How to draw the structure of a tree with a pencil?

Today we will work with colored pencils and try to convey the texture of wood in the drawing.

When depicting the texture of any material, take a closer look, touch (if possible) how it feels to the touch - thin, thick, smooth, glossy, rough, prickly, rough. This is exactly what you should try to convey in your work with the help of lines and strokes, pressure on the pencil, thickness, length and direction of the stroke. Let me remind you that the texture was already drawn - it was a bird feather.

1. Let's take for example wooden block, because the pattern of the fibers is different on each side and it is more interesting to draw.
   Let's make a sketch with light lines. To do this, we use a pencil to match the future drawing - in this case, light brown.

   Draw the initial sketch of a wooden block.

2. The next step is to apply shading. On the upper and left vertical edge of the bar, we apply longitudinal fibers and strokes in the direction of the fibers. For shading at this stage we use the side edge of a pencil.
   And the vertical right side has a rough structure, since the fibers are cut across. Here we put a touch on different directions to show surface roughness.
   At this stage, I took the yellow-brown pencils and applied them to each other.
   

   

   Apply shading.

3. Next we fill our block with color. For this we use a yellow-orange-brown color scheme with inclusions of cold tones. Look closely at the color spots on the block and use matching colors- Somewhere there are areas that are more yellow, somewhere more brown and even pink.
   We keep the hatching direction as in the second stage. We draw either with the side edge or with the tip of a pencil, since the veins of the wood are of different thicknesses.
   There are more cool tones on the vertical edges.
   The edge of the bar is jagged, show this with zigzag strokes.

   

   We draw the veins of the tree.

4. Add gray veining.
   On the short vertical edge, the pattern of the wooden cut is arched.
   For veins, use pencils of different colors.
   Draw a shadow under the block. You can use gray and indigo for it.

   

Drawing a wood texture from scratch is not at all difficult, today we will see for ourselves. All we need is Photoshop and 5 minutes of time.

This is the result we get:

Creating a wood texture

1. Open Photoshop and create a new file. You can specify any size, I did 1200 by 1200px.

2. Fill the background brown. Choose the shade you want to see on the texture in the future. This is the color our tree will be painted. I chose the color #7c3215.

3. Create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N). Press the D key, this will return the standard colors (black and white) to the palette, and it is this combination that we will need for the Clouds filter (Filter -> Render -> Clouds). You should now have 2 layers, the bottom one painted and Brown color, and on the top there is something like this:

4. Now let's stretch the cloud texture vertically. Press Ctrl+T and set the height scale to 600-650%:

5. Add blur to make it even more similar to the smooth surface of wood. Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur with the following parameters:

6. It's time to apply the Posterize filter. Image -> Adjustments -> Posterize. Set the number of Levels to 26.

7. Already looks like wood texture. Let's continue. Go to Filter -> Stylize -> Find Edges. The result is a light texture of a wood pattern. We need to darken it, for this we will need levels (Ctrl+L). The settings are:

8. For realism, add noise. Filter -> Noise -> Add Noise:

On at this stage you should see a picture like this:

9. The texture is too clear, it needs to be blurred. Filter -> Blur -> Motion Blur:

10. Create a copy of the texture layer (Ctrl+J) and hide it. On the original layer press Ctrl+I, the image will be inverted:

This layer is needed to add additional volume to the texture. Let's leave only the main lines. Ctrl+L to call levels and set the following settings:

Change the layer blending mode to Screen (Screen), set the opacity to 8%:

11. Make visible the top layer with the texture and set its blending mode to Multiply (Multiplication), we see the following picture:

Now just move the volume layer a couple of pixels to the right:

12. Almost ready. All that remains is to create a new layer on top of all the others with the following parameters:

Now we will take the Dodge Tool (Clarifier) ​​and work a little with the lighting - we will lighten the texture in some places so that it looks more realistic. Attention - the Exposure parameter should be set to no more than 5%:

That's all, wood texture ready :)

Illustrator and microstocker who will teach us how to draw wood texture in Adobe Illustrator. Meet new lesson on our blog. Wood is a popular item in the most different areas design. So we won't need any extra vector wood. I give the floor to Julia, and let's draw!

