1. When drawing leaves, note that the vein goes into the stalk. Note also that the midrib of some leaves divides them exactly in half.
To draw a leaf, first draw an oval. Then draw a center line and lightly outline both halves. Check the accuracy of the drawing, and then draw the halves more clearly. Now add cloves along the edges of the leaf.
When coloring a leaf, remember that the veins are lighter than the leaf itself.
2. You can start drawing an oak leaf from an oval narrowed down. In the middle of the oval there is a vein that passes into the stalk of the leaf. The edges of an oak leaf resemble waves. 
3. Let's start drawing a maple leaf by displaying its shape. Then you need to find the node of all leaf veins (the maple leaf has five main veins, around each of which there is, as it were, a separate leaf) and outline their direction. Then draw jagged edges. 
4. Now let's try to draw a branch with leaves. First, consider it: how many leaves are on the branch, how are they located relative to the branch, what size are they, are they all visible in their entirety, what is the shape of the leaves, which leaves seem darker, which ones are lighter, are the leaves the same color? After answering these questions, proceed to the drawing according to the first scheme.
Starting the second stage, trace the direction of the veins and marginal notches on each sheet.
When painting over the drawing, display the volume and color of the leaves with light and shadow. 
5. Drawing a tree must begin with a trunk. The trunk is the thickest part of the tree. The trunk is thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom. The branches are located along the trunk and directed upwards. The closer to the top of the tree, the shorter the branches of the tree.
After the trunk, draw large tree branches. They are drawn in the same way as the trunk: thinner at the top, thicker closer to the trunk. The branches on the trunk are at different distances.
Then we draw small branches that depart from large ones. A lot of them. Small branches are drawn with the same thickness - they are thin, but also stretch upwards for many trees. 
6. One of the common trees we have is a birch. Before you draw it, take a close look at it. A feature of birch branches is that they are rather thin, bend, hang down, and thicker branches are divided into even thinner branches. When the wind blows, birch branches sway from side to side. 
7. The silhouette of the Christmas tree resembles a triangle. When drawing it, it should be remembered that instead of leaves it has needles. 
8. When drawing trees in a landscape, it should be taken into account that being far from the tree, we see only its general shape, which must be depicted. 
To learn how to draw trees, you need to understand a few principles that will help you see patterns in the structure of trees. The diagrams and drawings below allow you to see all this clearly. And then you need to observe nature and regularly make sketches. Only by constantly practicing in drawing you can master the necessary skills. So, what principles do you need to understand in order to learn how to draw trees?
1. The cylindrical shape of the trunk and branches of the tree.
The tree trunk is based on a cylindrical shape. Therefore, when an artist draws the bark, behind the texture of the bark, you need to see the volume of the trunk. This means that it will be lit unevenly. That is, on the one hand - the light, and on the other - the shadow. The light can also be in the middle of the “cylinder”, and on its sides, respectively, a shadow. The same applies to branches. But because of their small thickness, chiaroscuro will be hardly noticeable. Therefore, artists use this technique: the branch is written in one color, and its edge is emphasized with dark paint. The underlining gives the impression of a shadow and the branches appear voluminous.
2. The structure of the bark of a tree is most often cracks.
The structure of the bark in most trees is a crack in the surface layer of the trunk. Cracking and roughening, this layer becomes thicker and rougher over the years. Each individual "tubercle" of the cortex has a lighted and a shadow side. But looking at the tree, we do not see such details, but perceive the image as a whole. Therefore, the artist does not copy each “corinka”, but conveys the texture with a bark-like stroke. For example, you can use a "clumsy" stroke, with different line thicknesses. In this case, the area of the bark, which is in the shade, will be darker.
3. The shape of the trunk and branches. branch direction.
Each type of wood has its own characteristics. For example, the nature of the bends of the trunk and branches. The oak branches are more sinuous and clumsy. The trunk of a pine is mostly straight. In a willow, the trunk can branch into several trunks, forming a "slingshot". The same character and many large branches of willow. Therefore, when drawing a tree, you need to be observant and see the various features of the structure.
In addition, there is another aspect that many people forget about. Often novice artists draw branches to the left and right of the trunk, forgetting that the branches are still growing back and forth, surrounding the trunk from all sides. If the branch grows forward, it will block the trunk and other branches. Thus, plans are formed in the tree drawing: the first, second, third ... The branches of the first plan will close the branches of the second plan, etc.
