Drawing Trees: How To Draw A Tree Step By Step

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By waynet

Drawing Trees

Drawing trees are easy and a good practice to do for either a landscape drawing or just for the sake of drawing a tree, I for one take photos of trees because I like the many ways trees look different and individual to each other.

Here I will go through a very simple process to draw a tree and most certainly not to be stressed over as everyone draws things in their own way. Drawing a tree is about looking at it from different angles and seeing how it looks in different lights, I suppose I am a tree geek and that's why I often take photos of trees, so that I can later draw all of the interesting bark details at my own leisure.

So if you've ever wondered how to draw a tree, then look no further and see how I approach it below after a tree photo of course!

One thing to note, this is not how to draw a realistic tree or anything, as you'll see below, it's about taking what you see and making your tree drawings work for you in your own style, because an original tree drawing can be better than a copied version of an existing tree captured in all of it's realism.

Tree Reference Photo

Tree branch reference photo...give da tree a hug!
See all 6 photos
Tree branch reference photo...give da tree a hug!

Tree Starting Sketch

A simple starting sketch of your tree trunk.
A simple starting sketch of your tree trunk.

Tree Drawing: The Beginning Stages

In our first drawing step, we need to provide the base for our tree to stand, so we need to establish the trunk and roots, a picture of reference is very useful for the inexperienced artist and you can learn a lot from real life tree photos.

Draw two lines that are parralel to each other and let the curved lines slope off to the bottom like in the sketch below...

Branch Drawing For Your Tree

Here the branches have been added and they are not overly complex, so chill out!
Here the branches have been added and they are not overly complex, so chill out!

Drawing The Branches

The next step is to draw in some random branches and these I liken to lightning in the sky, just try to think of branches as highly detailed fork lightning, it is just up to you how thick you wish the branches to be, drawing the branches will quickly bring your tree drawing to life.

And so you are now ready to add some leaves to your tree or you could just leave it bare for an autumn tree by finishing off the branches by sketching them smaller and smaller to the tips, whichever you decide, try to give your tree a sense of form and spread them branches out.

Adding Leaf And Details On Your Tree Drawing

Notice that the leaves have been sketched in large shapes rather than one by one.
Notice that the leaves have been sketched in large shapes rather than one by one.

Drawing In Leaves

As you have drawn the branches in a way were they have no ends like in the above picture, you can the start to add leaves or clump shapes of leaves, draw rough outlines of the leaf shapes as a whole instead of individual leaves, as an artist it's not so much sometimes about the detail, it's about the overall drawing as a whole, so long as your drawing looks and resembles a tree, it will be interpreted by others as a tree.

Also I've added a few tree bark lines in, to mark out the wonderful linework of the trees skin, I will ink this later.

A Complete Tree Drawing

Inked with a fine black gel pen, see how some of the trees texture looks like it should, leaves and tree bark.
Inked with a fine black gel pen, see how some of the trees texture looks like it should, leaves and tree bark.

Finishing Off Your Tree Drawing

 In the last step you can add some shading to your tree to define the textures or add some colour to add more realistic textures and tone, particularly on the leaves and the bark of the tree.

All in all, tree drawing is rather a simple process and one of many living subjects that can be learnt to draw very easily as something that will stick in your head forever.

Drawing can be as simple and as difficult as you make it, so just keep sketching and learning on your artistic journey.

How To Draw A Tree

How to draw a tree, drawing tutorial of drawing a tree.
How to draw a tree, drawing tutorial of drawing a tree.

How To Draw Trees Books Price Comparison

HOW TO DRAW TREES BY GARNER DRAWING SHRUBS TREES & LANDSCAPES HOW TO DRAW TREES BY GARNER DRAWING SHRUBS TREES & LANDSCAPES
Current Bid: $2.49
How to Draw Trees How to Draw Trees
Current Bid: $4.00

How To Draw Trees Books That Teach You More In Depth

Drawing Trees (Dover Art Instruction)
Amazon Price: $1.99
List Price: $5.95
Drawing Trees
Amazon Price: $4.43
List Price: $8.95

Drawing Tutorials

Drawing A Tree, How Do You Do It?

fggfhjt 8 days ago

so beautifull

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 13 days ago

LOL...who said I was talking to kids?

random 13 days ago

You seem like a weirdo talking to young kids about drawing bush...you should be investigated. Cheers!

craftdrawer profile image

craftdrawer Level 3 Commenter 2 weeks ago

I use to draw trees when I was bored at work! I think I will get started at this again great Hub!!