So what do we need. Create a new document Ctrl+N and to begin with, draw some medium-sized rectangular shape. We will turn it into a wooden plank. This is a training session, so we choose the most convenient size and scale, so that on the one hand you can draw without constantly zooming in to draw details (they will be quite small), and on the other hand, so that the form fits completely on the screen and your hand does not get tired of controlling the line on long distance. I ended up with a square of approximately 275x275 pixels.

1. To see a more or less plausible pattern of lines on a wooden surface.
2. To select a color palette that is convincingly “wooden.”

As we know, processed wood can be very diverse, so choose the most suitable option for yourself and place it in the document - File → Place → Select file with texture reference. Take a closer look at it and, either by eye or with a pipette, take the middle color and save it in a way convenient for you. This will be the main color of our texture. This is what I got. This will work for light wood. We will also need a slightly darker color for the side edges or shaded areas.

And also save two gradients.

A gradient from white to our base color and from black to our base color. We will need these gradients to highlight the lit and shaded areas. These will be used with blend modes, so just note that we want pure white and black RGB colors. This small palette can be thrown into samples and used from there, but for me it’s convenient to make a column of small squares and place it on the side of the main work so that it is always in front of my eyes. If I place it on a separate layer (usually a layer with a white background), which I lock while working on the object so as not to move it from the artboard, then the eyedropper is very convenient for picking up colors. I deleted the reference, so at this stage I got this:

Create a new layer, transfer our working square to it, and lock the layer with the background and palette. Now select some contrasting color (for example, black) and click the tool Pencil (N). If you are not entirely comfortable with this tool, since it is quite difficult to control the lines (especially if, like me, you do not have a tablet and have to draw with a mouse), that’s okay. Us Pencil (N) fits precisely with its unpredictability and natural curvature of lines. We will draw wooden "stripes" that will suit us for drawing texture. Here you have complete freedom of creativity - remember the reference and start drawing.

For a more believable “wooden” drawing, I usually alternate stripes of two types - wide, free-contour closed shapes, as highlighted in square 2, and thin, open contours, as highlighted in square 1. Closed shapes are filled with color, and open lines are made of different thicknesses (1-3 pt) and assign them a width profile of 2, the one with uneven thickness along the contour. Afterwards, don’t forget to make out these lines.

However, do not be particularly partial or overzealous with the variety of shapes and drawing large quantities round “knots” (one or two are enough, depending on the size of the object), since the texture in this work will be more guessed and create a feeling of wood than seen in detail. And act boldly - the more crooked your stripes are, the more interesting it will be. The main thing is that the side contours of closed thick forms do not touch or intersect, otherwise they will eventually fall apart into several pieces.

When the surface is filled with a pattern of lines and everything is sorted out, we draw two more auxiliary horizontal lines outside the square, but so that they capture all the protruding tails of the pattern. Look at the example above on square 4. Lines are needed at the top and bottom, since, for example, in my case, not all lines protrude equally beyond both edges. There are some that do not reach the top because of the knot pattern. There are also short lines that do not protrude anywhere at all; they can later cause us some inconvenience when cutting to design the edges. They will have to be cut separately, repeating the procedure as many times as the number of lines that are not cut in the main outline. Therefore, make sure that there are fewer of these “short ones” and only where it is necessary according to the pattern. Disassemble the auxiliary lines. Then select all the “striations” you drew, excluding the square itself, and in the panel click Unite. This is necessary for faster cutting of strips later along the contour of the board. You will get a group of objects from the “short” lines and a compound outline. We have received the main workpiece. We will need several of them. Therefore, it will be convenient to copy this group in the layers panel or using Ctrl+F and hide the extra ones for the time being. It is important that the copies do not move.

Now let's take one of the blanks and cut it. Let me remind you for beginners - copy the main square → select it and the compound outline (not the entire group) in our template → in the panel Pathfinder/Pathfinder press Intersect.

Fill the cropped group of stripes with the main color and assign them a blending mode Multiplication and a little transparency. See for yourself how it will look better with your main color. I chose 20%.

Now we take our next copy of the blank, make it visible and arbitrarily shift it to the side at some distance from the previous cropped one with a transparency of 20%. It is important that it does not overlap the evenly dark stripes, otherwise you will simply add volume to them. After that, we also cut it. Fill the result with the main color and set the blending mode Lightening/Screen with transparency, say, 10%.

