Botanical Illustration Tutorial: How To Draw A Tree

Learn step by step how to draw a tree from references and combine different techniques and processes with Paulina Maciel

Botanical illustration, whether realistic or fantastical, is one of the most beautiful styles a creative can practice, thanks to the abundance of colors, the ability to enhance our powers of observation, and the multiplicity of applications, from editorial design to story illustration, packaging design and other graphic needs.

In this tutorial, Paulina Maciel (@pau_maciel), the designer and illustrator behind Canela Estudio, explains how to draw and paint a tree from scratch, with a very simple method, using materials available to everyone. Discover it in the video below:

1. Sketching the tree

As a starting point, we can take a picture of the tree we want to illustrate and start sketching it. The first thing is to find the basic shape of the plant; to do this, place a tracing paper over the photograph, start by identifying the different groups of bushes or foliage that form it.

You only have to surround the shrubs in a simple way, and then sketch the branches that connect them to each other. Once you have marked the basic structure of the tree, you can start to give it some depth by marking the shadows at the bottom of the bushes; as a rule, the light will come from above.

Although each tree will have its own shape, these basic principles should help you sketch any of them.

2. Coloring the tree

To begin to give color to our tree, we will start with three shades of watercolor pencils: shades of light, half tones and shades of shadow. If you don't have the sketch from the previous step, do it now (if you can do it with a fine mechanical pencil, instead of graphite, even better).

Shade the tree with the same pencil, looking at the areas of light and shadow to decide where you will place each shade of pencil. The important thing is not so much the details as getting the overall look of the tree; once you have it, start applying the color with the watercolor pencils. You can also paint a little bit of the ground under the tree, to give it some more context.

Once it's painted, using a slightly wet brush, begin to fade the texture of the pencil with strokes that go from the lightest areas to the darkest ones. Remember that if you don't want the original sketch to be visible, you'll have to do it gently, with hardly any pressure.

If you liked this tutorial, you can learn to interpret the natural world through watercolor and graphite on Paulina Maciel's online course Botanical Watercolor Sketchbook.

You may also like:

- Botanical Illustration with Watercolors, a course by Paulina Maciel
- Negative Watercolor Painting for Botanical Illustration, a course by Cristina Cilloniz
- Botanical Painting with Acrylic, a course by Lucila Dominguez