Easy Way to Draw a Winter Tree

How to draw an oak tree in the snow

By Artists & Illustrators | Wed 15th Dec 2021

---

Denis John-Naylor shows how drawing an oak tree in the snow with graphite pencil offers some tonal challenges

This step-by-step guide to drawing a winter oak tree in pencil calls for you to focus upon recording subtle tonal contrasts and negative shapes. As a result, you will learn to identify artistic interest in even the most unlikely of subjects.

Each winter I brave the elements at least once, to paint or draw outdoors when snow arrives. These conditions present a wide range of contrasting tones, from the dark, wet, winter tree wood to the subtly toned, snow-white ground cover.

This makes for strong, simple compositions not found for the rest of the year. This particular tree had good variety in both bough and branch shapes and sizes, incorporating interesting open and closed negative shapes between. Variety will always add that extra interest to basic compositions.

I decided to leave out the houses on the extreme right, as I thought them a distraction to the main motif, and this gave me space to add a pathway going around and back into the picture. The focal point is central, which is not considered ideal for a composition, but the many shapes, both positive and negative, will maintain a viewer's interest.

How to draw an oak tree in graphite

Denis's materials
• An A3 sheet of cartridge paper
• HB, 2B, 4B, 6B and 8B graphite pencils
• Putty eraser
• Eraser shield
• Colour shaper or stump
• Scrap paper
• Indent tool

Step 1

Construct the main outlines of the trunk and boughs lightly using an HB pencil. When drawing freehand, paying equal attention to positive and negative shapes will increase the accuracy of your final outline drawing. Roughing out the design on lightweight paper and then tracing down on your cartridge paper is helpful to give you confidence in your drawing. Always correct misplaced lines with the more accurate one before erasing the incorrect one. This also helps preserve your artwork paper surface. The outline is heavier than need be merely for the purpose of reproduction.

Step 2

Using a 2B pencil, lay down some variable tonal marks by making short, irregular up and down strokes along the trunk and boughs. This suggests the direction of the bark. Note that at junctions there is confusion in the direction of the bark pattern, where a merging of two linear patterns takes place. This creates a local irregular pattern in these areas.

Step 3

On this particular day, the light source was low and coming from the left. This created lighter areas on the left sides of the tree's boughs and branches, with darker areas on the right-hand sides. It also gave rise to the tree casting subtle areas of shadow on itself in places. Add further, more positive, tonal marks to some of the shade sides of the split trunk and branches to suggest bark patterns. Use both 2B and 4B for the latter. Apply deeper tonal marks to show form and to gauge the degree of tone required to give the illusion of snow. Use a 4B pencil for these elements.

When texturing the bark pattern, keep a consistent flat on your pencils and note the thickness of the marks made. Pencils need frequent sharpening at this stage to keep a consistency in the marks representing the bark pattern. Continue toning with a 4B pencil using the same stroke technique. With snow scenes, there can often be quite a lot of bounced or reflected light that has the effect of making some areas lighter than they would normally be.

Step 4

These two close-ups illustrate how to start and complete the rendering of snow areas on branches. You need dark tone either side of the intended snow area to give impact to this illusion.

This close-up shows the progress made by adding dark texture to the bough and working the background winter trees behind the snow. The contrast and shape of the untouched white paper gives the impression of snow on the bough. Make marks in the snow area so that it does not remain looking flat.

On the lower bough, remove the initial outline and toning using the eraser shield and putty eraser; re-tone the bough to form the snow line, and then rough in tone behind.

Step 5

Continue to work a variety of linear tonal marks over the tree's boughs and branches, using 4B and 6B pencils, to enhance its detail in both form and texture. Work the snow areas as you proceed. In addition, carefully note the shadow shapes the sunlight is creating. Tone these areas very gently using an 8B pencil with a large flat end to it; do this carefully enough to leave the bark texture showing through. Work around the tree's snow areas with a pointed 6B pencil (see close-up below). Work the rest of the left-hand background winter bushes and trees from the ground upwards, past the upper branches, with 4B and 6B pencils. Add knotholes and other incidental features.

Work around the tree's snow areas with a pointed 6B pencil.

The short, broken horizontal branch pointing right had lost its bark, appearing smooth and bleached. Apply tone with a 2B pencil, then using your colour shaper or stump, blend for a smooth surface. Remove highlights with the eraser and shield to get a bleached look. Finalise marks and shadow on the bark-less branch. It should now contrast with the bark-textured branches in front and behind it.

Step 6

Continue with the backdrop bushes, laying down areas of tone and line together. Leave white ground for the path leading back into the picture. In places, I have worked some light branches with the use of the indent tool and toning over. Add more thin branches to link the upper spaces.

Step 7

At the final stage, work the foreground snow by making a variety of abstract shapes of different tones using all grades of pencils. The greatest tonal contrast in these marks should be nearer the front of the picture plane, to aid recession. Use light tone to suggest the pathway curving behind the background trees to stop the viewer's eye leaving the picture. This also echoes the major snow shape on the left. Work over the drawing in all areas, applying and lifting tone to a satisfactory conclusion.

This challenge is an edited extract from Margaret Eggleton and Denis John-Naylor's new book, Drawing Trees & Flowers, published by Search Press.

Read more:

• How to draw with graphite
• How to draw everyday objects
• How to draw a still life with coloured pencil

For the latest advice on art materials and techniques delivered directly to you every month, you can subscribe to Artists & Illustrators magazine.

schardtaceeakell1955.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/how-to/landscapes/how-to-draw-an-oak-tree-in-the-snow/

Share this post