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 weeks ago

Stupid is as stooped does!

non ya 3 weeks ago

this is so stooped

flashmakeit profile image

flashmakeit Level 5 Commenter 4 weeks ago

I just love the way you drew and designed that tree I thing I will try to make one like that for my next flash cartoon. Thanks for adding.

sinem 8 weeks ago

CL?CKSNADS I AGREE WITH YOU

Nae Nae 2 months ago

Who made this tree? I love it!!!

Make more,MORE!!!!

liz 2 months ago

U ROCK IT TOATALY HELPED!!!

(__________) 2 months ago

OMG!!! thanx so much...I mean tis really helped me......

chad 3 months ago

it is useful

hanna 3 months ago

beautiful its hard for me i hate all of u fu

asdfghjkl; 3 months ago

this tree looks so hard but is very

row s 5 months ago

this is wick :)

what is it again ;)

Jessica 5 months ago

It looks hard but it sooooooooooooooooooooooooo easy!!!!!!!!

aysha 5 months ago

its very useful

Alecia 5 months ago

I love it

6 months ago

Great tip now i can use it for art thank you!!!!

MARIA 7 months ago

IM 11 I FOUND IT EASY I DREW IT IN 5 MINUTES ONLY (OF COURCE FREESTYLING SOME BITS) THIS WAS GREAT HELP THANX ^_^ :*

mackenzie 7 months ago

this is a very tree

JessieLi 7 months ago

This is so cool (:

Johnjfernando profile image

Johnjfernando Level 2 Commenter 7 months ago

I have to get back into drawing soon!

me 7 months ago

im only 10 and i drew that (in my opinion) really well!!!!! :)

Clodagh 7 months ago

how do you draw a tree it is so hard

poopy 8 months ago

this is so helping me

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 8 months ago

Sure I'll draw some bush lol!

KaleX 8 months ago

Could you show how to draw bush

steve 8 months ago

this is great

Unknown 9 months ago

Hey, Good job. I would love to turn out to be a great artist like you. I made a really great tree. The tree is supposedly for my Birthday Board for my schoolmates. Since im one of the student councils. And i thought of an idea for september for an autumn tree. with gathered up some leaves. Great Job. I know everyone would love it. ;)

taiba 10 months ago

its good but difficult.......

njs39 profile image

njs39 11 months ago

This is great! This def helps me w/ my trees. To make them look more life like. Thanks.

lindsay sharp 11 months ago

this is so stupid.i dont get y ppl come here.

ANGEL (: 13 months ago

hello, i just popped on this site to check it out! :P ausome work (:

keep it up!.x.o

chris 14 months ago

cool

Cheesey cheese man 14 months ago

hello ther i like cheese

could you reate a hub about cheese and how to draw it.

I have about 16 mice at home so it's hard not to have pictures of cheese.

megan jensen 16 months ago

wow this is so good

waka waka wizz 16 months ago

Wow I am doing an art project and this helped m eout so much thank you so very very very muchhh!!!!!!

basketballlover 18 months ago

i could draw before, but trees were not my forte. now i can draw them with ease! thanks!

tt 19 months ago

i loved drawing this it was very simple and turned out amazing for my project

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 20 months ago

Cheers Debby!

Debby Bruck profile image

Debby Bruck Level 7 Commenter 21 months ago

This is the first I've hopped over to the drawing section on Hubpages. Looking forward to seeing more of your drawings. Nice feeling to the pencil. Lovely.

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 22 months ago

Drawing horses is quite fun.....I might just do a drawing article about that!

Cheers now!

hannah 22 months ago

i love drawing horses, but the problem is i live in nyc and never see any horses except for the ones that are on the streets but ive drawn so many of those!

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 22 months ago

Best thing to do is to take a photo of your dog and then draw it, it's so much easier!!

Cheers now!

