How to draw nature with a pencil step by step for beginners. How to draw a beautiful summer landscape of nature with a pencil and paints in stages for beginners? How to draw a light summer landscape with a pencil for beginners? Crafts from garbage

(Translation of Robie Benve’s article “How To Paint Better Landscapes: 7 Tips”)

I have painted many landscapes in my life. Some of them are drawn from the photo, but as soon as I had the opportunity to get out into the open air, I tried to use it and draw the landscape already in the open.

Each new job teaches me something, and in this article I will share the most useful tips how to draw beautiful landscapes.

I acquired this knowledge through my mistakes and ruining a lot of my work.

Landscape Painting: 7 Secrets of Robie Benve

1. Knowledge about the tonal distribution in the landscape

When you are painting a landscape, it is very important to create a successful composition to think about the plausible placement of light and shadows at work.

Only in the case of well-done work, the viewer will be able to correctly see where the light is and where the shadow areas are. If their gradation is broken, then our brain almost immediately begins to send us signals that something in the picture is wrong, even if we have never seen this landscape before.

Tonal distribution in the landscape from the lightest area to the darkest:

sky: during the day, the brightest spot in the landscape is in the sky. We paint the sky in the lightest colors.
horizontal sections: the second place in lightness is occupied by horizontal sections and the flat surface of the earth, since they almost completely reflect light from the sky.
plots located on an inclined and diagonal: Slightly darker depicts sloping surfaces such as mountain slopes and rooftops.
vertical surfaces: as a rule, the darkest areas are those objects that are located vertically (tree trunks, for example). This is because the reflection of sunlight from them is very limited.

2. Lighting color affects all other colors in the landscape painting

On a sunny day, the rays of the sun give us warm and bright light and make all the surrounding colors warmer and richer.

Sunlight not only brightens items and objects, it also makes them slightly more yellow.

So, to show the sunny patch of grass, we need to take a lighter and warmer color.

However, if in sunlight there are red or blue shades, they will be partially reflected in all the objects depicted.

On overcast and cloudy days, all colors are more muted and tonal gradations are not so distinguishable.

Clue: To get a more uniform and harmonious result, add shades of light to all the objects you depict in the picture.

3. Aerial perspective affects the color and tone of the landscape

Some objects in the landscape are very far away from us, and the distance between us and the object is filled with a huge volume of air.

Moist air particles work as a filter, affecting the intensity and shades of colors. The farther away objects are, the brighter and less bright they are.

This effect is called aerial (or atmospheric) perspective. You can clearly see it as you drive down the road: bushes and trees closer to you are clearer and darker than those near the horizon.

4. Include in your landscape drawing only what is intended.

When looking at a landscape, you may feel confused - how to crop it, choosing the most interesting part for your work?

Many important decisions are taken the moment you start drawing.

What is the center of the picture?
What paper size is best for the subject of the painting?
Where will the painting's point of interest be located?
What elements future picture you must include, and which ones can be neglected?

Refuse to depict anything that will distract attention from the main plot of the picture. It doesn't matter if you draw from life or from a photograph, you absolutely don't have to draw every little bush, pole, road sign, etc.

You can even choose not to display entire buildings or move them to a different location for a more interesting composition.

So, in this picture, I changed the actual placement of the objects to get a more interesting composition:

Check out the light! When moving an object from one place to another, as well as when adding new objects to your picture, be sure to make sure that you correctly convey the gradation of light and shadow. This is very important for the whole picture as a whole.

5. Simplify Complex Elements When You Draw a Landscape

Sometimes you come across a really beautiful scene, but it can be overloaded with details. The job of the artist is to simplify it.

Eliminate small and unimportant details, combine shapes. To maintain color diversity, add a little different shades into your original working mixture, but do not change it much.

Don't worry about details and small touches. Add them at the very end of the work if you consider it necessary to highlight the object, make it recognizable, and simply omit unnecessary details.

Examples of elements that do not have to be included in the work

Not everything that is present in the scene you like should be included in the work. Some things distract the attention of the viewer, while others destroy the composition of the picture.

