How to Draw Bodies of Water

Bodies of water have captured the imagination of artists for centuries. From the romantic paintings of the Hudson River in New York to those with a marine focus, like paintings by Winslow Homer, techniques on how to capture these clear and ever changing bodies of water in art are impossible to count. To draw bodies of water, though, there are a couple of techniques that can be applied.

Things You'll Need

• Drawing pencils, at least two densities
• Eraser
• White paper

Instructions

Techniques for Drawing Water

1. 

   Draw connecting u-shapes to create a basic, choppy water image. This technique works well with cartoon drawing and surrealist images. Vary the length and height of the u shapes to create calmer and choppier water.

2. 

   Draw languid, curving lines centered around one area to portray swirling water. A calm lake, a curving river or a filled bathtub would work well with this technique, giving the sense of a calmly swirling body of water.

3. 

   Draw a horizontal line where the water meets land. Using the edge of your pencil, draw shapes resembling vegetation above the line. Try to mirror this image, pressing lighter on your pencil than before, to create a reflection in the water. This is the technique that will be employed in the example below. It works well for lake images, where water is more still and likely to reflect the images above it--including clouds, vegetation and structures.

Completing a Body of Water Drawing -- Lake Example

1. 

   Draw a rectangle to determine the space that your drawing will take up if you're not using the entire page. Draw a horizontal line across the drawing space, indicating where the lake will meet the land.

2. 

   Draw cumulus clouds using the edge of your pencil. Identify where the sun or moon will come through the clouds, and be sure not to cloud over this area.

3. 

   Shade in some space above the horizontal line, using a denser pencil. This will indicate thick vegetation behind the trees that you will define next.

4. 

   Draw some varied vegetation above the horizon line. Do this using the tip of your pencil. Squiggle horizontal lines back and forth densely. This creates a hazy image.

5. 

   Identify where the sun or moon is in your picture. Decide where a reflection of the sun or moon would reflect on the water, and draw a circle indicating this space.

6. 

   Draw a reflection of the clouds in the water, using the edge of your pencil. Distort the image slightly to indicate ripples in the water. Leave space around the sun or moon to make its reflection in the water more visible.

7. 

   Draw the reflection of the trees in the water. Use a lighter gradient pencil than the one you used to draw the trees, or use the edge of your pencil and press lighter.
   By creating a more obscure reflection, it is obvious to the viewer which half of the image is a water reflection and which half is land.

8. 

   Draw a tree's branches in the foreground, using your densest pencil. Use squiggly, dense lines with the edge of your pencil for the branches, making them appear to have an almost furry texture.

9. 

   Use the point of your pencil to draw the texture of the branches more clearly. Have it frame the image on the side and top of your drawing, giving the appearance of looking through brush and reaching a lake view.