4. The fractal principle of tree branch hierarchy.
A fractal is a repeating self-similarity. If you carefully observe the trees, you can see how small and large branches, as well as the trunk, are similar to each other. Indeed, the crown of a tree consists of a hierarchy of branches: very small, small, medium, large, very large, and the tree trunk itself. They are based on the same form. As if they took one branch and made from it many copies of larger and larger sizes. Knowing this principle, drawing a tree will be much easier.
5. The trunk of a tree is not visible everywhere: it either appears or hides in the foliage.
The trunk of the tree, its branches and large branches will pass between the masses of small branches and leaves. The trunk can then appear between them, then go deeper, where it is no longer visible. Because of this, shadows from groups of branches and leaves will fall on it. Therefore, when transmitting chiaroscuro on the cylindrical surface of the trunk, you also need to see if there are any falling shadows from its foliage on it. On a sunny day, it happens that the tree trunk is dotted with “spots” of falling shadows.
6. Chiaroscuro on the entire crown of the tree as a whole.
The whole mass of branches and leaves of a tree without the lower part of the trunk is called the crown. It has volume. That is, on this whole mass as a whole there is light, partial shade, shadow and reflex. For example, often sunlight falls on the crown from above. This means that the top of the tree will be lighter than the bottom. However, the crown of the tree is made up of clusters of foliage, between which there are gaps through which the sky or the shadowy interior of the crown can be seen. These clusters or groups of branches themselves are also illuminated by sunlight in different ways. This means that the crown of the tree will not be depicted in the figure as a solid silhouette. So we come to the study of the next important principle.
7. Foliage and tree branches are combined into groups.
A huge number of leaves of a tree, as well as the branches on which they grow, are combined into groups, forming clusters. The crown of a tree is not a continuous mass of foliage. The crown consists of many groups of branches and leaves. Moreover, these groups also differ in size and shape. They are not the same. Each group is illuminated by daylight, which means that each individual mass of foliage has its own light, its own shadow, its own reflexes and penumbra. That is, as in the drawing of a plaster ball, students convey chiaroscuro, and in the drawing of a tree, in each individual mass or group of branches and leaves, chiaroscuro must be conveyed. However, along with this, it must be remembered that the chiaroscuro of individual groups will be subordinate to the general chiaroscuro of the entire crown (which I wrote about in the previous subtitle). But how to translate it into a drawing? For example, the sun shines from above. The lightest point on the tree will be at its top. The darkest point is at the bottom. But the crown consists of the aforementioned groups of branches. So each group has its own chiaroscuro. Suppose there is one group at the top of the tree and another group at the bottom of the tree. So, the light on the top group will be lighter than the light on the bottom group. Also, the shadow on the top group will be lighter than the shadow on the bottom group (in the figure they are numbered #1 and #2). It turns out that the particular is subordinate to the general. The chiaroscuro of individual groups of branches is subject to the general chiaroscuro of the entire tree crown. But there are exceptions to this rule. If a group of leaves from the lower shadow part of the tree protrudes more and more light falls on it, then it can be as light as the one at the very top (from our example).
8. Imitation of foliage through hatching.
In the previous schematic drawings, the trees look "cartoonish" and simplified. In this drawing, the tree must be depicted realistically. To do this, you need to pay attention to the technique of execution. Hatching can be very different depending on the surface being depicted (I wrote about the types of hatching). It should convey the "materiality" of the depicted object. In our case, this is the foliage of a tree. And the artist does not need to draw thousands of individual leaves on a tree. You just need to shade so that you get the impression of foliage. But how should a tree be hatched to make it realistic and lively?
The secret is that the stroke can create the illusion of foliage. That is, the nature of the lines will be similar to the nature of the leaves. In the above figure, you can see three types of hatching corresponding to three types of leaves - maple leaves, oak leaves, willow leaves. In one case, the line is "prickly", in another "clumsy", in the third - the strokes are more oblong. But these are just examples. You can come up with your own kind of stroke. Here you need to connect your imagination and not think in a stereotyped way. For the bark of a tree, you should come up with another stroke, for the grass a third, etc. In this regard, I can only give you this advice: the drawing looks spectacular when the line thickness changes. That is, you need to work with a blunt and sharp tip of a pencil lead. Therefore, inventing your hatching, you can take this moment into account.
