How to Draw Trees
Want to know how to draw a tree? Well, in this video tutorial I'll show how to draw three different trees. But before we take a look at the video, let's think about the concept of drawing trees first. Trees are definitely an important part of landscape drawing. Yet when it comes to drawing trees, many people struggle. It doesn't have to be hard to draw trees. In fact, drawing trees is a pretty straight forward activity. I think the problem arises when people assume that they know what a tree looks like. So they end up drawing from their imagination (which is good sometimes). But when you are trying to draw realistic trees, you need to have a reference. That reference might be from life, or it could be a reference photo. The bottom line is that trees are like any other living thing- they all look different. Because of this, it's hard to "make up" a convincing tree. So you have to look at one. The good news is that trees are everywhere.
Even though there isn't a formula for drawing trees, there a few things to keep in mind. Trees are like any other object that we can see. They have a light side and a dark side. In other words, they have highlights and shadows. The highlights and shadows are what define the form of the tree. Another thing to keep in mind, when drawing most trees, you should try to draw the lines for the tree in the manner that a tree grows- from the ground up. Each branch should get progressively smaller. Also, do not be afraid to let your marks be loose. Tree branches grow in very organic and random directions. Do not feel that you have to draw all of the leaves either. Usually a little indication of texture can go a long way.
The featured video demonstrates how to draw three different types of trees.
Download this video ad free (Video transcription further down the page)
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Video Transcription
Today we are going to look at drawing trees, and drawing trees is really like drawing anything else. There are a couple of things that I'm going to share with you. First of all, you want to draw the tree from the ground up. So, you want to think about how the tree grows from the ground. And that's where I usually start my drawing. I usually start with the trunk and work my way out. And I start with the thicker lines and they get progressively smaller. A common mistake that I see people make when drawing trees is that they make the branches not very organic. What I mean by that is that they don't make the lines free flow out, like a tree grows. So, be free with your branches when you draw them. Let the branches expand out and slowly get smaller, and let your line kind of wiggle around. I guess that is the best way to say that. Another thing that is important is that you really need to think about the dark side and the light side of the tree. So, you need to think about your light source. One side of the tree is going to need to be clearly highlighted, while the other side of the tree will need to be clearly shadowed. This will help your tree look like it is three dimensional. So, basically, the way I like to draw trees is to draw the basic structure of the tree first. So I basically draw the tree the way it would look in the winter time and then slowly add the leaves. Now a lot of people try to add each individual leaf, and draw the shape, the outline for the leaf, and then try to color it in. I'm a little looser than that. I just draw a lot of texture lines and they will translate as leaves. Because leaves are really just texture on a tree. And the same thing is true for the leaves. You need to have a dark side and a light side. So, as you can see as this tree is starting to develop, I have defined the light side of the tree and a dark side of the tree. And progressively, I'm adding more and more leaves. Now you can add as many leaves as you want, or you can let it be some time in the fall or autumn where some of the leaves have fallen off. I'm also adding a cast shadow on the ground. That also adds to the three dimensional quality of the tree. So, there's our first tree. Let's take a look at another tree. And in this case, I'm going backwards. I'm drawing the shape of the tree and then defining the shape of the trunk. You have to look at the shape of the tree and then decide which way to approach drawing the tree. Again with this tree, I'm going to define the dark side and the light side of the tree. I'm going to create the shadow and the form by adding the value. And while I'm making the marks with the pencil, I'm trying to create the texture of the leaves on this tree. These leaves are really small and pointy type leaves. So, the texture I'm creating are really small point type lines. And again, I'll put that cast shadow underneath and that helps to define that tree. Alright, we'll do one more tree here. And this time, I'm starting with the trunk. And, I'm going to go ahead and start making the texture of the leaves. So, all three of these trees are different approaches to drawing trees. The first one, I drew the trunk up and then drew the branches and then I added the leaves. The second one, I drew the shape of the tree and then I drew the trunk. And with this third one, I started with the trunk and now I'm drawing the leaves because this tree will have more leaves on it. So, you will be able to see less of the branches. And again, it's all about defining the light side and the dark side. And in this case, you can really see the difference between the light side and the dark side of the tree. It's all done with just texture, that will translate as leaves. One thing that may help you with this is if you squint your eyes and see the tree a little bit blurry. The values will stand out. The dark values will stand out against the light values. So drawing trees doesn't have to be hard. Just draw what you see. Be loose. Define the texture and define the light source.
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