It’s quite possible to stop here, but the board has a fairly large plane, is clearly visible, and I decided to add a third layer of stripes to it. From the third copy of the blank. I moved it so that it fits roughly between the light and dark stripes and slightly overlaps them. Lightening/Screen with transparency, 5%. Like this:

That, in fact, is the whole texture. A shape with a base color and three layers of stripes with different blending modes.

However, if it is on an object, then we will need basic light and shadow. It can be done in different ways, depending on your drawing style. Personally, for secondary textures I use the standard, but suitable almost everywhere, option with gradients. To do this, copy the main square Ctrl+F and move it Object → Arrange → Bring to Front. Fill it with a black-brown gradient from our palette and assign a blending mode to it Lightening/Screen with 100% transparency. In your case the percentage may be different. Let's set the direction and gradient slider so that the light will fall according to your plan.

Now let's copy the square with the gradient Ctrl+F and fill it with a gradient from white to a color from the saved palette. Set the direction and gradient slider for the shadow and assign the blending mode Multiplication with 100% transparency. You may have your own option.

The required minimum has been completed!
But it’s unlikely that our object with texture will always be so flat. Most likely, it will have thickness, and therefore edges. You can see how to draw the edges of objects, cubes, and isometry in other lessons. In order not to needlessly increase the number of letters J, I will focus only on what concerns texture. In this case, the important question is how to design the side walls. I offer two options - a side with a cross cut, or a painted one, where the pattern of the rings is not visible, and a side on which the pattern is visible. I will show them at the same time on our board. Draw a small volume to the square in any way - the top and right side walls. Fill them with a darker color from the palette.

Edge with a pattern. Since we are supposedly applying the texture to a small object, the side edges will be almost invisible, so there is no point in drawing the texture correctly and following the logic of the stripes. The main thing is that when looking at an object there is no feeling of sloppiness and flickering of lines from excessive diversity. Therefore, take another copy of our striped blank and place it on the top edge. Make sure that no auxiliary lines fall on the face plane. With help. Keys O → Enter → Horizontal– mirror the workpiece upside down.

Then, with the workpiece selected, go to the panel Transformation and set the slope so that the stripes “lie” on your edge. I needed to tilt the workpiece 50 degrees. If you don’t guess correctly the first time, don’t worry, cancel the action and repeat again with other parameters. Our stripes moved a little after tilting, so let's tighten them so that they coincide with the dark stripes on the top of our square. This will not be reliable, but it will add accuracy to the work. Cut the workpiece in the manner already described above and paint it. And repeat the same thing, making light stripes. Do not forget that you need to move them before trimming, and not after. Play with the transparency percentages. Add layers with gradients for light and shadow. For a side face without a pattern, it will be enough to simply choose a slightly darker color from our palette and decorate it with gradients. It should look something like this.

Finally, I would like to add that this texture looks good not only on rectangular, but also on round objects. Only in this case, to finalize the ball, you need to change the linear gradients to radial ones and shift their center towards the place where the greatest light falls. You may need to make the brown color even darker to give the ball volume. On small objects, the gradient itself will visually distort straight stripes and give them a feeling of curvature. I also added a couple of semi-circular shadows of the main color in blending mode Multiplication

That's all. The lesson is over. Here are some more examples of how you can design drawings in this way.

I wish you that this simple technique will be useful for creating new interesting works! Good luck!

Yulia Drach especially for the blog

To learn how to draw trees, you need to understand several principles that will help you see patterns in the structure of trees. The diagrams and drawings below allow you to see all this clearly. And then you need to observe nature and regularly make sketches. Only by constantly practicing drawing can you master the necessary skills. So, what principles do you need to understand to learn how to draw trees?

1. Cylindrical shape of the trunk and branches of the tree.

The tree trunk is based on a cylindrical shape. Therefore, when an artist paints the bark, behind the texture of the bark, you need to see the volume of the trunk. This means that it will be illuminated unevenly. That is, on one side there is light, and on the other there is shadow. The light can be in the middle of the “cylinder”, and on its sides, accordingly, there is shadow. The same applies to branches. But due to their small thickness, the chiaroscuro will be little noticeable. Therefore, artists use this technique: they paint the branch in one color, and emphasize its edge dark paint. The underlining creates the impression of shadow and the branches appear voluminous.