The main idea is to create a painting that captures the viewer's attention by directing their eyes throughout the composition using lines, tonal contrast and color.

The natural direction of the viewer's gaze is from the lower left corner of the picture to the area of increased contrast.

A bright or very light object placed at the edge of a painting can draw the eye of the viewer and delay it.

So, what is optional to include in your work:

bushes and trees in unnecessary places - feel free to move the vegetation around, change its shape if necessary, to make it more interesting (i.e. avoid the same, stamped trees);
trash cans, boxes, buckets, etc. - sometimes it's good to include a couple to make the depicted scene more real, but if I draw a landscape with a park, as a rule, I exclude all such random and unnecessary objects from it;
pillars, road signs, parked cars, etc. - if you are drawing a cityscape, don't be afraid to edit some elements that don't affect the recognizability of the plot or make it less interesting.
more interesting and useful information about drawing
from the artist Marina Trushnikova
You will find in electronic journal"Life in Art".

Get journal issues to your e-mail!

6. Don't be afraid to change colors

Sometimes it's good to completely copy what you see. But some things need to be edited for tone and color.

The point of interest of the picture should be brightly highlighted and emphasized, but other elements should play minor role. The human eye is attracted by bright colors and contrasts. If there are bright yellow or white objects in your painting, then most likely they will hold the viewer's attention.

If you really want to include this bright object in your work, consider moving it to another place where it won't stand out so much. Or you can place it somewhere else, making it a point of interest.

In most cases, the problem is solved by editing the object's color and/or its saturation.

It's easier to draw what you see. If you're painting from a photo, you can use the power of a photo editing program like Photoshop to change the colors and saturation of an object or the whole picture.

More translations:

7. Mix different shades of green

There are so many shades of green in nature!

Ready green color from the kits will never even come close to what I need to paint landscapes.

You can mix many complex shades of green using just the base colors. And I find this kind of mixing much more useful.

By mixing ultramarine and light blue, cadmium lemon and cadmium yellow, red and white in different proportions, you can get all shades of green.

Experiment and you will see for yourself.

Three tips for working with green:
- use different shades of green, even when working on the same vegetation;
- add a little red to green to muffle it, make it not so intense;
- in many cases you can use gray instead of green. Mix three primary colors together or use gray from a tube. Experiment how often the gray color will be mistaken for green after being added to the picture.
Enjoy drawing and learn from your mistakes!
- Painting landscapes (or anything else) is an ongoing experience.
- Each new picture challenges you and also gives you amazing opportunities for experimentation and self-improvement.
- It is possible that you will not see the results of your work on the mistakes in the current picture, but you will definitely feel it when working on the next picture.
- Keep drawing.
- Enjoy every step along the way.
- Learn from your mistakes.
- Draw more.
Good luck to you! 🙂

Translation: Creative Workshop of Marina Trushnikova

Although the Lord has done a lot of problems (not counting illness, crime, hunger, poverty, wars, corruption and Russian pop music), he still managed to create a good atmosphere of life on our planet. Land and water are often capricious, arranging mass sacrifices. But in some places it turned out not bad, you can even take a bunch of cute photos. But we can dig even deeper. In this lesson you will learn how to draw nature with a simple pencil. After that, you can take your drawing tools and boldly go to a cozy place in order to create an indescribable masterpiece. Nature - symbolic name for everything that the eyes see. The only exception is plastic or reality shows, the rest refers to one formal organism that controls life and has some strange plan for the production and maintenance of its life. Like an ordinary stern boss, nature easily removes any office plankton, sometimes whole species, and, like any girl, loves whims and antics. The last critical days of this lady ended with the birth of Hitler, Hussein and Justin Bieber, which greatly influenced the state of the planet as a whole. It may seem that nature is evil and impeccable, but in fact, she does not care exactly the same as a dog on ethnic background fleas in her fur. Suddenly it turns out that nature needs help, and some people firmly believe in it, while they cannot even protect themselves from the local punks. If it suddenly turned out that you are nature itself, then here are your privileges:

You are beautiful because you are the very concept of being.
You exist, although you will never really understand it.
You own all the valuable metals on the planet, which means that you Money don't suffer.
Your portraits hang in almost every house on every wall.
There is no need to worry about the fact that you made a mistake, your mistake will either end up in a freak circus or in the red book.
You can always arrange fireworks from volcanoes.
You put the bolt on the theory of relativity, because you can be in all places at the same time.
You can cure cancer, but no one will believe you.

