How to draw a maple leaf with a pencil? Step-by-step instruction

Drawing with a pencil is an exciting activity. Following the advice of the masters, anyone who wants, regardless of age and abilities, can learn to create masterpieces.

What do you need to draw with a pencil?

You can draw anything with a pencil: animals and plants, people, buildings, cartoon characters. In general, everything, on what will have enough imagination. This article explains step by step how to draw a maple leaf.

For successful work at the beginning of the artist must be everything you need. Prepare good quality paper, sharp-edged graphite pencil of medium hardness, 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 it's very easy to draw them. However, in reality everything will be a little more difficult. A maple leaf has a complex structure of several repeating elements. For you to cope with the work, we will show you how to draw a maple leaf in stages.

Step-by-step drawing of a maple leaf

Step 1. You need to create a foundation. To do this, draw a vertical line and a horizontal line crossing it. Then through the intersection of these lines, draw two more inclined lines to the left and to the right. There are six intersecting lines, as shown in the figure.

Step 2. From the large lines hold numerous small "twigs". They should be placed unevenly, which will make the finished work more natural.

At the first stages, the maple leaf is drawn without pencil. The instrument should be held in the hand gently, without tension. The lines should be light and light.

Step 3. We have on the paper a preliminary frame for the future drawing. Now you need to make the right contour. To do this, draw a lattice of twigs, as shown in the figure, using broken-bent lines.

Step 4. Using clear strokes carefully draw the main skeleton and petiole leaf. The figure shows that they should be slightly thickened in comparison with the secondary branches. Their appearance resembles a tree trunk - narrowed from above and widening downwards.

Step 5. With light small strokes, add small veins to the secondary branches. At this stage we already have an idea of how to draw a maple leaf. However, we have only a sketch. To obtain the present figure, it is necessary to correctly distribute the light and shadow on the sheet. Then it will not just be a picture, but an artist's work.

Step 6. This is the last step. At this stage, you need to give a leaf of realism. This should be done with the help of a shaded sheet. Look at the "live" maple leaf through the eyes of the master. You should note which areas are more darkened and which ones are lighter. This game of light and shadow should try to convey on paper.

General Tips

Now you know how to draw a maple leaf. To achieve the best result, we give some more general advice:

• At the beginning of the work on the drawing do not press strongly on the pencil;
• Outline the contour with a stronger pressure to obtain a clear line;
• Shade the picture gradually, do not immediately make too sharp transitions from light to dark.