2. The structure of the tree bark most often consists of cracks.

The bark structure of most trees consists of cracks in the surface layer of the trunk. Cracking and hardening, this layer becomes thicker and rougher over the years. Each individual “tubercle” of the cortex has a lighted and shadowed side. But looking at a tree, we do not see such details, but perceive the image as a whole. Therefore, the artist does not copy every “curtain”, but conveys the texture with a bark-like stroke. For example, you can use a “clumsy” stroke, with different line thicknesses. In this case, the area of ​​​​the bark located in the shade will be darker.

3. Shape of the trunk and branches. Direction of branches.

Each type of wood has its own characteristics. For example, the nature of the bends of the trunk and branches. The oak branches are more twisted and gnarled. Pine has a mostly straight trunk. In a willow tree, the trunk can branch into several trunks, forming a “slingshot”. Many large willow branches have the same character. Therefore, when drawing a tree, you need to be observant and see various features buildings.

Besides this, there is one more aspect that many people forget about. Often, beginning artists draw branches to the left and right of the trunk, forgetting that the branches still grow forward and backward, surrounding the trunk on all sides. If a branch grows forward, it will block the trunk and other branches. Thus, plans are formed in the tree drawing: first, second, third... The branches of the first plan will cover the branches of the second plan, etc.

4. Fractal principle of hierarchy of tree branches.

A fractal is a repeating self-similarity. If you carefully observe the trees, you can see how similar the small and large branches, as well as the trunk, are to each other. Indeed, the crown of a tree consists of a hierarchy of branches: very small, small, medium, large, very large and the tree trunk itself. They are based on the same form. It’s as if they took one branch and made from it many copies of more and more bigger size. Knowing this principle, drawing a tree will be much easier.

5. The tree trunk is not visible everywhere: it sometimes appears, sometimes hides in the foliage.

The trunk of the tree, its branches and large branches will pass between masses of small branches and leaves. The trunk may either appear between them or go deeper, where it is no longer visible. Because of this, shadows from groups of branches and leaves will fall on it. Therefore, when conveying chiaroscuro on the cylindrical surface of the trunk, you also need to look to see if there are any falling shadows from its foliage on it. On a sunny day, it happens that the tree trunk is dotted with “spots” of falling shadows.

6. Chiaroscuro throughout the entire crown of the tree as a whole.

The entire mass of branches and leaves of a tree without the lower part of the trunk is called the crown. It has volume. That is, throughout this entire mass as a whole there is light, penumbra, shadow and reflex. For example, often sunlight falls onto the crown from above. This means that the top of the tree will be lighter than the bottom. However, the crown of a tree consists of clusters of foliage, between which there are gaps through which the sky or shadow can be seen. inner part crowns These clusters or groups of branches themselves are also illuminated sunlight differently. This means that the crown of the tree will not be depicted in the drawing as a solid silhouette. Therefore we come to study the next important principle.

7. Foliage and branches of trees are combined into groups.

A huge number of tree leaves, as well as the branches on which they grow, are combined into groups, forming clusters. The crown of a tree is not a continuous mass of foliage. The crown consists of many groups of branches and leaves. Moreover, these groups also differ in size and shape. They are not the same. Each group is illuminated by daylight, which means each individual mass of foliage has its own light, its own shadow, its own reflexes and penumbra. That is, just as in the drawing of a plaster ball, students convey chiaroscuro, so in the drawing of a tree, in each individual mass or group of branches and leaves, chiaroscuro must be conveyed. However, at the same time it must be remembered that chiaroscuro separate groups will be subordinated to the general chiaroscuro of the entire crown (which I wrote about in the previous subtitle). But how to translate this into a drawing? For example, the sun shines from above. The lightest point on the tree will be at its top. The most dark point- from below. But the crown consists of the above-mentioned groups of branches. This means that each group has its own light and shade. Suppose there is one group at the top of the tree and another at the bottom of the tree. So, the light on the top group will be lighter than the light on the bottom group. Also, the shadow on the top group will be lighter than the shadow on the bottom group (in the picture they are numbered No. 1 and No. 2). It turns out that the particular is subordinate to the general. The chiaroscuro of individual groups of branches is subordinate to the general chiaroscuro of the entire crown of the tree. But there are exceptions to this rule. If a group of leaves from the lower shadow part of the tree protrudes more and more light falls on it, then it can be as light as the one at the very top (from our example).