Now take a pencil in your hands and gradually try to draw mother nature.

How to draw nature with a pencil step by step

Step one. We immediately select a small pond with banks with lines, and draw several trees on the banks with the same lines. A few circles in the water will serve to turn into ducks.
Step two. At the bottom we draw tall grass, the circles slowly turn into birds. With a thick line, carefully outline the edges of the coast.
Step three. In this step, switch all attention to the background behind the horizon line. Let's draw clouds there.
Step four. Now draw small waves and shadows on the water, make the grass thicker, and shade the background.
Step five. Residually sketch the missing places on the trees and the ground, and then carefully finish the drawing by shading the ducks.
See more similar lessons on drawing landscapes.

It is possible to visit the art studio or art school. Therefore, having acquired the appropriate manuals and finding thematic material on the Internet, young artists trying to master the basics of professional drawing.

General explanations

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

Theoretical basis

Step by step drawing

Now let's figure out how to draw a landscape in stages.

The album sheet should be placed vertically. This will make drawing much easier.
When distributing the depicted objects and details, take into account the principle of harmony so that there is no displacement of the picture to the left or right, so that one or another of its edges is not “weighted”.
We will talk about landscape. The work begins with the drawing of the earth, the main details of the relief.
Next, we move on to the foreground trees, and then the distant ones. All the time you should remember the correct spatial distribution of objects.
Now it's the turn of small details: islands of snow, grass on thawed patches, puddles, foliage, etc.
The next step is hatching. It is not applied to the entire drawing, but to its individual parts. Then the sketch will not lose its original lightness, airiness. Hatching is being done soft pencil. Strongly "blacken" puddles and clouds do not need, do not forget about the play of light and shadows. And it is better to hatch the crowns of trees also in the “mass”, without drawing each leaf separately, otherwise the drawing will lose its naturalness.

To brushes and paints

When the sketch is over, look carefully, did everything turn 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 in dry pastel. So it will be easier for you to convey the radiance and airiness of spring air, the tenderness of colors, the very atmosphere of the beginning of this wonderful time of the year.

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

it will enter the window.

Butler S.

Poets and writers express their gratitude to nature through the word, composers through a combination of sounds, and artists through the depiction of landscapes, drawing nature. Everyone has their own unique and accessible instrument, their own individuality. The only 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.

Depicting any landscape, the artist, of course, puts his soul into the process. He does not seek to completely copy the plot, but passes it through his inner world, your vision, putting a piece of yourself into the process of drawing nature. That is why they say that scenic landscape- this is not so much a picture, image or copying of nature as 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 plot of the landscape that you like (of course, passing it through your inner world, your individuality) and get your own unique, integral and "live" picture.

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

Where does the drawing of nature begin?

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

Here you can be helped: your own imagination, a real picture of nature outside the window, perhaps someone has already drawn a plot or a beautiful photograph.

By the way, the idea of drawing a landscape from a photograph is very good. In any case, you can no longer worry about the fact that the weather will change and the colors will change. You can safely interrupt the creative process and easily dive into it again without trying to keep all the details of the landscape in your head. Just look at the subject of the photo that inspired you and you are 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 that 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 is 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 plunge into the picture.

What evokes in 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 the landscape?

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

Plans and perspective

Far plan:

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

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

Medium plan:

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

foreground:

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

The foreground or foreground is different in that, against the background of other plans, it acquires clearer forms. And this can be achieved both through a 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 medium 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 kind of object, the so-called center of attention, interest. Again, it all depends on your idea!

Usually the main an object landscape is highlighted with:

colors - the object does not have to be brighter, but it must be more diverse 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) plan, 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 on the object first!