9. Gaps in the mass of foliage.
The crown of the tree is not monolithic and, as I wrote above, consists of branches and leaves combined into groups. Consequently, gaps will form between these groups, through which the sky or the inner, shady part of the tree can be seen through.
It would seem that everything is simple. But, just here, for novice artists, a problem arises in drawing trees. The fact is that beginners depict these gaps not between masses of foliage, but between individual leaves, and they draw them the same in size. The result is a painting in which the viewer sees a tree whose silhouette looks "cartoonish" and unnatural. In nature, the gaps in the foliage are located at different distances from each other. The gaps themselves are also everywhere different in size. But such a pattern is due not only to nature, but also to the laws of composition. In the visual arts there is the concept of rhythm. Just like in music, by the way. If the artist places objects at the same distance from each other, then the depicted view looks boring and not natural. If the artist changes the location, size, tone or color, then the painting becomes dynamic and natural. Thus, rhythm is created in painting.
Imagine that we are painting a dark green silhouette of a tree against the sky. This silhouette is dotted with "dots", which are gaps in the tree through which you can see the sky. So, these points need to be made different in size and at different distances from each other. Large, small, medium ... Between small groups of branches, between large clusters of foliage, between individual leaves of a tree, etc.
Therefore, the crown of the tree will not look like a solid mass of foliage, but like a loose structure penetrated by branches and having gaps between clusters of foliage.
10. Non-template approach.
In order to understand how to apply the above theory in practice, here are two of my drawings of trees. The first is maple, and the second is oak. Try to follow in these drawings the nine principles outlined above. I’ll make a reservation right away that there are different types of drawing: linear, tone, quick sketches and many hours of detailed drawings. These maple and oak drawings are quick sketches. And in such sketches, artists do not draw everything. Therefore, somewhere you can find some deviations from what you read above. Here it is just clear that I did not use a template approach, but was guided precisely by the principles, thinking about how best to apply them. Therefore, in conclusion, I will add that the artist must add creativity, fantasy and intuition to theoretical knowledge. Then the drawing will be more expressive and devoid of the monotony of a template approach.
Trees are always very interesting to draw and quite simple. The main thing is to know some rules and be observant. How to draw a tree? First of all, you need to know what kind of species, breed? How do branches grow - straight, sideways, falling to the ground? What kind of crown does the plant have - lush, small, round, dense, triangular? The birch has its own silhouette of the crown, the pine has its own. In this lesson, we will try to draw a tree in stages. You will understand how to correctly depict dense foliage, bark, tree roots. This knowledge will come in handy when you go to the open air or want to draw something of your own.
- We take a thick sheet of watercolor paper, a simple pencil, an eraser. If you want to draw a tree in a “wet” technique, then the sheet is first slightly moistened with water. This can be done with a wide soft brush or sponge. With this technique, you will get very beautiful stains and gradients. To begin with, we outline our tree with a pencil. Let's draw it with a lush green crown. In summer and spring, the trees are especially beautiful, the sun reflects from each leaf and they seem to glow. Let's draw the earth in a semicircle. The tree itself will be depicted with small roots. The tree is far away from the viewer, so the roots will appear small. We make the thickness of the branches such that the approximate sum of their thicknesses is equal to the trunk of our tree. The higher the branches are, the thinner they become. At the top of the crown, the branches are the thinnest and youngest. We draw the crown of the tree in general, with an uneven circle.
- Now let's designate the "floors" of the crown. If you look closely at any tree, then each large branch creates a separate "tier", a kind of mini-tree, and together they form a lush crown. Each such “tier” has its own volume, they overlap each other, later we will denote this by the play of shadows and light.
- To make the tree look more organic, let's finish the elements of the landscape - the sky, clouds, as well as the shadow of the tree. We only lightly outline the clouds with a pencil, then we simply outline these sections of white paper with blue paint, and add a light shadow for volume. So that the tree trunk does not look smooth and boring, let's draw it as if it consists of many large branches. The texture of the bark will not be visible, so we will draw the tree trunk with color shades, without drawing small details.