8. Imitation of foliage through shading.

In previous schematic drawings the trees look “cartoonish” and simplified. In this drawing, the tree must be depicted realistically. To do this, you need to pay attention to the execution technique. Hatching can be very different depending on the surface being depicted (I wrote about the types of shading). It must convey the “materiality” of the depicted object. In our case, this is the foliage of a tree. And the artist does not need to draw thousands of individual leaves on a tree. You just need to shade it so that you get the impression of foliage. But how should you shade a tree to make it look realistic and lively?

The secret is that the stroke can create the illusion of foliage. That is, the character of the lines will be similar to the character of the leaves. In the above figure you can see three types of shading, corresponding to three types of leaves - maple leaves, oak leaves, willow leaves. In one case the line is “prickly”, in another “clumsy”, in the third the strokes are more elongated. But these are just examples. You can come up with your own type of stroke. Here you need to use your imagination and not think in stereotypes. For the bark of a tree, you should come up with a different stroke, for the grass a third, etc. In this regard, I can only give this advice: the drawing looks impressive when the thickness of the line changes. That is, you need to work with a blunt and sharp tip of a pencil lead. Therefore, when coming up with your own shading, you can take this point into account.

9. Gaps in the foliage mass.

The crown of a tree is not monolithic and, as I wrote above, consists of branches and leaves combined into groups. Consequently, gaps will form between these groups, through which the sky or the inner, shadow part of the tree can be seen.

It would seem that everything is simple. But this is where novice artists have a problem with drawing trees. The fact is that beginners depict these gaps not between masses of foliage, but between individual leaves, and they draw them the same in size. The result is a painting in which the viewer sees a tree whose silhouette looks “cartoonish” and unnatural. In nature, gaps in foliage are located at different distances from each other. The gaps themselves also vary in size everywhere. But this pattern is determined not only by nature, but also by the laws of composition. IN fine arts there is a concept of rhythm. Just like in music, by the way. If the artist places objects at the same distance from each other, then the depicted view looks boring and unnatural. If the artist changes the location, size, tone or color, then the painting becomes dynamic and natural. Thus, rhythm is created in painting.

Let's imagine that we are painting a dark green silhouette of a tree against the sky. This silhouette is dotted with “dots”, which are gaps in the tree through which the sky can be seen. So, these points need to be made different in size and at different distances from each other. Large, small, medium... Between small groups of branches, between large clusters of foliage, between individual leaves of a tree, etc.

Therefore, the crown of the tree will not look like a solid mass of foliage, but like a loose structure riddled with branches and having gaps between clusters of foliage.

10. Not a template approach.

In order to understand how to apply the above theory in practice, I present two of my drawings of trees. The first one shows a maple tree, and the second one shows an oak tree. Try to trace the nine principles outlined above in these drawings. Let me make a reservation right away that there is different types drawing: linear, tonal, quick sketches and many hours of detailed drawings. These maple and oak drawings are quick sketches. And in such sketches, artists do not draw everything. Therefore, somewhere you may find some deviations from what you read above. Here it is clear that I did not use a template approach, but was guided precisely by the principles, thinking about how best to apply them. Therefore, in conclusion, I will add that the artist must add creativity, fantasy and intuition to theoretical knowledge. Then the drawing will be more expressive and free from the monotony of a template approach.

Wood brushing is one of the wonderful technologies decorative finishing wood products. The method is based on the difference in hardness of the layers that make up the vast majority of solid wood. On a cross section of any wood product, a characteristic wood pattern is clearly visible, which is formed by fibers with different physical characteristics. Some of them are quite dense, others are less dense and quite easy to process.

When a layer of soft fibers is removed, areas consisting of hard fibers become embossed (convex), clearly appearing on the surface and giving the wood a particularly decorative appearance. Under natural conditions, this happens over time, when soft fibers are removed as the product is used. Brushing allows you to visually age the wood and give it texture in a carpentry workshop. Most clear example natural brushing - old boards washed up on the shore of the sea or ocean. In them, soft areas of wood are so thinned by sea waves and sand that denser areas can protrude by almost a centimeter!

