If you can draw trees, you can draw anything.
Trees are a great subject to practice drawing. They’re familiar, yet complex. They all share similar characteristics, yet display a wide range of diversity. When you hear the words “trees” and “art”, I’d bet that most people immediately think of Bob Ross and his “happy trees.” While Bob Ross’ approach to rendering trees in paint is a good place to start, I personally believe that spending more time on the practice of drawing trees would be better for every artist.
More Than Meets The Eye
Think about the incredible complexity of trees and how much of it we’re able to perceive without much difficulty. Even from a short distance, individual leaves are visible to the naked eye. We can see various sizes, shapes, and tilt of the leaves in addition to seeing all of the little branches from which they grow. Those branches can be traced back to larger branches and larger branches until you reach the trunk. The trunk often has a textured surface. (One that many people mistakenly believe is “brown” but if you really look at the color of tree trunks you’ll see that they’re mostly gray.) We can see differences in bark patterns and texture from the same distance that we can see so many leaves. The trunk continues to the ground until we reach the root structure. Another part of the tree that is fascinatingly intricate. If a person really really wanted to, they could draw all of these details from observation. But who would ever take the time?
The reason no one would bother drawing a tree in its literal state is because there are efficient ways of creating the gesture of a tree. With practice, an artist can draw the general impression of the tree that will allow the viewer to feel like they’re looking at a subject that has more detail than it actually does. The best way to think about this is to work from simple, to complex.
Simple to Complex
Working from simple to complex is a common strategy for any kind of art instruction. Think about the how-to-draw process that is demonstrated in many art books. Let’s use a cat for an example. You would start with simple shapes like a circle for the head and an oblong oval for the body. Maybe you add a couple triangles for ears and a little tube for the tail. Arms and legs are usually simplified into parts that connect at the joints, often represented by circles. From there you continue to add details, such as fur texture, highlights, shadows, whiskers, eye details, etc. The point is, simple to complex is the key.
So how does this translate to trees? Well, you’ve probably already learned one way to draw a tree; start with two vertical lines for the trunk and add a bumpy round shape to the top and you’ll have a tree that any toddler could recognize. I think we can take this a little bit further. Still start with a simple shape but think about the three dimensionality of the tree. Like a sphere, a tree top is mostly round and often has a direct light source, the sun, creating a gradient of light and shadow across the form. Many beginners start by thinking of the tree as a somewhat flat object. They draw the silhouette and try to fill-in the leaves and branches. But by starting with a dimensional form, you’re already on your way to a more convincing tree drawing.
Practice Makes Perfect
Once you have the general shape of the tree, start experimenting with mark-making to find a good strategy for representing the leaves. It’s impractical to draw every leaf, but look closely and think about the direction the leaves are growing, the kind of clumps and patterns that they create. This will lead to individual tree patterns that avoid the staleness of a one-size-fits all “leaf pattern mode.” It may be helpful to squint at the tree to focus on the simpler shapes.
From there, it’s a matter of practice. You might not draw a perfect tree the first time but it’s a process. And of course, you’ll get different results based on the media you use. I’m imagining these instructions for the use of charcoal, but you could use graphite to do the same thing. Personally, I would recommend using a thin layer of vine charcoal across the whole page. You can darken shadows with a condensed charcoal and create highlights with an eraser. “Drawing” with an eraser can be a great way to find new ways to portray leaves.
This isn’t meant to be comprehensive but it’s a place to start. Besides working from simple to complex, I would recommend rethinking the way you see trees. They’ve been shown to us in over-simplified ways for so long that it can be hard to see them for what they truly are.