Drawing a corner of nature in pencil. How to Draw Nature Using Pencils and Watercolors

MASTER CLASS “Watercolor landscape”

Painting lesson in plein air classes for teachers and students of 3-4 grades of the Children's Art School on the topic: Sketches by the water.

Stages of work.

1. The landscape motif is not very complex, so we perform the drawing directly with a brush, in a cold or warm color.

Catch a lesson on drawing nature :)

You've probably noticed that (depending on the lighting) clouds don't always look the same. If the light falls on the clouds from behind the viewer, then the clouds look more voluminous, illuminated, like pieces of cotton wool.

If light shines through the clouds at the viewer, the edges appear brighter and whiter, and the middle appears darker. Let's try to paint clouds with watercolors in this lighting.

We will not wet the entire sheet of paper at once. Using a wide brush, apply strokes of blue paint. It will be heaven. Where there remains a clean, dry sheet, there will be edges of clouds.

Paint the middle with a darker color. Mix on the palette blue paint with black. And again, we paint over the inside of the clouds, not reaching the edge, so that the bright edges illuminated by the sun from the inside remain.

Use broad strokes to paint the sea horizontally. You should leave a light stripe on the horizon line. This can be done by leaving a small strip unpainted, and then carefully blurring the edges with water. Or (while the watercolor on the clouds is still wet) wipe the strip with a napkin or a clean semi-dry brush, removing excess color.

Highlights on the water are applied with white gouache after the watercolor has dried or drawn in advance with white chalk or a candle.

Let's draw the sky with pastels. And not just the sky—clouds! For dry art pastels it is better to use special paper, sold in any art store.

For the upper part of the sky, take the lightest chalk and add touches of pink.

Rub the crayons to create a smooth transition of colors. A little lower we’ll lighten the sky with the lightest, almost white yellow and again we will grind the crayons.

Let's sketch out the approximate location of the cumulus clouds with light lines and begin to draw the sky under the upper clouds.

Rub it with your finger and add a little light yellow chalk to indicate the light rays.

Using the lightest pink, we will begin to apply strokes to the top layer of the feather clouds.

You shouldn’t rub it too hard, just a little bit to show the light from under them; the main strokes with light pink chalk should remain.

The background has already been almost drawn, so we begin to draw cumulus clouds.

The color varies a little due to different lighting. Let's add volume to the upper part of the cloud and a little yellow color in the light part. We continue drawing the next part of the clouds.

Let's add a little to the light left edge white. In the foreground we will paint a heavy rain cloud mass in blue, distributing the volume with lighter and darker colors. IN Blue colour you can add a little pink.

It is not at all necessary to draw a bird, but if you want, then let it fly in the bottomless expanse of the sky above the huge clouds.

STEP 1 - shading

I use a free hold hand position when creating cross hatching. I find just the weight of a pencil on paper will create pencil strokes, light and consistent.

I'm shading 3 layers of graphite onto my paper using F lead. The first layer is located horizontally on the surface, with the next two layers diagonal.

STEP 2 - mixing

Using chamois wrapped around index finger, I mix graphite smooth. Chamois with the company, and even pressure. It may take several passes with chamois to create a smooth, even tone. Be sure to blend along the edges of the drawing area, as well as the building slabs, trees, and horizon areas. It's much easier to erase than to add the missing sections later.

Do not touch the surface of the paper with your fingers. It is at this point in the mixing process that smudges or fingerprints will magically appear. If they appear, they are very difficult to fix (unless they ended up in a cloud formation) and many times I will just have to start all over again!

I'll add 2 more layers of shading with 2H lead and mix with chamois again. This creates a nice smooth finish. I trimmed the edges of the drawing using a t-square ruler and a plastic eraser.

STEP 3 - LIFTING FROM THE CLOUD

I use a Mars plastic eraser with a chisel edge and erase my clouds in the sky. For light clouds I use Blu-tock and just drag it across the entire surface.