Ellie 22 months ago

your really good at drawing, i draw my dog sometimes, but it is hard because she is a dalmatian and they go 100 mph all the time.

violet 23 months ago

thanks now i know how to draw trees better now (:

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 23 months ago

Cheers there Msann!, yes they are different ways to draw trees and when I was at school I drew trees in lots of different ways, from v shaped green leaves to hanging droopy branches....

msann1949 profile image

msann1949 23 months ago

Thanks for the notes. I have been drawing trees for sometime now. But I don't do them that way. I started out one night when I was working in dispatch where I work. I start with a line and the next thing I know I have a tree. Over the years I have got better. But, I do like to check out how other people draw them. The old saying practice makes perfect is true. I have a scanner, but haven't figured out how it works, I could send you a copy and see what you think. Again, thanks

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 24 months ago

Thanks Anamika I do have more drawing lessons planned in my unpublished hubs, it's just scanning the art into my computer to do it and my scanner has been playing up for awhile!

Anamika S profile image

Anamika S Level 5 Commenter 24 months ago

Awesome! I look forward for more lessons.

jbfan 2 years ago

cant draw a stupid tree how dumb an i i need it 4 a project

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Cheers! trees are good to draw!

prowork profile image

prowork 2 years ago

I love this and I like the way you use the picture.

MsCoupe84 profile image

MsCoupe84 2 years ago

you do make it look easy but as i artist i must say it hard for me to teach someone how to draw

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

I remember when I was at school there was certain ways you could start to draw trees in different ways, I'll have to do another hubpage on the subject, because that would help even more...thanks for giving me the idea and your comment cheers DF!

DebtFreedom profile image

DebtFreedom 2 years ago

trees are hard to draw; great hub for beginners and novices. trees are often neglected in practice

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Jolly Good show, trees are the best to draw!

redactic 2 years ago

Wow, now I can draw a tree that looks like a tree! I have no gift for the visual arts but I'm sure, with your hub, I will start drawing. Yes, just a tree first.

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Practice makes perfect!

shark 2 years ago

i think the tree is very hard to draw

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

It is quite easy to draw trees, but a lot of practice along the way helps alot!

hghgfd 2 years ago

you do make it look easy

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Your welcome! trees are great to draw!

Grace  2 years ago

this helped sooo much! thank you! im horrible at drawing and this really helped me a lot thank you!

Emily 2 years ago

wow this has helped me alot now i know how to draw trees! well done

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Yay draw some trees!!!

fiona 2 years ago

thanks!I can draw now.

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Thanks Kev!

I may add some stuff to this at a later date!

KevCC profile image

KevCC 2 years ago

Good tutorial Wayne.

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Thanks again Nancy!

Nancy's Niche profile image

Nancy's Niche 2 years ago

You are just amazing!

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Thanks Franciaonline for your comment!

Yeah I like that how to draw a car hubpage, it was super useful to learn to draw cars! I have something similar planned but with helicopters and tanks...that sort of thing!

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Cheers Quicksand!

I already have all 30 mapped out, it's just writing them up together with some of the keyword research I did last week.

franciaonline profile image

franciaonline Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago

Wow, now I can draw a tree that looks like a tree! I have no gift for the visual arts but I'm sure, with your hub, I will start drawing. Yes, just a tree first. Maybe a car next, because around here is a hub on how to draw a car. Thanks for sharing your talent!

quicksand profile image

quicksand Level 4 Commenter 2 years ago

Good luck to you in the hub challenge. I see you have used the Hub-Challenge icon. :)

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

I like happy trees...and I may just add a tree drawing video here too....something for the future of tree drawers...cheers oscillationatend!

oscillationatend profile image

oscillationatend 2 years ago

This needs a Happy Trees video. ;P

Thanks man..if I had any type of motor skillz, I'd totally do this. I'll ask my niece.

waynet profile image

waynet Hub Author 2 years ago

Heeeeyyy! a long time since you logged in here.

Yes I have been living here for a long time, tis true am now participating in the hubchallenge where we have to do 30 hubpages in 30 days and it started today!!

Gonna try it??!

ClicksnAds profile image

ClicksnAds 2 years ago

You make it look so easy.

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