How to Draw a Downhill Scene

Downhill scenes require shadows to appear lower than surrounding geography.

Drawings of downhill scenes suggest depth and height with curved lines and smooth shadows. These images of valleys need perspective to appear further away and lower than the vantage point of the drawing. To draw a downhill scene, choose a photograph for inspiration. If drawing a snowy scene, use smooth, even shadows to suggest the surface of the hill and valley. When drawing downhill scenes with trees and grasses, use irregular lines to create pattern.

Things You'll Need

• Charcoal pencil
• Blending stick

Instructions

1. Carefully study a photograph of a downhill scene for inspiration. Take note of the angle at the bottom of any structures and the highlights and shadows in the image.

2. Draw the incline of the hill in pencil. Make your lines light and loose. Keep your lines fluid and curving.

3. Draw a horizontally oriented oval for the outline of the valley in your image.

4. Add houses or other structures to your image if you wish to include these features. When drawing a building on the slope of a hill, make the base of the structure curve upwards at an incline. Do not make a flat base, since this will suggest even ground. Keep all vertical lines of buildings straight. Make roofs, bases and any other horizontal features fall at an inclined angle.

5. Create the texture of your valley. Remember that individual leaves and branches are not visible when viewed from a great height. Make patches of shadow with your pencil to suggest their forms. If you wish to capture snow, use the blending stick to make smooth areas of charcoal shadow.

6. Make the valley portion of the drawing darker on one side and lighter on the other. This suggests that the sun shines into the valley, but its light is blocked by a hill. Create this effect by shading part of the valley darkly with the charcoal. Extend the shadow throughout the valley with the blending stick. This will create a feature that appears lower since it is shaded. Using the blending stick to create shadows on one side will make light, even shadow.

7. Shade the hill with the charcoal pencil. Form your shadows with lines that follow the angle of the hill's incline. This will give the hill dimension. Make the shadows at the base of the hill darkest. Use the blending stick to create light shadows as you near the top of the hill.

8. Add homes or other features to the valley. Make these structures smaller than those that lie on the hill. This will create a sense of height.

Tips & Warnings

• Never use hard, straight lines when drawing hills or valleys.

References

• Drawing Coach: How to Draw a Cartoon Valley