STEP 4 - DETAILS

Use a 2H pencil to draw a layer in the dark areas next to the snow-white cloud tops. Tortillion is used to fit into the work and into the details. By mixing, lifting, removing and applying more graphite, clouds appear on the paper.

I soften the clouds using Blu-tack. To make more dramatic clouds darken the sky background. This allows the white cotton clouds to be more fully formed. Keep in mind that if the focus of the drawing is clouds, they should not compete with the rest of the landscape. They should be subtle and gently lead the viewer's eye across the scene. I usually use wisps of light and hints of clouds in most of my landscapes.

I usually spend 5-8 hours just painting the sky and cloud areas. PATIENCE plays key role in creating a smooth sky.

After you basic technique creating soft tones and an overall cloud formation, the sky is the limit for all the possibilities and changes you can create. Every minute... every hour... every day... every season... the sky changes its mood and design, giving us an unlimited resource of inspiration for our landscapes.

How to draw a sunset with a pencil step by step

Step one. In any landscape, you first need to draw a horizon line. Having done this, we will add a small setting sun and the silhouette of a ship on the water.
Step two. Let's outline each of the drawn elements, add a display of the ship on the water.
Step three. Let's heavily shade the sails, and also draw growing grass in the background using an arbitrary wavy line.
Step four. Let's add more small waves to the water and display tall grass. Remove the extra lines with an eraser.

We return to the new document that we created and begin to prepare blanks for future leaves. To prepare this tutorial, I created 4 different brushes:

1) the densest foliage
2) Fewer leaves
3) 3 leaves
4) single sheet

Our first and main brush will be used to create the main mass of the future tree. The second and third are more for adjusting the shape and creating additional details. The fourth is for adding individual leaves to the crown so that it does not look monotonous.

There are many descriptions on the Internet of how brushes are created. The main points are that the document size is up to 1024*1024 pixels, you need to draw on a white background in black. Black color in the brush will be the most opaque, white, on the contrary, will be transparent. All shades of gray will have different transparency depending on their proximity to black or white.

So, let's draw the leaves. It all depends on your imagination and preferences. I ended up with something abstract, a hybrid of birch and maple with a dash of poplar.

After all the brushes are drawn, you need to add them to the brush set. Go to the "Edit" menu and click "Define Brush Preset" there. In the dialog box that appears, select the name of the brush and voila, you're done. Our brush appeared in the set, the dialog box of which is called up by pressing the F5 key

We add all the drawn brushes one by one and proceed directly to creating a unique landscape.

First you need to outline and draw a tree trunk with branches on separate layer. I made the background dirty gray, the tree gray-brown. But at this stage it is not important yet.

Next, create a layer below the tree and set up brushes.
In the Brushes window we are interested in three main groups:
1) Shape Dynamics - shape dynamics
2) Scattering - Scattering
3) Color Dynamics - color dynamics

Now in order:
1) Shape dynamics are responsible for changes in brush size as you paint. It is better to leave the main Size Jitter parameter at zero. Set the control to Pen Pressure. As a result, pressing hard will leave the most large leaves, weak - less. Secondly, leave Angle Jitter at zero. Control - Direction. When drawing, the direction of the stroke will be taken into account and the brush will rotate according to the direction. This helps to somewhat avoid identical areas in the image. The rest of this tab can be left untouched.

2) Scattering speaks for itself - how far the image will appear from the center of the brush. The Scatter parameter is measured as a percentage. The more, the farther from the center the brush draws. Here you need to try to exhibit it yourself different meanings and understand what is more convenient for you and what is more suitable for the drawing. In my case it was approximately 200%. It is also better to set the control to Pen Pressure. In combination with the Shape Dynamics parameters, when pressed hard, larger leaves will appear at a greater distance from each other.

