NormalCompactSlideShowDraw Sheet
Details
| Uploaded: | January 18, 2012 |
| Artist: | Catlucker |
| Difficulty: | Intermediate  |
| Steps: | 13 |
| Updated: | January 19, 2012 |
| P.O.V: | Front |
| Favorited: |
Interact
Artist Comments
How to Draw a Realistic River
Hi everyone! I'm finally back. Things are okay and I'm ready to share with you a new tutorial. It is called "How to Draw a River." I have always loved landscapes and waterways; a river is no different. Here you will learn how to add depth and the mirror effect. I hope you enjoy this tutorial. Make sure you comment, fav or vote. Thanks for stopping by.
Tags
How to Draw Psy, Gangnam Style
by Dawn
1
How to Draw an Eye in Pencil
by artistperson95
2
How to Draw a Body
by Dawn
4
How to Draw Mike Wazowski Easy
by Dawn
5
How to Draw a Chibi Angry Bird
by Dawn
6
How to Sketch a Rose
by Dawn
8
How to Draw Realistic People
by Dawn
9
How to Draw Manga Bodies
by Dawn
10
How to Draw Iron Man
by Dawn
11
How to Draw Spongebob Easy
by Dawn
12
15
How to Draw Swag, Swag
by Dawn
16
How to Draw Trollface, Trollface
by Dawn
17
How to Draw Anime Body Figures
by Dawn
18
How to Draw a Rose Bud, Rose Bud
by Dawn
19
Learn How to Draw Tinkerbell
by Dawn
20
21
How to Draw My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic Style
by PuzzlePieces
22
23
How to Draw Female Figures, Draw Female Bodies
by MauAcheron
24
How to Sketch an Eye
by quynhle
26
How to Draw a Rose In Pencil, Draw a Realistic Rose
by DuskEyes969
27
28
How to Draw Subway Surfers
by Dawn
29
How to Draw Pikachu, Pokemon
by mstormw
30
31
32
How to Draw Hello Kitty for Kids
by Dawn
33
How to Draw Anime Couples
by Dawn
34
How to Draw Yolo, Yolo
by Dawn
35
How to Draw Mickey Mouse Easy
by Dawn
36
How to Sketch a Wolf, Arctic Wolf
by finalprodigy
37
How to Draw a Baby Penguin
by Dawn
38
39
How to Draw Nicki Minaj
by Dawn
40
How to Draw Chibi Domo
by Dawn
41
How to Draw a Minecraft Pig
by Dawn
42
43
How to Draw Niall Horan of One Direction
by amba13
44
How to Draw Spongebob
by Dawn
45
46
How to Draw John Mayer, John Mayer
by catlucker
48
How to Draw Brandon Lee, Brandon Lee
by catlucker
49
How to Draw Cute Love, Cute Love
by Dawn
50
 |  |  |
STEP 1.
Draw lightly with your No2 pencil. Start with two horizontal lines that are almost parallel. To your left draw the landmass that looks like a greater sign >. To your right draw the second landmass that looks like the lesser sign
STEP 2.
The red 90-degree angle to the left of the river bank gives the height of the trees. The long 45-degree angle to the right of the river bank also represents the tree heights. The triangle in the center with a a small connecting line represents the trees in the distance where the river curves out of sight., Draw these lines lightly and watch carefully where they appear on the page.
STEP 3.
Are they marshmallows or cotton balls? A good way to capture the shape of the tree is using nature's shapes like cylinders, cones, spheres or cubes. Here I chose oval-looking spheres for the placement of leaves clusters and cylinders for lines for the tree trunks. Don't forget to add the mirrored look of the trees in the water. Drawing the trunks will suffice.
STEP 4.
Here I left the background guidelines gray for your reference. See how the tree lines connect. Now draw the fluffy leaf clusters and tree trunks.
STEP 5.
Now draw the river's current in the background and its reflections in the foreground.
STEP 6.
Your sketch should look something like this.
STEP 7.