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 should be avoided in the image of objects

In order for attention not to be scattered and the gaze (as the author of the landscape supposedly intended) to be riveted to one object, so that there is a feeling of harmony (and not disharmony), one should definitely avoid:

identical lines (for example, two absolutely identical straight or curved trees, flowers, blades of grass, etc.),
the same size and shape (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 forms, give movement to these objects. One, for example, may be more, the other less. One can move, the other can stand or lie still. The main thing is that they are different poses, different sizes and so on.

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

Remember that water, roads - create a sense of movement. Then, when the lines are less straight, the eye 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 it were, “runs through” and quickly slips away.

Relatively straight straight lines are generally very interesting and separate story, with its own rules.

Please note, if you need to use "straight lines" as an object - for example, you draw some kind of bridge, pole, ship's mast, house wall or part of the roof - then you should not depict them too evenly "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 by vegetation, a bench). Straight pillars near 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 it is always necessary to depict crooked windows, 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 tips, which (we really hope) will help you create a "live" and harmonious picture.

Rule of thumb - mix colors! Try to never use pure color as you have it. Bring on the brightness!

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

The choice of color should also give you a sense 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 color scheme, which your eye perceives (if you transfer 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. With respect to shapes, colors, saturation natural paintings and objects. The most important thing is your observation and desire to create, draw. The main thing is to take and do something, even if not quite skillfully, and maybe even for the first time. Just allow yourself to try, touch.

Get inspired, for starters, by some landscape. Pick up desired 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 art, in the image of nature. And, perhaps, you will create something special and magical! 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 self-expression! Give yourself pleasure, just let yourself be an artist!

Oksana! Thank you!
It's great that you found it very informative and useful - the most important thing is when the material can come in handy! Good luck with your landscapes!

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

In order to paint a simple landscape in watercolor, it is desirable, first of all, to choose a suitable motif. It could be a photo from the internet or a nice place Outdoors. Drawing from nature will be easier if you are not going to redraw it exactly. In this master class, we will draw 2 landscapes at once, of varying complexity.

To begin with, it is desirable to fix a piece of paper on the board push pins so that it does not curl up when wet and just for convenience. The board itself, which is called an easel, is usually tilted, about 45 degrees.

After the paper is fixed, you need to take a pencil, an eraser and make a sketch. The sketch should not be made with too bold lines, so that they are not strongly visible under the paint at the end. In a sketch, you should not work out all the details, it is enough to conditionally indicate the main elements of the composition.

Next, a sheet of paper should be wetted. Usually, the background and the sky are painted with watercolor on wet. This gives the effect of beautiful and smooth transitions from one color to another. Try not to paint the sky only blue or the grass only green - it's better to always use multiple colors, this will make the picture more picturesque. But also try to avoid mixing a large number(no more than 3x) different colors, otherwise it may turn gray. And if you still want to draw a gray color, then use not black paint for this, but a mixture of colored paints (red with emerald, for example). Then gray color a beautiful shade will come out. Do not be afraid to experiment with color, add those colors that are not in reality in the picture. Even in the most colorless landscape, you can find all the colors of the rainbow, because light is made up of them.

A landscape with watercolors should be started from the lightest tones and ending with dark ones, because a light tone can be covered with a dark one, but vice versa - no. Most often, the lightest part of the picture is the sky and begin to paint from it. If you draw the sun, then it should be the lightest element of the picture and it can be painted over with the most diluted paint - then it will shine.

In addition to the sun, reflection on water or fog can be light - they must also be drawn first, along with the sky and other light details.

Gradually, from lighter tones, we move on to darker ones and begin to draw more precise shapes. Now the paper should not be too wet so that the paint does not spread. But it can be wet and if you paint the background, it will be a little blurry and create a hazy effect. In order for the picture to look natural, the background should be more blurry and light, and the front one should be darker and clearer.

Thus, with light tones, we will sketch the entire general background. After that, you can move on to drawing smaller details. They should also be drawn, first, with lighter paint, and then paint over darker areas.