How to draw a garden: work steps

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the classic subjects in painting is the image of a garden. It can be a landscape sketch, and a background for drawing people and animals; a spring or summer garden full of colors or a romantic autumn garden, as well as a solemn and calm winter garden. Despite the apparent complexity, making this drawing is quite a lifting task even for novice artists or children. This article is about how to draw a garden step by step.

Technique selection

Before you draw a garden, you need to decide on the technique. This article refers to the classic media: pencil, watercolor and paper. First you need to work out the graphic part of the picture, and then do the color side. If gouache or acrylic is closer to you, then the proposed sequence of actions may be applicable to these types of paints.

Working on a tree sketch

The question of how to draw a garden with a pencil often arises from the inability to sketch a tree. His image seemscomplex, because visually it appears either too complex or too simple. In the first case, the drawing of a tree loses its characteristic geometry, in the second it looks childishly schematic. Meanwhile, drawing a tree is one of the easiest tasks. In order to cope with it, it is enough to take into account a few points in the work.

The secret of natural geometry

Firstly, the structure of a tree is very simple - it is a trunk and branches located on it. But it is not enough to draw only those of them that are adjacent to the trunk. The image will be interesting only when you also draw branches of the second, third and fourth levels. Moreover, each level of the branches should be thinner than the previous one, and the end of the branch should be thinner than the base. In addition, in order for the plant to look natural, the branches should not be located symmetrically relative to the trunk.

Finally, a common mistake is the fear of crossing branches, although in nature it is the interlacing and crossing that give the tree its characteristic appearance. Be sure to keep this in mind when sketching the tree before drawing the garden. To achieve this, first draw the trunk, then all the branches adjacent to it, then the second level branches, and so on.

Bends and knots of branches

Secondly, if you are thinking about how to draw a garden so that the individuality of each plant is felt in the work, be sure to use the complexity resource of the trunk and branches line. They are rarely straight. Each tree species has its ownplasticity and its movement of branches. In the apple tree, they are knotty and rounded; in honeysuckle - numerous, intricate, straight; hawthorn - clear, angular, etc. Take a closer look at the garden trees. It is very interesting to observe the contours of the branches, and sketching them is a great lesson in graphics. If you are drawing a conditional tree, give the branches the shape and mood you see fit.

Tree shape

Finally, the shape of the tree is of no small importance. So that it does not turn out to be conditional, you must first outline the silhouette of the future tree - everyone also has his own, especially garden representatives. Old samples are significantly different from young ones. With age, apple trees grow to the sides, mountain ash tends upwards. Young trees have a more regular and symmetrical shape than old ones, and the latter, especially apple trees, are extremely asymmetrical. It is especially important to learn how to work out the graphic part of the work if you want to draw a winter garden or a garden in early spring or during late leaf fall. At these times of the year, the branches are not covered with foliage, and the focus of the picture will be on the chart.

Garden pencil drawing

How to draw a garden so that not only the trees themselves, but their arrangement is natural? Here a lot depends on what kind of garden you are drawing. If it is well-groomed and fruitful, then this can be emphasized with a symmetrical, planned planting. The angle of the point of view can be chosen exactly when the planting rows are visible, emphasizing the man-made. If the romance of an old neglected garden is close to you, then, on the contrary, it is worth excluding symmetry and anyrepetition, deliberateness in general.

The main thing to consider before drawing a garden with trees is the order of work. The main mistake is the sequential study of each plant. Beginning authors instinctively “move” the trees away from each other, and the drawing turns out to be unnatural. To achieve naturalness, first mark out the location of the trunks, then outline the future silhouettes of the trees, and only then proceed to work on each tree.

In this case, the trees will definitely block each other, their branches can cross. This will give your drawing a special liveliness.

If you draw a garden with fruits, then you need to draw them too before you start drawing the crowns. Many fruits will then be partially covered with leaves.

Steps of working with color

When asking how to draw a garden, many are interested in what exactly needs to be done so that the crowns of the trees do not look "painted" like in children's work. The secret here is also quite simple. The crown of a tree is not a solid spot. It consists of numerous fragments of light and shadow spots, as the leaves, being in the light, cast shadows on each other.

In order not to draw each leaf separately - it would be too difficult, you need to follow the traditional sequence of actions.

First work with a light tone. They can be played so that the shades on the sunny side differ from the shadow side. Then workdarker colors. And only after that you can work with shaded fragments. If you work with opaque paints, at the end of the work you can return to light colors and apply highlights.

Don't forget that the foliage partially overlaps the branches and fruits, but their fragments will give your drawing not only aesthetics, but also a special glamor of craftsmanship. That is why it is important to work out the graphic drawing of each tree before starting to work with color.

When drawing a winter garden, a good solution would be to make a graphic drawing with white chalk on tinted blue or blue paper. If you draw an autumn garden with leaf fall, do not forget that at this time of the year, separate leaves open up to our eyes in a thinned crown - some of them can be drawn. In the spring, especially during the flowering period, the contrast between light and shadow is sharply felt, emphasizing it will give your drawing sunshine. Don't forget the color of the sky too - it's special in every season.