How to Draw Leaves on the Ground

Capturing on paper the texture and depth of leaves on the ground is a challenge to artists.

Drawing leaves on the ground is like drawing a field of objects. When we look straight down, we lose sight of the horizon, and the objects within view are close up. This viewpoint creates a still-life effect. The additional issue is that if you are drawing leaf-covered ground, all you see are leaves, and this vantage point can neutralize the shapes until what you see looks almost abstract. One way to approach this type of drawing is to pick out a focal point and center the viewers' attention on that single spot, allowing the rest of the drawing to become support background.

Things You'll Need

• Tape
• Drawing paper
• Drawing board

Instructions

1. Tape your drawing paper to a drawing board so that you can sit outside to draw directly from nature. When you look down at the ground that is covered in leaves, you will notice that some leaves are on top. These are the leaves that have fallen or blown on top the most recently. Often these will be a different color due to age and their accessibility to light.

2. Sketch the shape of the top leaves and their arrangement. Look for just the topmost layer. See the spaces between the top leaves as empty spaces. Be careful to outline the shape of each leaf as closely as possible, keeping in mind that the leaves are about the same size. Draw in all of your top leaves.

3. Decide which area of the drawing is your focal point. Select the top leaves in this area and make the lines stronger. Add the detail of the leaf veining and shading so that these leaves visually stand out on your drawing. Move to the other top leaves and detail them enough to look prominent but not as dark as your focal leaves.

4. Look at the underlying leaves as different tones. Use the pencil to create the different tonal values. Give the edges of the leaves the correct shape but don't outline the leaves. Work close to your focal leaves first and then farther out to the sides of your drawing. Your focal leaves should be lighter on the surface with defined edges and your underlying leaves should be tonal.

5. Start at your focal leaves again and darken the shadows immediately around the leaves to heighten their contrast value. Add partial outline edges to some of the tonal leaves so that they move closer visually, and begin to add lines in the leaves to represent twigs or stems. At this point you should have developed the drawing to an almost finished piece, and you can add tone to the top leaves, erase spots for highlights and use a stump to blend or blur lines.

Tips & Warnings

• If you highlight and detail too many leaves across the drawing, the eye of the viewer will wander around looking for the focus.

References

• Types of Things: Types of Shapes