can create an illusion of dissimilar brightness values.

Some other method is to apply cantankerous-hatching.

Cross-hatching means drawing sets of parallel lines in different direction. By adding more sets of cantankerous-hatching, you can create the illusion of darker values.

You can use ANY pen for cartoon. I adopt creative person-grade technical pens (also fineliners). They create lines with stock-still width, and their ink is made of pigments, which is very durable and lightfast.

Drawing with ballpoint pen and with a technical pen

For the snowfall part, you tin can exit it empty ("white"), or y'all can apply hatching in some areas.

In this case, I used some hatching, and some marks with very light gray marker.

Pen drawing of a snowy pine tree Snowy Pino tree

If you want to know more about markers, visit my markers review for artists.

Christmas Tree

A Christmas tree is just another pine tree, simply with decorations.

To add together some baubles, first draw their shape, and so try different types of hatching, cantankerous-hatching, and stippling.

Stippling is a drawing technique that uses dots. The more than dots you lot add in one expanse, the darker it looks.

Yous tin add other decorations to your Christmas tree.

Information technology is all-time to first sketch some test drawings on a different newspaper, to see what works, before adding them to your cartoon.

To add boxes in perspective, you should be familiar with linear perspective drawing, and learn to draw from imagination.

Pen drawing of boxes and other decorations for tree

Tip:

If you find it difficult to describe a tree with a pen, you can e'er start with a pencil.

When you lot reach a satisfying consequence, you can go over it with a pen, and gently erase the pencil marks.

Pen drawing of a realistic Christmas tree with decorations Christmas tree

Drawing with White Pens

When cartoon with white pens, pay attention to the same cartoon fundamentals.

While with black pens you depict more than lines for darker areas, with white pens yous should draw more lines for light/bright areas.

Tree drawing with white pen on black paper

These pens are nearly effective on blackness (or night) paper, and for highlights.

Keep in mind:

White pens are designed for covering.

Drawing with a black pen (which has ink) over white areas (made by a white pen), may ruin the pen's nib, because it volition exist covered with the white substance (therefore its ink volition non flow smoothly).

Aspen & Birch Trees

Aspen & birch tree trunks are piece of cake to depict when doing it in steps.

Depict the form first:

Then, add some bones details:

Finally, draw some brightness values, and texture:

Birch trees and aspen trees pen drawing Birch & aspen tree trunks

You tin can use (low-cal) gray markers for coloring:

Overlapping

Overlapping means an object that partially covers another object.

When y'all run across an object that overlaps another object, you assume that this object is in front end of the object it covers.

Overlapping is one of the most powerful means to create the illusion of depth on a apartment newspaper.

Two overlapping trees pen drawing Overlapping trees

Because you lot cannot erase pen marks, it is best to draw foreground objects first!

If you want to draw a business firm in front of a tree, draw the firm beginning:

Exercise the same for tree branches.

First, draw the branch that overlaps a tree, and so the tree trunk.

For trees that accept a complex structure, with many branches, you tin can utilize a pencil to draw the basic shapes.

When you are happy with the event, yous can draw over it with a pen, and gently erase the pencil marks.

A realistic drawing of birch trees with pen Birch copse

Transitions

Transitions are part of drawing (and painting) fundamentals. They exist everywhere!

For example, dissimilar areas of a flat plane have unlike relationships with any light source, reflections, and shadows.

Therefore, always look for transitions (in effulgence values) for your drawing to wait realistic and natural.

Different types of values transitions in leaves

First, look for low-cal and dark areas.

So, look for transitions inside each area. Transitions from dark to low-cal, from light to lighter, and from dark to darker.

Oak tree, realistic pen drawing Oak tree

Past drawing with NO transitions (and using hard edges), yous tin can create something that looks unnatural, every bit opposed to something realistic with transitions.

Drawing of an unnatural leaves box vs natural leaves

The aforementioned manner a gardener trims bushes and trees, y'all tin use your artistic license to create something that looks bogus or man-made:

Artistic license ways to use your knowledge and experience.

Once you empathize how to depict leaves, you can draw anything with leaves texture. Objects, figures, vehicles, or fifty-fifty a refrigerator:

Pen drawing of a refrigerator with leaves texture

Good to know:

Transitions are not limited to brightness values. Transitions exist in colors, texture, edges, and temperature (transition from warm colors to cool colors).

If you lot are struggling with realistic drawing, you might want to read my realistic pencil-cartoon guide. It covers the iv important fundamentals (accurateness of the form, brightness values, edges, and transitions).

Weeping Willow

A weeping willow tree is a scrap tricky to draw.

Its leaves are easy to describe at an upwardly-close look. As yous go further away, yous tin can come across long clusters of leaves with no single foliage shape.

You tin showtime by drawing an outline for the tree structure. Practice it gently.

