How to draw coniferous trees
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Drawings of coniferous trees - some ideas how to do it
This is an introduction how coniferous trees could be drawn from life.
There are no rules in drawing, everybody has her/his very own way to draw. No academic or other method shall be promoted, rather than the motivation to start your own observations with a pen and sketchbook in hand. If your looking for some inspirations or ideas have a look over my shoulder into my sketchbooks.
There are no rules in drawing, everybody has her/his very own way to draw. No academic or other method shall be promoted, rather than the motivation to start your own observations with a pen and sketchbook in hand. If your looking for some inspirations or ideas have a look over my shoulder into my sketchbooks.
All of my drawing lenses:
How to draw a tree
Landscape drawing - Improve your skills
How to draw a pine tree
How to draw deciduous trees (mostly apple trees:).)
How to draw coniferous trees (some spruce trees)
How to draw buildings and houses
Drawing the urban landscape
Draw people in a landscape
The self portrait - somewhat of an adventure
Artists sketchbooks - little nothings turn into big somethings
Sketching gear - a guide for beginners
Drawing the urban landscape
How to draw with a pen
How to draw a straight line
Image credits: All images on this webpage ,if not otherwise stated, are creations by the author.
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A group of spruce trees - an example for a coniferous tree drawing
Five basic tips for drawing spruce trees and an some experience
This drawing is a small study 5"X7" especially done for this explanations. I used mainly 5 basic methods in this simple sketch.
1. By marking the very top of the trees with small dots I tried to make sure that the whole group would fit on the page. Then I developed the outlines of the tree tops on the right in a combination of blind contour drawing and controlled hand.
2. Then I tried to map those branches and their parts which were exposed to full sunlight with an outline. These parts seemed much brighter than the dark shadows.
3. In the darkest shadows I observed that drawing negative space could be used. So I mapped the outline of the small pieces of sky looking through the curtain of small branches.
4. I continued on the left where a bigger proportion was in sunlight and tried to find a way of represention for these branches. Not to convincing yet, so I will have to come back for another study
5. Finally I worked on the smallest tree on the left. The shape of this tree seemed important to me as it would function as a kind of visual code that the viewer would pick up and apply unconsciously to unfinished parts of the drawing. The shadows follow a certain pattern, but the forms in this pattern are rather difficult to depict.
The same group of tree in a quick sketch from the other side of the valley.
In this quick sketch I simplified the detailed patterns of the branches.
A spruce tree drawing
This drawing is about 10X14 in size and covers a double page of my smaller sketchbook. I worked on this exercise on two autumn evenings. One time the full moon went up and there was a beautiful quiet atmosphere at that place.
I started at the tree top and worked my way down to the bottom by drawing outlines and then added the more detailed structures of the branches.
The methods applied are the same as explained on the lens "How to draw a pine tree"
I started at the tree top and worked my way down to the bottom by drawing outlines and then added the more detailed structures of the branches.
The methods applied are the same as explained on the lens "How to draw a pine tree"
Portrait of an old spruce tree - a drawing exercise in several steps
Blog posts about the progress of spruce tree drawin in ink
- Drawing a spruce tree - beginning with the tree top
- The first session: Starting with the tree top
- Drawing a spruce tree
- Final drawing session
Ink drawing with gouache underpainting
Spruce trees in spring time
This is an unfinished plein air study in a big sketchbook. After a loose underpaiting with washes of gouache the details will be carved out in an ink drawing.
I used the very reliable Pentel Kanji brush pen.
Detail of a spruce tree top
This is a detail of an ink drawing , spruce tree top. More about this drawing on the web log How to draw a tree
Drawings of coniferous trees on the net
- Gordo'sPictures - some spruce trees
- Pencil Drawing, Trees, Spruce trees
- trees and mist on Flickr
- A wet in wet technique by Laureski Lolaure using black ink water and wet paper, on arches 3 feet by 2 feet. The trees create themselves.
- Black and white drawings of conifers
- This is a page from a german book on black and white illustrations with a nice selection of typical conifers.
- Drawspace.com - Spruce tree drawing step by step
- This is a short lesson how to draw a spruce tree starting with the trunk and then adding the branches
- Robert van Pelt - prints of giant trees
- Robert van Pelt a specialist on tree drawing,has drawn numerous impressive tree portraits of species at the Westcoast. Really a must see. he also give some explanations how he does these amazing tree drawings.
- NSF Workshop on Canopy Structure Data
- Robert Van Pelt, Nalini Nadkarni The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
This site features a scientific project on the canopy of trees. At the bottom of the page the visual results can be seen: Great drawings of real trees (conifers).
The study is similar to that what I did during my own studies in forestry
How to draw a tree - The book published on BLURB
A field guide to sketching and drawing trees
The little book in format 8X5 is based on the content of this lens. It contains 70 black and white images of pen, ink and charcoal drawings. You will find many of the illustrations on this lens, but others also from related lenses on drawing deciduous and coniferous trees and some extra images too in the book.The book summarizes my experiences in drawing trees. The majority of drawings are deciduous trees, but there is also an explanations about pine tree drwaing and spruce.
Link to the book How to draw a tree There is a full preview available.
Great books on tree giants by Robert van Pelt
Rural Landcapes - ink drawings with trees
Now available as print in my Zazzle store
powered by Zazzle.com
How to draw a tree - the weblog about tree drawing and not much else
Say hello to me...;).
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michaelprosper
Mar 6, 2012 @ 3:21 pm | delete
- Very Good!
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CelticWays
Feb 29, 2012 @ 8:37 am | delete
- so, so stunning, I must get back to this, you really have inspired me :-)
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curious0927
Feb 13, 2012 @ 9:44 am | delete
- Just beautiful. I can't wait to dabble with your inspiring tips! Blessed
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Tipi
Jan 17, 2012 @ 4:18 pm | delete
- I grew up with coniferous trees all around us and have a special love for them and you just brought back some sweet memories for me. I love how you draw your trees realistically with their own odd little differences rather than perfectly...and that makes them perfect! Blessed with a smile!
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Makita
Aug 7, 2011 @ 10:18 pm | delete
- Great lens! I've always had difficulty with landscapes ... conifers in particular. Thank you. :)
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Photographic libraries
Tree images
For those who can go out for studies for what ever reason there are great online resources on trees to study
- Trees @ Forestry Images
- Forestry Images: Forest Health, Natural Resources and Silviculture Photos with pictures of insects, diseases, trees, plants, weeds, ecosystems, fire, ecology, other pests and wildlife.
by EditionH
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How to draw a tree - the weblog
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