3) Color dynamics is responsible for varying the color range of the brush depending on the selected color in the palette. Required parameters:
- Hue Jitter - how much the brush hue will deviate on the color scale. The higher the percentage, the more the color will move away from the chosen one. In our case, 4-5% will be enough so that the color of the leaves does not vary greatly and shades that are completely unnecessary for us do not appear.
- Saturation Jitter - saturation variations. I didn't touch it, but you can try experimenting.
- Brightness Jitter - how much the brush brightness can deviate towards white and black colors. In my case 10-12%.

Now that the basic parameters are sorted out, you can practice a little to understand how the brushes behave, and then start drawing foliage. Choose the main color and go ahead.

1) With a few strokes of the first brush I outlined the crown behind the trunk.

2) Using a brush number 2 I marked the lower branches.

3) Create a new layer above the trunk. Using brushes 1-3 I paint the crown in the foreground.

4) At this point I changed the shade of the brush to a lighter tone. The crown has become thicker, both in the foreground and in the background.

5) Let's add some volume to our tree if you haven't done so before.

6) Let's add a little saturation to the background.

7) Let's add yellowish leaves for mood.

8) Let's paint the grass in the foreground and adjust the background a little (with a brush, again, it's more convenient to do it yourself, which is what I did).

9) And on last stage I made a gradient fill on the sky, adjusted the color and brightness of some layers, painted on a couple of clouds and with a hard square brush, with the Scattering parameter turned on, added strokes on top of the crown so that the work did not look boring and monotonous.

So, our work is ready. In half an hour, a rather sweet and pleasing landscape was born. Of those 30 minutes, yours truly spent two-thirds of the time preparing the illustrations for this lesson.
This is certainly not a masterpiece, but I had another goal - to show how effective working with brushes can be if you approach the task at hand wisely. The matter does not have to be limited to four brushes; there does not have to be foliage of trees or grass. These can be any arrays - bubbles, waves on the water, flocks of insects in the air, clouds and much more.
But you should also not forget that this method is not a panacea and only serves certain purposes in your work. The main thing is to skillfully use it when it is really needed. Don't forget to experiment, read tutorials, learn from your colleagues and develop your own unique style.

How to draw the sea with a pencil step by step

Step one. Let's sketch out the horizon line, and these figures will indicate the location of the seagull birds.
Step two. Now we draw the outlines of the birds themselves.

Step three. Let's draw each bird in detail.

Step four. Let's add shading to create the appearance of waves. You might even hear the sound of the surf.

Don't forget to color!

How to draw nature with a pencil step by step

Step one. We immediately highlight with lines a small pond with banks, and on the banks we will draw several trees with the same lines. A few circles in the water will serve to transform them into ducks.
Step two. Below we draw tall grass, the circles slowly turn into birds. We carefully outline the edges of the banks with a thick line.
Step three. In this step, turn your attention to the background behind the horizon line. Let's draw some clouds there.
Step four. Now draw small waves and shadows on the water, make the grass thicker, and shade the background.
Step five. Sketch the rest of the clouds in the sky and the missing places on the trees and ground, and then carefully finish the drawing by shading the ducks.

How to draw a forest with a pencil step by step

Step one. Let's start with a simple thing: draw a horizon line, and draw a path with two vertical lines.
Step two. On the sides of the invented path we draw tree trunks, large and small.
Step three. Let's draw the trunks higher and draw their bottoms with a pencil. We’ll also add some grass at the base of the trunks.
Sha is the fourth. Finally, let’s draw the tops with branches and add shadows.
Step five.
Step six.

How to draw a lake with a pencil step by step

Step one. Using a pencil, draw a few lines and highlight the shape for the lake in the center.
Step two. Let's draw the land around the lake with all the vegetation and a small display in the water.
Step three. Let's make the vegetation more extensive and detailed, correct the contours of the mountains in the background.
Step four. Let's completely shade the entire area, sketch the surface of the water so that the color tone is different.

