3/26/2021 How to Draw Various Foliage with a Depth of Field | Art Rocket

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How to Draw Various Foliage with a Depth of Field

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Comic artist Ann Maulina explains how to draw various foliage types, including bushes, grass, trees, and leaves placed in background layers
known as depth of eld.

Composition Lighting Impasto / Thick Painting Concept Art Digital Painting

 

Depth of Field

Before I show you how to draw foliage, I’d like to explain the concept of depth of eld which is quite essential when drawing a background.
Here is its simple formula—foreground, midground, and background.
 

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Foreground: This contains low values, and dark colors with low intensity/saturation, and a lot of detail. On stylized drawings, the
foreground is often drawn as a silhouette.
Midground: Where the main focus of the image is. It has the highest intensity colors compare to other layers.
Background: High value, bright with low-intensity colors. Low details.
 
Adding leaves by using a simple solid round brush 
At this stage, we don’t have to worry about which color to use. Pick a color and paint some of the surrounding leaves. Don’t spread it out too
much. Make sure you can distinguish between the light lighter and darker areas.
 

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Here are some steps for drawing bushes growing in various directions from that rst simple shape.
 

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Drawing Grass

Blend colors using a big brush.

 

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Paint some grass with simple a brush horizontally. Just like how we draw leaves on a shrub. Use the color picker to pick the same color from
the blended area and paint in the blades of grass.
 

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Add some wild plants.
 

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Drawing Trees

Here are some steps to drawing various types of trees with different basic shapes.
 

 
Using the same method as drawing grass: blend colors, and then paint in clusters of foliage.
 

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Just like drawing a shrub, it is better to use directions as a guide.
 

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Add details. I made some holes between leaf clusters and added another color onto the trunk.
 

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Drawing Leaves

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As I mentioned earlier about the depth of eld, objects in the foreground are highly detailed so sometimes the leaves in the foreground need
to be drawn individually.
 
To draw individual leaves, I usually start with a center line of action. Below are some examples of where to nd these lines.
 

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Different leaves have different kinds of shapes, but they usually have a central line just like the spine of the human gure. This line can be used
as a line of action to draw a leaf. Below are some leaves in different angles and poses that I drew from just one similar central line.
 

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These lines can also be used when drawing a branch of leaves.
 

 
Different plants have different patterns in which the leaves branch out. The image below shows three different patterns on three different
plants I found in my mom’s garden. Please use these as guides if you want to add more detail and characteristics to the foliage you’re drawing.
Usually, I would just google the plant’s name and study the shape and pattern before drawing it on my canvas.
Studying the pattern directly from an actual branch in front of you will give a better result because you can twirl or rotate it so you won’t miss
any detail.
 

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Tips

Always use references! Avoid drawing from your memory. There are countless types of grass, bushes, and trees. Look for multiple
references to create a nice variation and composition.
 

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We don’t have to make everything detailed. Add details mainly on the areas you want to focus on. Usually, the focus is located in the
foreground or middle ground, but never in the far background.
 

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Conclusion

See the big picture rst, details later. Use basic shapes for the overall form, and then use directional lines as a guide when adding details.
 

 
 
– Ann Maulina
 
 

Ann Maulina is a comic artist from Indonesia. Her comics are Raruurien (www.raruurien.com) and Varunair. She also works as a freelance
game concept artist at times. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication Design, which gives her a high advantage with art and
design projects. She enjoys creating art while exploring some dynamic and harmonic colors. You can nd her at:
Twitch
Artstation
Twitter
Instagram

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