Drawing the outline for the form of a weeping willow

Then, one way is to draw the treetop (crown), section past section.

Alternatively, like in this instance, y'all can draw the dark values first.

Drawing the dark values for weeping willow tree

Something to consider:

Every bit mentioned above, a pen has one brightness value (unremarkably blackness, though other colors be, more than on that subsequently).

By cartoon gently and swiftly, with a abrupt angle, you lot can produce lines that are less defined, and therefore with a lighter value.

The last step is to add together the light values.

Pay attention to brightness values, transitions, and texture. Be abstruse with your marks, yet with a sense of direction.

Weeping willow, realistic pen drawing Weeping Willow

How to Draw Huge Trees

For some large trees, like Ficus, I like to use a large paper canvass (A3 in this case).

If the tree is too circuitous to depict, you can describe a grid (softly with a pencil), to separate the paper into smaller sections (and employ the same grid for your reference prototype).

Go along in listen:

Drawing on a large paper with a pen (or a pencil) is fourth dimension-consuming. For a tree like this, it can easily take more than twenty hours to complete.

Realistic ficus tree drawing with pen and ink Ficus tree

Sometimes, huge drawings may not look and so big on a small screen.

You can give it context past adding background trees (from imagination in this case).

Pen drawing of a ficus tree and background Background drawing

Something to consider:

You should utilize the rules of atmospheric perspective when cartoon backgrounds (landscape).

When objects are far away, there are more than atmosphere particles (that scatter light) between them and the observer.

For far abroad objects, apply less contrast and fewer details. In improver, groundwork layers become lighter, and have soft edges.

Adding Groundwork

Trees are cute on their own. Sometimes though, you lot may desire to add a groundwork.

Cartoon grass is a simple and piece of cake solution for background.

Start by drawing some curt lines. The lines in the front should be a bit bolder and longer.

Add together more lines; some can be longer (mostly in the foreground).

Avoid any design, and effort to be abstract with your marks.

With a tree (eucalyptus in this case), grass (as background) adds depth.

There is no actual depth in a drawing, your paper sheet is flat. The higher you draw on your paper (until the horizon), the further away it looks.

By drawing cast shadow by the tree, you can add together a sense of space to your drawing.

To draw cast shadow, add more marks (lines) for that area, to create the illusion of dark value.

Adding Plants

Another option is to add some plants. For instance, cattail plant (Typha).

Call back:

Natural plants and copse take an abstract shape. Make sure y'all do non depict them too circular and uniform.

When drawing long leaves, pay attending to cast shadows:

After examination-drawing the plant's parts, draw some loose outlines.

For realistic results, draw each flower or leafage with different size, shape, and management (but, go on in listen the tree or plant characteristics).

Additionally, pay attention to overlapping.

Then, add some brightness values and cast shadows.

Cattail (Typha) realistic pen drawing Cattail

Now you can combine grass and plants to describe a landscape.

Landscape with trees, pen drawing Landscape pen cartoon

And, pigment information technology with markers.

Painting a landscape drawing with markers Coloring with markers

Size & Context

The manner to define the size of objects is by placing them nearly other familiar objects.

Although a worm is usually quite small, by cartoon information technology big compared to known objects similar trees, it is possible to create a giant monstrous worm.

Giant monstrous worm pen drawing Behemothic worm

On the other hand, you might want to draw a pocket-size tree, like a bonsai tree.

In this example, you demand context.

Drawing a tree in a found pot can help, but sometimes even large copse are sold inside pots.

Drawing familiar surround, like a room, can help a lot in defining the bonsai'southward size.

Pen drawing of a bonsai tree in a room Bonsai tree

Colored Pens

While the main color for technical pens is blackness, many brands offer other color options.

Pens with colors Colored technical pens

I prefer black ink, but occasionally I like to mix it up with colors.

Pen drawing of an Acacia tree Acacia tree

Summary

While at that place are no lines in nature, pens tin but create lines!

Drawing is creating an illusion. The globe is iii-dimensional, simply your paper-sheet is ii-dimensional.

To create this illusion, pay attention to brightness values, edges, and transitions (amongst other things).

A pen has only i brightness value, so, unlike other drawing mediums (graphite, charcoal, pastel...), you have to create the illusion of different brightness values and transitions (in brightness values).

When drawing trees, focus on accuracy of the form, and on brightness values.

Make sure you take plenty contrast between highlights and shadows, for the drawing to be noticeable.

After you master drawing the class and effulgence values, details (texture) make all the difference.

If you liked this commodity, y'all might like my flower pen-drawing guide too.

For my recommended pens that I used in this guide, visit my review for fineliners and technical pens for drawing.

Source: https://ranartblog.com/blogarticle10.html

Posted by: reisingermonce1983.blogspot.com