How to draw a river with a pencil step by step

Step one. We take a pencil in our hands and draw a forest landscape. Let's start by drawing wavy lines, which will then create a beautiful river. Another, horizontal line- this is the horizon line.
Step two. Since our river is lucky to live in a forest, there should be a lot of trees around it. We draw them, a lot of trunks of all sizes.
Step three. The trunks are there, but the leaves are not visible. We correct it - we draw clouds on the trunks, later they will make the necessary green cap. Our river also has two small waterfalls, don’t forget them either.
Step four. We draw various shadows with large hatching. This is a forest, and there will be a lot of them here. Using the same shading, we draw lines on the hand, thereby indicating the direction of the flow.
Step five. As is customary in our last step, we remove all the clouds of greenery that did not fit, all the fallen leaves, in general, we remove everything unnecessary and adjust the drawing to your taste.

How to draw a waterfall with a pencil step by step

Step one.

Let us outline in our drawing all the necessary levels of relief: the height of the mountain and the lowland. At the top we will show tree trunks. Let us indicate the position of large stones in the water. And let's draw a couple of lines indicating the direction of flow.

Step two.

The waterfall hides the protruding rocks from view. But between the water space we see large boulders. Let's add a couple more stones below. Let's draw two thresholds for our waterfall.

Step three.

In this step, our picture can already be seen more clearly. Branches appeared on the tree trunks. The mountain, boulders and stones took shape. In the powerful flow of the waterfall we will draw several straight lines directed downward. And where the water fell there was foam.

Step four

Now you need to carefully examine the image of the waterfall and determine the location of the shadows. With the help of short, hatching lines we will finish our drawing. Here there will be volume around the protruding parts of the mountain, light and shade around the stones, and lines showing the movement of water. And between the trees in the background there is a forest visible. So our landscape is ready.

How to draw waves with a pencil step by step

Step one. First, we draw such a zigzag-like shape with a pencil, and inside it - a pentagon for the surfer’s body.
Step two. Using neat, large shading we give our waves the shape and direction of movement. You don't need any special precision, just draw the necessary lines.
Step three. In the center of the wave we draw a surfer on the board. Near it we make the wave more detailed and dark.
Step four. More shadows for the wave, especially around the person. On the left side we draw the steam that appears as a result of the movement of the wave.
Step five. Using an eraser, we erase the lines that served as a sketch for the athlete, remove unnecessary lines, and make the wave more realistic and dynamic.

How to draw a field with a pencil step by step

Step one. Let's mark the horizon line. Let's draw clouds. Step two. Let's correct the clouds once again. Step three. We draw several distant objects on the horizon. Step four. Let's add some grass to the foreground. Closer to us it is larger, and the one further away naturally looks small. Can be painted.

How to draw mountains with a pencil step by step

Step one. We will sketch out the contours of the hills with curved lines, and with one long horizontal line we will divide the sheet in half, creating a horizon.
Step two. We detail all the ascents and descents, large rock transitions and connections of each mountain.
Step three. Let's draw the clouds, making the lines of the tops more noticeable and thicker. Let's add shadows using shading.
Step four. Now let's get down to shading. Let's extinguish every descent, shade areas hidden from the sun, correct the clouds.
This is roughly how it should work. How do you like this landscape? Write your comments what you think about this drawing and show your work.

There is an opportunity to visit the art studio or art school. Therefore, having acquired the appropriate manuals and finding thematic material on the Internet, young artists They try to master the basics of professional drawing themselves.

General explanations

In this article we will figure out how to draw a landscape, how to correctly convey perspective, and get acquainted with other theoretical concepts and their practical implementation on paper or canvas. So, the first recommendation that applies to everyone before starting to work with paints or other colored tools is to use simple pencils and an eraser to make a sketch, which will then be brought to perfection. For a sketch, a regular one is best suited. album sheet or whatman paper.

