Drawing Trees, Free Art Lesson by Mike Sibley

I've recently been asked by a few artists for assistance with the drawing of trees. As
with ost s!b"ects this one can be broken down into easy#to#anage $arts # as I shall
e%$lain...
Balance and Form
First find your tree. This is not as easy as it might appear... trees have a habit of looking
unbalanced, awkward or just plain crazy! Despite ature!s best endeavours, not all trees
make good subjects. Finding one with the appearance of good balance can take some time.
"aybe you prefer to design your own# The same rules
apply. $nless a leaning or grossly unsymmetrical tree is
going to be of some advantage to your drawing, you
would benefit from first studying trees and their growth
habits to learn the basic rules. %ersonally, & nearly always
work from photographs that & use as a base from which
to work. & might occasionally draw one just as & saw it but
often & will amalgamate elements from two or more trees
into one. 'ut, whatever your approach, one aspect
remains constant ( trees posses three(dimensional form.
For simplicity & will concentrate on common deciduous
trees but similar rules and techni)ues will apply to
evergreens.
Overall Form and Structure
Trees are not flat structures of entwining branches. *ome branches will e+tend to each side,
some will recede beyond the trunk and yet other will be pointing straight at you. , country
walk in -inter offers a good opportunity to study this. .ater, when the trees are clothed in
leaves, you can study the same ones again but with a full knowledge of their internal
skeleton.
'rought right down to basics a tree in leaf is like a lollipop or candyfloss on a stick ( a round
or conical shape on a long pole. /ou will see that these basic, three(dimensional shapes
conform to normal lighting e+pectations. They posses a shadow side, a highlighted side and
a shadow beneath. /ou may also incorporate reflected light on the dark side of the trunk if it
will help you to better show it!s edge.
0eep this basic shape in mind as you work, coupled with the chosen direction of light, and
the tree that you produce will possess an overall reality of form.
Analysing What You See
There are, to my mind, three major aspects of a tree that make it what it is. *urface te+ture
and shape, internal bough structure and gaps through which you can see through to the
other side.
Texture and Shaping
These are two major topics that & will return to later. For now just be
aware that your tree must look as though it is clothed in believable
leaves. &t!s while you are drawing these 1leaves1, keeping the lighting
direction in mind, that you will introduce the e+ternal shaping.
Internal structure
-hether you are drawing hair or grass or the boughs of a tree one
important point e+tends to them all 2 what you start you must finish.
othing looks more false to the eye than a bough that springs from
nowhere or one that simply disappears. "ake your internal structure
believable and the eye will accept what you draw as reality.
Holes and gaps - negative areas
3oles through the foliage are a great boon as they enable you to
show the far side of the tree and add reality to your drawing. ,nd
these holes and gaps often e+pose the hard edges of the boughs (
using these in stark silhouette 4they rarely receive direct light5
contrasts well with the more enigmatic foliage and can be used to
impart a softer look to the leaves.
&t is only by analysing what you see that you will gain the full understanding that allows you
to draw realistically. , tree is not an amorphous collection of leaf(shaped items or random
marks that, you hope, will fool the viewer!s brain into reading 1tree1. , tree is an ordered,
layered object with an outer covering 4often partial5 around an inner armature or core. 3ow
you draw it, the techni)ue you choose to use, is determined largely by the position of the tree
or bush in your composition ( foreground 4where each leaf shape is discernable5,
background 4where the leaves form a mottled pattern that describe the overall three(
dimensionality5 or midground 4somewhere in between the two5. For the basis of this tutorial
&!m going to choose the midground scenario with illustrations of the other two. *o let!s pick up
a pencil and draw tree...
et dra!ing commence"""
Think of your tree not as a drawing but as a sculpture ( a three(dimensional surface wrapped
around an internal armature. The first job then is to create the armature with indications of
where the major masses of foliage will be appear.
This tree was photographed with a 677mm
zoom lens at a distance of about 897 metres.
The lack of detail is not important ( indeed it
is a bonus as it concentrates attention on the
forms within the tree.
The internal structure is nicely silhouetted
allowing the eye to follow the major limbs
through the structure.
& incorporated this tree into the composition of
my drawing #one Balin!.
The internal structure has been e+plored to
some e+tent, the major holes through the
foliage mapped out and the main areas of
shadow noted.
ote that the tree originally had two trunks.
:ne has been removed and the emphasis
placed on the centre and right of the tree as
the composition re)uires other trees to
overlap the left side.
This is not drawn on the final working surface
but is a separate sketch for later transferral.
The benefit of this is that it allows unlimited
e+ploration of the form ( in this case the
masses of foliage tend to have rounded tops
when viewed straight on and others to the
side sweep downwards as they decrease in
depth. -e can put this understanding to good
use later.
The completed tree as it appears in #one
Balin$. ote that the left(hand side is
invented, the right hand side conforms only to the photograph!s outline and some of the
holes through the foliage have been closed
:nly the 1spirit1 of the tree has been used to depict it ( the actual structure of the foliage
masses has been altered to better suit my re)uirements. %hotographs can provide detail but
they are better used as compendiums of overall information ( they give a 1feel1 for the
structure and add realism to your invention.
#emonstration"""
To make life easy the 1clothing1 of a tree can be broken down into a collection of similar
elements. ;ust e+periment with small sections until you arrive at a te+ture most resembling
the effect you wish to attain. &n this case the tree is in the midground so the 1leaves1 only
need to appear as highlighted points where light reflects from their variously angled surfaces.

The basic guidance drawing.
This e+ercise measures 61<6=1 and was
completed in just over 8 hour.

3ere &!m establishing the darkest and
lightest tones and beginning to get a feel
for the form. Don!t add tone yet to the
white, negative points.

-hen you!ve established and delineated
the shadow and highlighted areas add
overall tone to provide lighting that
conforms to your chosen direction.
"y techni)ue 4as shown above5 involves three stages>
8. "ap out a loose framework for the internal and e+ternal structures.
6. -orking in random patterns, create a flat depiction of depth. 'y this & mean vary the
weight of your pencil marks, graduating from dark to light, leaving more negative
space between the marks as you progress. This method involves a combination of
negative and positive drawing ( the shadows rely on the positive, weighty pencil
marks and the highlighted areas are produced by drawing around the white 1leaves1.
"ore leaf, more highlight. .ess leaf, more shadow. -ork )uickly ( speed fools the
brain. Tap into your creative side by working too )uickly for your logical side to keep
up.
?. Finally, reinforce your deepest shadows 4leave no negative spaces5 then add overall
tone as re)uired to each area of foliage so it possesses a roundness that conforms
to your chosen direction of lighting.
,djustments can be easily made with 'lu(Tack, which is why & advocate laying the final
shaping(tone on top. 'lu(Tack can lift this off so gently that the detail below is left
undisturbed and can be continually adjusted and re(adjusted with little harm to the under(
drawing.
-ith practice some of the early stages can be dispensed with. For e+ample, the trees to the
left of our e+ample tree 4see below5 merely had their positions marked in my line drawing.
The trees themselves grew organically as & worked. & had only to decide where the sun
would catch their tops before starting out.
#one Balin$ % limited edition print
Trees and Foliage examples"""