Here is a line drawing without full shading that is made up of simple lines and dots. This gives you a simple approach to the technique of filling in the trees and river. Notice the squiggly horizontal lines that represent the river's currents. That adds a touch of reality. Also the vertical lines in the water represent the reflection of trees and landmass.
STEP 8.
This step and the following include techniques for detailed pencil drawing. You can use line strokes to fill in the trees and blur with a tissue. However, to get quicker results, I used firm pastel color sticks, ranging from light, medium, to dark gray. You can literally save up to two hours or more. With a tissue, I then rubbed lightly to blend and fill in. Afterward, I sprayed the picture with a workable fixative (Krylon). The spray adheres the pastel to the paper so it will not smudge. After the fixative dries, you can work more on your picture. Notice also my penciled lines did not disappear.
STEP 9.
I had mentioned nature's shapes. They are represented in this picture. Notice how the shading follows the shape. Also when you do a realistic picture in pencil, tone, shading, shadow, and texture all breathe life into your picture.
STEP 10.
Holding your pencil in writing position, drawing with the point gives details and nice lines. This technique is great for those thin current ripples in the lake and the detailed tree limbs. Getting that nice texture of thousands of leaves is by holding your pencil on its side and making dabbing strokes for that nice leaf angle. A chiseled pencil is great for shapes of leaves.
STEP 11.
This is where you can practice your pencil strokes on the trees and river. Here is a tip for getting that nice realistic mirror look on your river. In the darker areas (mirrored trees), blend with a tissue downwards. Also stroke up and down in the depth areas of the water. The lands masses have that hairy up-and-down stroke too. Make sure you leave a lighter area in the water that mirrors the sky.
STEP 12.
Since my kneaded eraser did not work on this picture, I used opaque white watercolor to get the whiter highlights. Even the river has some of the highlights, which are those little horizontal lines near the left landmass.
STEP 13.
I added more white dots on the trees, lightened the tree limbs, and added some more definition on the tree trunks. I darkened the tree leaves and added more at the top, especially to the right. Also, if you haven't noticed before, I've added dark areas to the sky to give a cloudy look. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on How to Draw a River. For me it was a new and fresh experience. Please don't hesitate to comment, fave or vote. Thank you.Comments: Post Comment
tinkerbell13 ~ Jan 25, 2012, 8:48:12 PM
HEHE OMG I THINK THIS IS SO AWESOME AND COOL 
Bruzzyboo ~ Jan 21, 2012, 8:26:54 PM
No problem!! :) Its really good! You are really good! 
Totally speechless!
Totally speechless!@catlucker
Bruzzyboo - Ohhh you're so sweet! Thank you. 
catlucker ~ Jan 21, 2012, 8:20:54 PM
Bruzzyboo - Ohhh you're so sweet! Thank you.
@Bruzzyboo
That-thats amazing! It looks soo pretty and peaceful!
catlucker ~ Jan 21, 2012, 8:19:59 PM
artsyem - It's so wonderful to hear that my tuts have helped you. And thank you for the compliment! I'm glad to be back.
@artsyem
im so glad u r back,im a HUGE fan of u and ur work,i cant evn explain how much better an artist they hv made me!anyways this is super awesome and it almost looks like its a photograph its so realistic,great job and keep up the great work!
catlucker ~ Jan 21, 2012, 8:17:29 PM
Awwww! 
@snowcole
I am speachless 
Bruzzyboo ~ Jan 21, 2012, 6:50:58 PM
That-thats amazing! It looks soo pretty and peaceful!
artsyem ~ Jan 20, 2012, 10:33:33 AM
im so glad u r back,im a HUGE fan of u and ur work,i cant evn explain how much better an artist they hv made me!anyways this is super awesome and it almost looks like its a photograph its so realistic,great job and keep up the great work!
snowcole ~ Jan 20, 2012, 8:39:57 AM
I am speachless
catlucker ~ Jan 20, 2012, 1:24:32 AM
SquishyPoptarts - Thank you!
catlucker ~ Jan 20, 2012, 1:23:19 AM
Ziiteara - Thank you sooo much!
@Ziiteara
all i can say is 