Theoretical basis

Step by step drawing

Now let’s figure out how to draw a landscape step by step.

• The album sheet should be placed vertically. This will make drawing much more convenient.
• When distributing the depicted objects and details, take into account the principle of harmony, so that the picture does not shift to the left or right, so that one or another of its edges does not become “heavier”.
• We will talk about the landscape. The work begins with drawing the ground and the main details of the relief.
• Next we move on to the foreground trees, and then to the distant ones. You should always remember about the correct spatial distribution of objects.
• Now it's your turn small parts: islands of snow, grass in thawed areas, puddles, foliage, etc.
• The next stage is shading. It is applied not to the entire drawing, but to its individual parts. Then the sketch will not lose its original lightness and airiness. Hatching is being done soft pencil. There is no need to “blacken” puddles and clouds too much; do not forget about the play of light and shadows. And it’s better to shade the tree crowns in a “mass” too, without drawing each leaf separately, otherwise the drawing will lose its naturalness.

To brushes and paints

When the sketch is finished, take a close look to see if everything turned out exactly the way you want? Correct the mistakes. Maybe there is a need to draw one more sketch, and then move on to brushes and paints. It should be noted that a landscape, especially a spring one, is best done in dry pastel. This way it will be easier for you to convey the radiance and airiness of the spring air, the tenderness of colors, and the very atmosphere of the beginning of this wonderful time of year.

This is quite a difficult lesson, so it may take you quite a lot of effort to repeat it. If you didn’t succeed in drawing nature the first time, don’t despair and try again. Try your best to complete this lesson. If it still doesn’t work out, you can try to complete the lesson “”. But I believe that you will succeed.

What you will need

In order to draw nature we may need:

• You need Photoshop program.
• A little patience.
• Good mood.

Step by step lesson

True nature in all its beauty can only be revealed if you draw it from life. You will be able to draw much better if you look directly at nature. If this is not possible, then ordinary photographs, which are simply in abundance in search engines, can help out.

By the way, in addition to this lesson, I advise you to pay attention to the lesson “”. It will help improve your skill or just give you a little fun.

Tip: Perform different actions on different layers. The more layers you make, the easier it will be for you to manage the drawing. So the sketch can be made on the bottom layer, and the white version on the top, and when the sketch is not needed, you can simply turn off the visibility of this layer.

As you complete this tutorial, please note that due to differences in software versions, some menu items and tools may have different names or be missing altogether. This may make the tutorial a little difficult, but I think you can do it.

I’ll start the lesson with what won’t be in it, so as not to disappoint anyone. It will not contain information about color, aesthetics, composition. The illustrations are in no way intended to be photorealistic. I just wanted to show how you can use Photoshop to create a painting that looks like a real painting oil paints. And also - describe how I draw and give some tips on creating digital images. Okay, enough chatting, it's time to get to work.

For our example, I set the size to half the normal size and the RGB color model. I usually use CMYK because I expect my work to be printed. Work at higher resolutions, even when using the Internet. In another case, say with a resolution of 72 dpi, the pixels will look coarser, areas of the image will be “compressed” and it will look like a smaller copy, and not like the original, painted with natural colors. In addition, some details will disappear - be prepared for this too.

After creating the document, I paint the background with a neutral color. I try not to paint on a white background - this disrupts the perception of colors and the relationships between them. If the image is dark, I use a dark, warm or cool color for the background that will be a good base for the other colors.

With this resolution it is better to use hard brushes of sizes 5, 9, 35, 45 and sometimes an airbrush size 100. I set the spacing to 1 to avoid the appearance of “swirls”.

In this sketch I only sketched out the outlines. For more complex images, of course, a more detailed sketch is needed. I used a small soft airbrush. The color of the brush is gray so that it stands out from the background, but not black.

Add a new layer above the background. We draw on it. This allows you to avoid spoiling the background, which can be useful. Especially if you've been working on it for a long time.

