Draw a tree branch in watercolor step by step. tree watercolor

Here is such a beautiful autumn tree we will draw easily and simply!

We will need:

• watercolor paints;
• brushes - wide medium narrow;
• Toothbrush;
• a sheet of paper for watercolor painting;
• water;
• Toothbrush.

Dip your brush in water and let it get wet. Then touch the paint with the tip and apply it to the sheet. Now with a wide brush, as it were, rub in circular motions. You will get such blurry balls that look like colored clouds.

When the first layer dries a little, take a thinner brush and apply brighter colors. If the paper is too dry, dip the brush in water and continue painting "clouds" with the bright colors of autumn. This technique is called "wet painting". It creates a nice colored corner with soft edges. I used yellow, orange and olive green. You can see how all of these colors blend into each other as they all have soft edges.

Apply green paint to the sheet and add either yellow to it - you will achieve the color of the olive, or red and yellow - you will get the green color of the outgoing summer.

Mix some brown and black to get a taupe color, start fading pale (as in the beginning) then add a brighter color. Now we take a thin brush, pick up light brown paint and simply draw branches between the "clouds".

And now the most interesting! We take a wet toothbrush and dip it in the paint. Start with yellow.

Now run your finger over the bristles and splatter anywhere in the painting. Repeat the same with orange and olive color.

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.

1. 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.

   

   
   
2. 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.

   

   
   
3. 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.

   

   
   
4. 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 outlined with a brush.

   

   
   
5. 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.

   

   
   
6. 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”).

   

   
   

Almost always in the drawing of any landscape, a tree appears as the main or additional object, and sometimes even more than one. Before you start drawing a whole grove or even a forest, you need to learn how to draw a single tree, as well as practice drawing different types of trees.

In this tutorial, I want to demonstrate how to paint trees of different types with paints using different techniques. It is very important that the paints are of good quality. Using poor-quality paints will make it difficult for you to control the work with paint, and in general the whole process will not bring much pleasure, and the result will most likely be extremely mediocre.

So, I will show how to paint a winter spruce with paints, a deciduous tree, as well as a technique for painting a tree with a sponge. Let's start.

How to draw a spruce with paints

Let's start with the trunk. It shows in which direction side branches grow. Important - if you are not painting with gouache, but with watercolors, then you will need to make a preliminary sketch with a pencil and start painting from light areas, then wait until the paint dries and move on to dark details. If you don't do this, all the paint will mix and you end up with a very messy, ugly drawing. By the way, here is a detailed description of the technique of painting flowers in watercolor.

After you have finished drawing the branches, we outline the main color of the coniferous foliage of the tree. In some places the paint will be a little lighter. We draw the darkest areas in green with the addition of blue - you should get the color of a sea wave.

To add snow to spruce branches, wait for the paint to dry completely. We draw snow with white paint with the addition of a blue or blue tint.

How to draw a deciduous tree with paints

Again, we start drawing from the trunk, from which the branches are directed as shown in the image below.

Here for the foliage we will use a warmer green - you can get this color if you add a little yellow to the regular green - this way you can adjust and change the shade. The more shades of green in your drawing, the more interesting the final result will look. Shaded areas are drawn in dark green and turquoise.

Separate, strongly lit petals can be indicated in yellow. Don't forget to paint the trunk with dark and light shades of brown. Also draw earth, grass and flowers at the base of the tree.

How to draw a tree with paint and sponge

This method is especially popular with children and novice artists. It will require paper, paint and a small piece of sponge or foam rubber.

We start drawing from the trunk. With light movements, using a thin brush, draw branches.

After that, you need to dip the sponge a little in green paint and carefully leave prints on paper in the place where the crown of the tree should be located. You can practice on a draft. Adjust the amount of paint and the degree of pressure to get the best effect.

You know, when I compiled this lesson, I reproached myself for not having thought of taking this topic earlier. I enjoyed the work, and I really liked how ordinary dots and shapes turn into amazing trees.

I had to take up painting trees only for the reason that I am often asked to publish a lesson on creating landscapes. But before starting work, it seemed to me a good idea to disassemble its main components. The most important of them (in my opinion) are trees. This lesson will teach you not only to display trees in watercolor, but also show you four options for making different forms of crowns. This is the first part of two. Next time you will learn four more forms.

To paint trees in watercolor you will need:

1. Sakura Koi Watercolor Travel Set

In this tutorial, I use Sakura Koi brand watercolors. I highly recommend them to all aspiring artists. The 12-color set costs just $15 on Amazon and is easy to travel with.

• Yellow Green
• Viridian saturated (Viridian Hue)
• Lemon Yellow
• Ocher yellow (Yellow Ocher)

Before starting the step-by-step demonstration of the process, I would like to talk about the four forms of tree crowns that we will work with today. Moving clockwise from the upper left corner, the figure shows columnar, spreading, open and round crowns. Trees are classified according to the shape of their foliage. I drew black outlines to make it easier for you to sketch with a pencil.