Brushing: artificial aging of wood

This wood structuring technology is suitable for use with soft and hard woods that have a clearly defined texture and obvious layers different hardness: pine, oak, larch, ash, walnut, wenge. Wood species with a fine-grained and indistinct structure are not suitable for brushing, since they do not have the necessary layering. These types of materials include wood: beech, maple, alder, teak, birch, cherry.

The use of brushing technology allows you to create original textures that look ideal in products for interiors different styles. Structured wood is actively used in the manufacture of floors, furniture, and decorative elements. Natural wood fits perfectly into any design, adding original touches to it.

Equipment for structuring (brushing) wood

Brushing is the most accessible and easy-to-perform method, allowing you to quickly visually age natural material. This process can be carried out in a home workshop using a minimum of equipment.

This is one of the few technologies that allows you to achieve excellent results using exclusively manual labor. For this you will need:

• metal brushes of different hardness, which are used to roughly remove soft fibers from the surface of the workpiece
• sandpaper of various grits for rough sanding and final polishing
• stains and other means to give wood maximum decorativeness
• varnish for finishing the product at the end of the brushing process

To further simplify wood structuring work and make it significantly more productive, it can be mechanized. For this, variable speed drills or special brushing machines are used. They are supplied with flat or wide brushes of three types: metal, polymer with abrasive and sesal or hair. By observing the sequence of work, with the use of mechanization, you can get impeccably executed work for various products.

Brushing technology - step by step

1. The selected workpiece can be slightly moistened so that wood dust does not fly around the room. The first pass is carried out with a metal brush, the rigidity of which is selected depending on the hardness of the wood. The “bristles” should not damage the hard fibers of the material, but at the same time should successfully remove the soft ones. The movement of the instrument is carried out in the direction of the fibers, at a speed sufficient for effective scraping. Increasing the rotation speed of the brush can lead to baking of the wood, so it is necessary to select the best option for each sample. When working hand tools This problem does not arise, but more effort has to be applied and much more processing time has to be spent.

2. By replacing the nozzle with a polymer brush with an abrasive applied to it, the part is initially polished, during which roughness and fragments of fibers remaining on the surface of the wood are removed. Having removed everything unnecessary, you can evaluate how deep and high-quality the structuring was done, and, if necessary, further deepen the resulting grooves. At this stage you can add decorative elements in the finishing of wooden products. Using a chisel, indentations are selected in different places on the workpiece free form. After rough grinding, they can be corrected and given the most natural appearance of old cracks that have formed in the material.

3. Final polishing is carried out using a sisal or hair brush, which gives the part a finished polished look, fully revealing all the decorative texture of the wood. When processing by hand, the finest grit sandpaper is used to create a perfectly polished surface. Having smoothed the structured texture of the product, it is prepared for further painting and varnishing. If the wood was wetted before work, now it must be dried and completely cleaned of dust.

4. To give it a special decorative look the part can be painted, patinated, gilded and other finishing options. Using stain will age the product due to the formation of contrasting textured patterns. Abundant application of the composition with quick removal of excess allows you to paint over areas with soft fibers that absorb paint, and leave light areas of hard fibers that have not had time to absorb the pigment. Gold paint looks especially impressive when applied to microcracks and depressions against the background of the natural color of the wood. Such reflections of gold will give the product an original decorative effect. After treatment with coloring compounds, the surfaces are polished again to get rid of the roughness that arose during painting.

5. Varnishing is carried out on completely dried and cleaned wood. When making brushed parquet, it is necessary to use a special parquet varnish to open it so that the finished coating can serve its intended duration.

Scope of application of brushing technology

The accessibility and decorative nature of the structuring technique make it especially popular in the manufacture of interior items and room design elements. Mantels, shelves, ceiling beams, columns, wall panels made of aged wood give a unique ambience to living rooms and halls, and fill the halls of restaurants and clubs with aristocracy and luxury. Wooden furniture with brushed parts and elements looks no less elegant. Among cabinetmakers, materials touched by the bark beetle are of particular value, since such a texture cannot be reproduced manually, but it creates a complete impression of the antiquity of wooden products.

The use of products made using brushing technology in interior design will allow you to easily create a stylish and unique atmosphere in any room.