In our example, I used muted, medium colors for the rocks and foliage. But in nature everything is not so correct and uniform, so it’s worth experimenting with different colors to show the difference in lighting.

I chose an airbrush (hard brush, size 100 pixels, in the settings - Multiply). Color - the same as the background - sample (determine with the Eyedropper tool).

I want to show the shaded areas in the drawing and at the same time create more dark version, which I can later use for sampling.

Typically, when painting, I switch between the airbrush and the eyedropper by pressing the Alt/Option button.

Having created several shaded areas, set the Screen parameter in the Layers panel.

So, the yellow-brown turned out a little warmer than I wanted. Set the airbrush to Normal and make a few strokes with a more muted, lighter color.

Switch back to “screen”, sample with a pipette yellow from some section of the rock and begin to draw the shapes of the leaves of the bush with a brush of 5-9 pixels.

When working on the bush, I switched between normal and screen mode when I needed to draw in the dark and light edges of the leaves.

Draw the details (airbrush in normal mode). At this stage I simply sample the dark and light tones with an eyedropper and paint with a 5px brush.

Now we designate the long “arrows” of the grass. We start from the bottom, with quick, curved upward movements of the pencil. Use the colors you like, but don't forget to add shades to add variety.

Now let's move on to the rock on the left side of the picture. Do some rough strokes with a 35 brush to show the texture.

You can appreciate the changes - just look at the rock on the right side of the picture. Shadowed areas are brightened and smoothed with brush strokes of the sampled color.

I usually do a few strokes, sample, paint, sample again until I achieve the desired effect.

Let's increase the scale, make the image clearer and use rough strokes to create the illusion of irregularities on the surface of the rock. I usually work with the brush in a sweeping manner, using light touches to try to blend the colors, but I also make brighter, more noticeable strokes. This is one way to make an image look different from digital.

Now we sample the color of the shaded area and “smear” the brush back and forth to draw the texture.

The same with the leaves - we sample and work with the brush until the shape begins to appear.

Here I have added a few details to depict the crack and irregularities with right side rocks. To do this, use a brush set to Highlight to paint the shaded area - using back-and-forth movements, we will create the illusion of a play of shadows on an uneven surface.

We use a similar technique for the rock. It is worth changing the color and texture to make the image more interesting and different.

Let's zoom out a little and see if the rock fits into its surroundings. If not, we edit further.

But I had already decided to switch to grass. There are already dark areas outlined here, but there is nothing reminiscent of a rock.

Let's sample the shadow color and darken some areas of the image so that the rocks do not stand out from the overall picture.

From bottom to top, using sharp strokes of a very small brush, I create a base for the grass.

We do as the artists on television advise - we emphasize the light with shadow and vice versa.

Now we make upward strokes over these areas to create depth.

I usually do a few rough strokes back and forth to quickly fill in the image. This creates a base on top of which I work on the details.

Now let's add long blades of grass. Then we sample several colors from the surface of the rock and make a few strokes to diversify the image and achieve unity of style.

Here is the final version. Between the rocks I painted grass. In the background I used quick upward strokes. It is worth using the Ctrl/Command + Z combination to quickly remove blades of grass that do not fit into the overall picture.

Finally, I drew a small friendly lizard behind the bushes. I didn’t tell you in this lesson how I drew it - maybe I’ll do it in one of the next ones. I can only say that its color is the inverted color of one of the rocks, so it fits into the overall color scheme.

The whole job took two hours, including the lizard. Experiment, try it different methods. Try creating a realistic planet in Photoshop from scratch. And observe the world around you - this is the artist’s source of inspiration.

“Art is like nature. If you don't let him in the door,

it will come through the window.”

Butler S.

Poets and writers express their gratitude to nature through words, composers through a combination of sounds, and artists through depicting landscapes and drawing nature. Everyone has their own unique and accessible instrument, their own individuality. One thing, perhaps, is the object of admiration (nature itself) and the unique range of feelings that this or that work of art evokes in a person.

