Pencil drawing is a fascinating activity. Following the advice of masters, anyone, regardless of age and ability, can learn how to create masterpieces.
What do you need for pencil drawing?
You can draw with a pencil anything: animals and plants, people, buildings, cartoon characters. In general, all that is enough for fantasy. This article explains step by step how to draw a maple leaf.
For successful work, a beginner artist should have everything necessary at hand. Prepare good-quality paper, a sharpened pencil of medium hardness, a soft eraser and a memo "How to draw a maple leaf." In addition to the instructions, it is good to have at hand and carefully consider a few real maple leaves. At first glance it seems that drawing them is very simple. However, in reality, everything will turn out to be a little more difficult. Maple leaf has a complex structure of several repeating elements. To help you get the job done, we’ll show you how to draw a maple leaf in stages.
Maple leaf step by step
Step 1. You need to create a foundation. To do this, draw the vertical and horizontal lines intersecting it. Then, through the intersection point of these lines, draw 2 more inclined lines left and right. You will get six intersecting lines, as shown in the figure.
Step 2. From the large lines, draw numerous small “twigs”. They must be arranged unevenly, which will make the finished work more natural.
At the first stages, the maple leaf is drawn in pencil without pressure. The tool should be held in your hand gently, without tension. The lines should be light and light.
Step 3. We have on paper a preliminary frame for the future drawing. Now you need to make the correct outline. To do this, circle the lattice of twigs with broken-curved lines, as shown in the figure.
Step 4. Using clear strokes, carefully draw the main skeleton and petiole of the leaf. The figure shows that they should be slightly thickened in comparison with minor branches. Their appearance resembles a tree trunk - narrowed from above and expanding downward.
Step 5. Add small veins to minor branches with light fine strokes. At this point, we already have an idea of how to draw a maple leaf. However, before us is only a sketch. To get the real picture, you need to correctly distribute the light and shadow on the sheet. Then it will be not just a picture, but the work of the artist.
Step 6. This is the last step. At this stage, you need to give a piece of realism. This must be done by shading the sheet. Look at the "living" maple leaf through the eyes of the master. You should note which areas are darker and which are brighter. Try to convey such a play of light and shadow on paper.
General tips
Now you know how to draw a maple leaf. To achieve the best result, we will give some more general tips:
- at the beginning of work on the drawing do not press hard on the pencil;
- circle the contour with more pressure to get a clear line;
- shade the pattern gradually, do not immediately make too sharp transitions from light to dark.