- Let's start painting with watercolors. We start with the crown of the tree and with a transparent yellow-green paint, unevenly paint over this area with a soft wide brush. In some places we leave white spots, somewhere we add thicker paints, but do not overdo it. The grass on the ground will be colder in hue, so add some light blue or blue. Let's draw a shadow from the tree. We draw the sky with a blue gradient, the thickest shade is at the top, gradually the paint is diluted with water towards the horizon. Clouds are simply circled with a brush.
- We draw shadows. We take a green tint with the addition of blue and “sculpt” the crown with short strokes. On the lower "floor" the shadows will be larger and darker, towards the top the brush strokes become shorter and lighter. We carefully outline a couple of branches in the middle. Give volume to the tree trunk. The shadows throughout the figure are on the left. With different shades of brown (with the addition of ocher, blue and a little green), we draw the bark of a tree, leaving white spots of light in some places. We also make shadows on the clouds - we paint over the lower part of each cloud with a gray-blue tint.
- The most “delicious” stage is drawing the details. Now we need the thinnest brush. Go through all the shadows again and make them more saturated. The viewer's attention should be focused on the central part of the picture, it must be drawn especially carefully to make it interesting to look at. Therefore, we add contrast to the branches, in the shadows on the crown and trunk of the tree. With thin strokes we denote small branches in the depths of the crown. We draw the grass with light strokes (touch the paper with a brush and make a quick stroke with it “away from you”).
It may seem that trees are one of the easiest objects to draw. If you have never painted, the task may be too easy...
... or too literal:
We do not see anything similar to real objects in any of the drawings. The first is just a tree symbol, and the second suggests the definition of a tree. Your job as an artist is to paint what we see, not what we know. tree drawing What a great exercise to develop this skill!
In this lesson I will show you how to draw oak, pine and weeping willow trees simple and realistic method.
What you will need:
- Several sheets of paper;
- Hard pencil (HB);
- Medium soft pencil (2B);
- Soft pencil (5V or less);
- Pencil sharpener.
Usually a pair of hard pencils (HB) is enough, but such a set is not universal for all drawings. To get dark shadows, we need soft pencils. No need to choose expensive ones - I bought the most common ones, and they do their job perfectly. If you are in doubt about whether you need to draw, then a set of pencils of different degrees of hardness will not be a big loss from the budget, and drawing is much easier!
You will also need a sharpener. A blunt tip leaves lighter strokes and does not match the expected effect. Constantly monitor the sharpness of the pencils and remember that soft pencils wear out faster!
Regarding paper: it can be anything. Ordinary paper for printers is also suitable. You should not, however, draw on a whole sheet - the smaller the drawing, the less detail you will need to add. In reality, my drawings are about 9 cm high.
Soft pencils help to darken the shadows, which is not the case with hard pencils. Hard pencils are not as dark, even if you press hard on them!
- DRAW OAK
Step 1
The brain works in an unusual way: first it grasps the big picture, and then pays attention to the details. Therefore, you should not start drawing with details - first you need to create a base.
Draw the generalized shape of the tree with a few faint strokes and dots. To do this, use a hard (HB) pencil, do not put pressure on it. These strokes will not be part of the finished image - they will not be visible in the finished drawing; the camera and scanner don't recognize them (I used Photoshop so you can see them!).
Step 2
Draw the trunk. Do not forget - the bottom part should expand downwards. The larger the tree, the shorter and thicker its trunk.
Step 3
Draw branches at the top of the trunk.
Continue drawing the branches, gradually lowering the line as they length.
Step 4
Add other branches to each branch (the longer, the lower they go). Strokes should be light.
Step 5
With short, sharp strokes draw the shape of the crown of the tree. It doesn't have to be straight and neat.
Step 6
In the same way, draw small "clouds" of leaves inside the crown. Leave some areas empty so that parts of the branches are visible - this structure looks more interesting.
Step 7
Add thickness to the branches where they are not covered by leaves.
Step 8
Before you start applying shadows, determine which part of the tree will be bright and which parts will be shadowed. You can define them with simple hatching.
Step 9
Take a soft (2B) pencil (make sure it's sharp) and create some texture on the stem. Remember to also leave white areas - this is important for the texture.
Step 10
Take soft pencils (2B and 5B) and darken the barrel according to the original light distribution. Don't be afraid to press down on the soft pencil to get the shadow you need, but don't overdo it either! The fewer black areas in the picture, the more impressive it looks.
Step 11
Take a hard pencil and sketch out the outlines of the leaves. Draw them in relaxed circles, quickly, with sharp movements.