Nature! This is what always attracts, attracts the eye, makes you stop, admire, admire.

In painting scenery- it could be general form any area; paintings or drawings depicting nature, its various types and manifestations, individual natural phenomena.

When depicting any landscape, the artist certainly puts his soul into the process. He does not strive to completely copy the plot, but passes it through his own inner world, your vision, putting a piece of yourself into the process of drawing nature. That's why they say that picturesque landscape– this is not so much a painting, image or copying of nature, but rather the soul of the author of the work.

That is why the same image, made different people, will look and feel completely different.

This does not mean that there are no patterns and rules in drawing nature. They are. And it is by paying attention to these patterns that you can easily repeat almost any landscape plot that you like (of course, passing it through your inner world, your individuality) and get your own unique, holistic and “living” picture.

With your permission, we would like to offer you some important nature drawing lessons. We hope they will help you create and express yourself, creating unique landscapes and moods around you.

Where does nature drawing begin?

First of all, you need to understand what exactly you want to depict. Find and decide on the plot and composition of the future painting.

This can help you: your own imagination, a real picture of nature outside the window, perhaps someone’s already drawn plot or a beautiful photograph.

By the way, the idea of ​​drawing a landscape from a photograph is very good. In any case, you no longer have to worry about the weather changing and the colors changing. You can calmly interrupt the creative process and easily immerse yourself in it again, without trying to keep all the details of the landscape in your head. Just look at the photograph that inspired you and you're back in the process!

Skyline

As soon as this is clear, we outline and draw the horizon line on the sheet. Moreover, you spend it where you see fit (it all depends on your idea or the plot you have chosen). However, pay attention - it is better to draw the horizon line slightly above or slightly below the middle of the sheet, do not divide the sheet exactly in half. If the picture is divided into equal parts, there is a feeling of artificiality and unnaturalness of the image.

Then all other plans are drawn. At the same time, remember that the plan closest to the viewer should be drawn last. Accordingly, the background is drawn first, the plan above the horizon line. During the birth of your masterpiece, you will naturally be able to add details to any of the plans.

Why are landscapes so mesmerizing? They attract the eye and we seem to be immersed inside the picture.

What gives the viewer that very feeling of “liveness”, the naturalness of the image?

What creates the integrity of perception, where does the feeling of depth and balance come from when we contemplate a landscape?

In our nature drawing lessons, pay special attention to the following points, which will help add “liveness” and naturalness to your picture. We believe they will help you create your own unique story.

Plans and prospects

Long shot:

• cooler colors are used (usually with the addition of white and gray, gray-blue colors) - this perfectly allows you to create the illusion of depth of space in the picture;
• less bright, less saturated (including the shadows from objects are less saturated);
• details are more generalized, there is no clear depiction of objects (they are barely distinguishable, but recognizable);
• we see it as if in a haze of air, as if we were looking through a layer of air.

This is very clearly seen in the example of mountain (water-mountain) landscapes.

Medium shot:

• the image is less bright, less rich;
• less clear, without excessive detailing and drawing of details;
• significantly smaller sizes of objects;
• barely visible details.

Close-up:

• as a rule, it is painted in warmer colors;
• contrasting bright spots can be identified;
• strokes may be more expressive;
• objects, objects are drawn more clearly and clearly, larger;
• dark shadows are used.

The foreground or background differs in that, compared to the background of other plans, it takes on clearer shapes. And this can be achieved both through clear drawing of details and through light and shadow solutions.

If you draw, including some a natural phenomenon, for example, snowfall or fog, then intensifies aerial perspective. In this case, the middle and distant plans become even more uniform, more faded compared to the near (main) plan, even more blurred with barely perceptible contours.

Object size and location

This will be a certain object, the so-called center of attention and interest. Everything again depends on your idea!

