drawing trees hands for branches

Below you'll find an easy step-by-step tutorial for how to draw a Tree and a Tree Coloring Page. This one helps students see how to draw some more realistic looking branches.

Here's an easy step-by-step how to Draw a Tree Tutorial. Stop by and download yours for free. — Tree Drawing, color with crayons

When it comes to learning how to draw a tree, drawing from real life is not really practical or even possible for most elementary art students. Even if they could go outside, not everyone has a nice view of a mature tree, standing all by itself somewhere, that they can sit down and draw. Not to worry though, there are lots of features that trees have in common, so once students learn more about them, they can start to draw more realistic trees all on their own.

Most students start out drawing a tree with a rectangle trunk and cloud shape on top. That's great when they're young, and just starting to see shapes. The next step though is to see more of the branch system that they have. This tutorial is made to show students how there is a randomness to the branches, but also a kind of formula to follow too. Adding more detail to drawings will always help them become better at it!

Getting Started with Drawing Guides

The best way to get students off to a good start to any drawing lesson is to show them how to use guides as a reference point.

You may have noticed that all of the tutorials on this site have a dashed line running through the center of each step, both in the horizontal and vertical direction. If students make theirown centered lines on theirown paper, before drawing, they will have an easy reference to follow.

For instance, as seen in Step 1 below, the tree needs to start just to the right of the center vertical line. It's important to sketch that near the middle so the tree ends up centered on the paper. When beginners get their drawing off to a good start, there's a better chance of them feeling successful by the time they are done.

So does that mean students need to get out a ruler to draw a big line down the center of their paper before they start? No, that will most likely be hard to erase and distract from any finished art. They simply need to fold the sheet of paper in half both ways, make a crease, and unfold. The beauty is that by the time the drawing is done and colored in, the creases will disappear.

And now, on to the Tree drawing project.

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Tree Coloring Page

Time Lapse Drawing of a Tree

Materials for How to Draw a Tree

Drawing Paper. This is the good stuff you can buy in bulk for a good price.
Pencils. Don't waste your money on the cheapest brand. These make nice dark lines.
Black Marker. A permanent marker will give you a nice dark black color.
Crayons. I like this non-toxic brand that is made from beeswax, not petroleum by-products.
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