1. Columnar tree

According to the name, such a crown resembles a column. Cherry and red maple are of this type. I did without a pencil sketch, but you can draw it if you are not sure that you can immediately paint with paint. I used Lemon Yellow as a base, applying a few drop-like strokes, starting from the top. As you go down, add some Viridian Hue. Since this is the base coat, I diluted the pigments liberally with water.

At this point, I combined Viridian Hue with Yellow Green and let them mix. The best thing about watercolor is that it will do all the work itself if you let it. See how wonderful the color of the mixture came out.

While the paint was still wet, I added a grain of Lemon Yellow. Then, I continued to paint with color spots, drawing the shadow of the foliage, until I got the outline of the crown.

Finally, I prepared a wash of Yellow Ocher and Viridian Hue to show the shaded areas at the very bottom of the foliage near the trunk. You can also add depth to the drawing by touching the crown with this shade in several places. Finally, draw the trunk and the ground.

2. Spreading crown

Have you ever seen a beautiful banyan tree? It is so huge, and its branches are so wide that several people can hide under its shadow. This is the clearest example of a spreading crown. As a base tone, I took Lemon Yellow. Next, on both sides of the foliage along the contours, I entered Yellow Green (Yellow Green).

After that, I darkened some areas with Viridian Hue, leaving the central part of the crown yellowish. I decided that the light would fall on this area. Continue applying dark strokes.

At the final stage, mix Yellow Ocher and Viridian Hue. With the resulting darker shade, put a few dots on the foliage, showing depth. The banyan tree has aerial roots hanging down from the branches. I drew them along with the trunk.

3. Round crown

This is the most fun and simple form of all presented here. And that doesn't require an explanation, does it? It is clear that this form is the easiest to transfer. The black maple and frame tree have just such a silhouette of foliage. As in previous cases, start by applying light shades.

Gradually move to darker tones. The main thing is that the form does not look rigid and motionless. Even if the crown is round, a couple of branches can always stick out of it.

Draw the trunk and, if necessary, change the shape of the leaves. To get a spherical outline, make sure the underside of the canopy is a darker shade that gradually lightens towards the top of the tree.

4. Open crown

In my opinion, this tree is the most beautiful. Presumably, this is due to its asymmetrical silhouette. Scatter several "islands" of foliage at random, drawing the largest one at the top of the tree. You can refer to my picture at the beginning of the article.

Apply dark tones to the bottom of the foliage.

At the very top, highlight the illuminated areas with strokes of Lemon Yellow.

Then, paint in the shadows to make the tree look believable. Draw a trunk and several branches connecting all the "islands" of foliage. That's all!

What do you think?

Which crown shape do you like best? What is your favorite tree? Mine is the banyan tree because it is associated with my childhood memories. What other components of the landscape should I devote a lesson to? Leave your answers in the comments. And don't forget to use the hashtag #makeinkstruck on your Instagram if you've been drawing with me.

So, these were four ways to draw different shapes of tree crowns. I hope that the photos turned out to be exhaustive and clear enough. I wish you a great day!

Landscape is perhaps the most common subject for watercolor painting. And the most important object in landscapes are trees. Therefore, if you decide to paint a landscape, then first we advise you to familiarize yourself with the technique of drawing a tree, which will help you correctly display this object on paper. And our today's master class will help you, in which we will show in detail how to draw a tree in watercolor.

Wood drawing materials:

• watercolor paper;
• a simple pencil (HB) with an eraser;
• watercolor paints;
• synthetic brushes No. 7 and 3 (round);
• a palette or a piece of thick paper for mixing shades;
• container with clean water.

Drawing stages

Step 1. The first thing to do is to outline the horizon line. We draw a horizontal line at the bottom of the sheet. Draw a tree trunk in the center. Draw three branches on the trunk.

Next, we supplement the top with a rounded crown, consisting of 5-6 parts. As a result, we got this sketch.

We erase all the saturated pencil lines with the tip of the eraser so that in the future the watercolor can cover them.

Step 2 Wet all parts of the crown with clean water. We highlight the tops of these parts with a translucent yellow color, and their lower region with chromium oxide.

We prescribe the outline of the crown in emerald green with plenty of water.

Step 3. The base tones are applied. Now the affairs of the drawing are more saturated and traced. The darkened right side of the tree is filled with an emerald shade. On top of the base tone created by chromium oxide, we draw the foliage with a green and yellow-green tint.

Step 4. Sepia outline the shadow and bumps on the tree trunk. Draw small branches.

Step 5. We return to the creation of the crown. First, we create foliage on the lower branch, and then with a dense yellow-green tint we designate the lower shadow areas of the crown. Then we finalize this step with a dark green tint.

We leave the drawing to dry for about 5-10 minutes so that you can draw clearer and darker details.

Step 6. We knead a shade on the palette to create dark areas of the crown. We put green on the palette, and then add about this amount of sepia to it. With the resulting shade, we highlight the darkest parts of the crown. After we dilute this tone with water and prescribe foliage to them. We also work on the shadows on the trunk and branches of the tree, but with the help of a different color - black.

Step 7. Fill the grass under the tree with yellow-green. Create a dark green shadow around the trunk. Sepia refine the shadows in the grass.