As a rule, the main an object the landscape is highlighted with:

• colors - the object does not have to be brighter, but definitely more varied in color, more saturated;
• size - the object can occupy most of the picture (but not necessarily - must, everything is very individual);
• location - the object is located in the near (foreground), but not necessarily in the center of the picture;
• environment - the area around the main object, on the contrary, should be a little less noticeable, less bright, less eye-catching,

The point is to focus attention first on the object!

In order for the landscape to play and come to life, there are several points that you should pay special attention to and avoid these “sharp corners” in the image.

What to Avoid When Drawing Objects

In order for attention not to be scattered and the gaze (as presumably intended by the author of the landscape) to be focused on one object, so that a feeling of harmony (and not disharmony) arises, one should definitely avoid:

• identical lines (for example, two completely identical straight or curved trees, flowers, blades of grass, etc.),
• identical sizes and shapes (for example, two identical mountain peaks, two completely identical windows in a house, two or more identical animals, etc.).

If you conceived the central object as consisting of several objects (for example, a pair of animals or people) - enter different shapes, give movement to these objects. One, for example, may be larger, the other smaller. One can move, the other can stand or lie still. The main thing is that they are in different poses, different sizes and so on.

If you use a river or road as an object, pay attention to the fact that the lines are not straight, but rather more curved, as if “leading” the eye into the picture.

Remember that water and roads create a feeling of movement. Then, when the lines are less straight, the gaze seems to follow the line and linger on the image. If, on the contrary, the road is too straight, then the person’s gaze does not stop on it for a long time, but as if “runs through” and quickly slips away.

Regarding straight straight lines, it is generally very interesting and another story, with its own rules.

Please note that if you need to use “straight lines” as an object - for example, you are drawing some kind of bridge, pillar, ship mast, wall of a house or part of a roof - then you should not draw them too straight “on a ruler”. On the contrary, make them boldly crooked (this will give a more natural look), mask too straight lines (for example, a straight wall of a house can be masked with vegetation, a bench). The straight pillars of the bridge can be slightly bent.

It is better not to use squares, circles, triangles in a “pure” geometric form at all. This does not mean that you should always depict crooked windows and doors, and in some places you can simply interrupt the geometric shape. For example, you can put a flower in a pot on a rectangular window, which will already bring liveliness and harmony to the landscape.

Color

As for the choice of color, there are also several important advice, which (we really hope) will help you create a “living” and harmonious picture.

The main rule is to mix colors! Try to never use pure color as you have it. Allow for brightness!

Feel free to mix colors with each other! The main thing is that the color does not become dirty, with incomprehensible gray tint. And everything else is welcome and completely acceptable.

The choice of color should also give you a feeling of harmony. When you choose it, you pass it through your inner world, through your vision of the landscape. Therefore, do not try to accurately select the color scheme that your eye perceives (if you are transferring the plot, for example, from a photograph). The main thing is that you, first of all, like the color that you get when you mix paints.

Of course, Mother Nature herself teaches us a lot. Regarding shapes, colors, saturation natural paintings and objects. The most important thing is your powers of observation and desire to create and draw. The main thing is to take it and do something, even if not very skillfully, or maybe even for the first time. Just allow yourself to try, touch.

Be inspired, first, by some landscape. Pick up required colors, take a sheet of paper and determine the horizon line, mark the location of the main object...

The main thing is that you can express your inner individual world in your creativity, in the depiction of nature. Or perhaps you will create something special and magical! A picture! Which will delight and delight not only you, but also someone else!

Remember, you have the right to creative liberties!

We wish you joy and creative expression! Give yourself pleasure, just allow yourself to be an artist!

Oksana! Thank you!
It’s great that you found it very informative and useful - the most important thing is that the material can be useful! Good luck with your landscapes!

Julia, thank you very much for the article! The main ideas for depicting landscapes are expressed very concisely and clearly, and the illustrations are well chosen. Inspiring!