Step 12
Each branch also has its own small crown (these are the "clouds" that you drew). You need to darken them in the same way as if they were separate trees.
First take a soft (2B) pencil to draw darker circles on the darkened side. At first, do not press too hard so that you can correct the mistakes.
When you are sure that you have correctly defined the sides of the darkening, add shadows and depth to them, and also finish the transition between the light and dark parts.
Step 13
Take a soft (2B) pencil to add some loose leaves all over the crown and "small crowns". This will create the effect of additional, barely visible branches.
Step 14
Take the softest pencil and add some dark accents in the darkest places. The crown will be more contrasting. Also make sure that all the leaves are darker than the "sky" background - the leaves cannot be transparent! You can once again go over the lightest areas with a hard pencil.
- DRAWING A PINE
Step 1
Again, we start drawing with the general outline of the tree. Take a hard pencil and draw light lines.
Step 2
Draw branches. Don't try to be precise, just sketch them.
Step 3
As in the case of oak, draw "clouds" on the branches. This time they should be narrower and even more uneven. Leave more space between them.
Step 4
Draw the outline of the trunk - long and narrow.
Step 5
Take a soft (2B) pencil to darken the barrel...
…and then a softer pencil to highlight the darkest side.
Step 6
This time, you do not need to fill in the “clouds” with circles; fill them in instead with harsh and chaotic strokes.
Step 7
Take a soft (2B) pencil to draw needles along the outline of the "clouds". They should be thin and sharp.
Step 8
Draw the branches and darken them with two soft pencils.
Step 9
Draw even more needles inside the "clouds" with a soft (2B) pencil).
Step 10
Take the softest pencil to darken the "clouds". If you want, you can just darken them completely - usually evergreen trees themselves are dark.
Step 11
Finally, take the softest pencil to draw completely dark "clouds" between the branches.
- DRAWING A WEEPPING WILLOW
Step 1
We will draw in the same way. Let's draw the general outline of the willow - something like a fountain.
Step 2
Draw the outline of the trunk.
Step 3
Draw branches in the direction from the trunk ...
... descending as the length.
Step 4
Draw the contours of the "clouds"; this time they will look more like curtains.
Step 5
Fill in the trunk and branches with hatching with a soft (2B) pencil.
Step 6
Darken the trunk and branches with the softest pencil.
Step 7
Take a soft (2B) pencil and draw ribbon-like lines along the "curtains". They should form an arc at the very beginning.
Step 8
Darken the "curtains" with darker and wider swirling lines in between.
Step 9
Use your softest pencil to draw the dark "curtains" on the other dark side of the tree. You can also add leaves to the branches to give them more detail.
Your trees are ready!
How could you make sure draw trees- an easy task; you just need to pass in their appearance, not their definition. However, this is just the beginning of learning - if you want to become a true professional in drawing trees Take a notepad with you when you go for a walk. Watch the trees you pass by and try to make quick sketches of them. This way you can develop intuitive drawing. If you prefer to stay at home, look at the pictures of trees on the Internet.
Translation of an article from design.tutsplus.com.
From a very early age, first mothers, then kindergarten teachers, teachers in drawing lessons at school put love for nature into the soul of a child. One of the ways to appreciate the beauty around us is the fine arts.
Children are very fond of and wildlife is the best topic for this. Let's draw trees with a pencil and paints.
Master class for beginners: how to draw a beautiful tree with a pencil
How to draw a winter tree?
It is quite difficult for a person inexperienced in fine arts to show changes in nature, and especially winter. But if you are not too strict and critical in relation to the children's drawing, then you may be surprised to find that the kids are much easier about this. The smallest do well with white snowflakes from gouache dots that cover bare branches.
The older the baby becomes, the more difficult the technique of making a winter landscape. There is no need to strictly indicate exactly how to draw winter, developing the talent of the artist.
How to draw a tree in autumn?
With the autumn theme, things are much easier. Bright red-yellow shades elevate fantasy to an unprecedented level. And various drawing techniques allow you to get beautiful autumn landscapes.
Someone loves watercolor, someone likes working with gouache - mixing paints to get the right shade is a very exciting and exciting thing. You can even draw an autumn tree with a toothbrush, spraying different shades of paint alternately with a bristle onto a sheet of paper with an already drawn trunk.
