Things to draw when you Want to Celebrate Autumn on the Blog

In order to give you an idea of what to draw to get started, we asked talented artists willing to share their best ideas of things to draw during the fall. Beginning with these three sketching ideas can help you get thinking about autumn, and your environment in a fresh, thrilling and captivating approach.

 Drawing Idea: Foraged Nature Study Drawing

"While spring and summer bring an abundance of stunning blossoms, the fall season gives us an opportunity to be awed by many of the lesser-known beauty of nature." states Monica Basile who is an educator and artist located within Iowa City, Iowa. "This season is full of stunning natural shapes which are usually overlooked." This is a wonderful thing to draw that helps hone your observational skills and invokes feelings of wonder and appreciation of nature, all as you improve your skills.

    The tools you'll need to have:  

• a sketchbook or paper
• fine point pencil
• fineliner pen
• eraser
• collection of autumn treasures

    What do I do?  

1. Forage and Observe: Get outside and foraging. This could be achieved in urban settings, a park, a backyard, or even in the wilderness. Basile says, "You may not have to go any farther from your front yard, or you can use this opportunity to enjoy some prolonged time outdoors." What's important here is shifting your focus to the micro scale. Look at the things that trees have put to you for this season. Maybe it's intricate seeds, acorns that are big and chunky or delicate helicopter seeds or even crinkled leaves. When you're walking out in the cool autumn air, notice if any of the shapes that you observe inspire or interest you? Take note of the objects you're drawn to most.
2. Be Careful: Once you've foraged to find your autumnal treasures Make sure you really investigate each. "Ask yourself what shapes you see, and how they relate to its various components," says Basile. "Even if you're looking at an acorn and you've seen millions of acorns before attempt to view it with an open mind; it should be as though this was your first time laying the eyes of something so unique."
3. rough sketch With a pencil, draw lightly rough lines that describe the general shape and movement of your objects. Draw as close to the dimensions, bigger than real or even something that is in-between.
4. Add the details Once you've got an outline of your item then you'll need to begin using your pencil to draw more detail to your sketched items. "It helps to have an extremely sharp pencil when you're dealing with an object that has intricate detail," notes Basile. "Trace the details of your object using your eyes first and later, use your pencil. Make sure you look closer at your item than at your paper. If the line you draw seems to not quite describe what you see, that's what your eraser can be used to use." This goal is not realism for the sake of realistically, but rather to utilize the process of drawing to truly comprehend and appreciate your subject. Don't let yourself feel rushed.
5. Inking, Texture and shading: If you'd like to enhance the drawing process, make use of an eraser to trace over your pencil lines. From there, you can make another time to examine your drawings through the use of shading and texture with lines. Basile states, "This may call for varying your mark-making to include the use of stippling, or any other technique. Look at the curvatures and shadows of your drawing and fill to any shading you think could also help describe its structure. This final step is a great way to transform your sketch into a reality."

  Drawing Idea: Fall Foliage Landscape

"When I return home I usually walk on an avenue of trees and love to see how the leaves change within every day during the autumn. There isn't a more effective way to show the fall by drawing a set of trees with a broad spectrum of autumn colors," declares Greta Lorenz self-taught artist located in Germany. The drawing is an art form regardless of whether you're just looking to get your hands dirty with nature, or you're a seasoned pro.

    Tools you'll need:  

• A sketchbook or paper
• fine point pencil
• eraser
• Fineliner pen
• A variety of orange, red, brown, and yellow colored pencils
• A template, or even a photo you've taken of the vegetation

 What should you do?

1. Make a Photo: Take a picture (or the source) which demonstrates "quintessential fall foliage." Perhaps it's a tree-lined street or a park in the city, or even a long area of woods.
2. Sketch: Using your photograph as a model, start by sketching lightly the tree crowns. Then, move to the trunks and the ground.
3. Add Details: Next, go back with your fineliner pen to draw the primary shapes. It is also possible to add additional specific details of leaves, curvature, and any other detail or shading that you wish to include in the sketch.
4. infuse color: "For the purpose, you should start with a light yellow and then build the entire crown by adding layer by layer, and always add stronger colors until you end with a dark orange or red to create depth in the sketch. This will help it appear authentic," says Lorenz. Lorenz adds "Allow the other parts of your drawing which aren't trees to provide a strong contrast. For example, if there's an avenue, draw it in a dark shade so that the trees appear brighter and vibrant." Also, if you're drawing a river, emphasize the blues, greens and grays.

 Drawing Idea: Simple Fall Leaves

This drawing idea is somewhat similar to the foraged nature research, however it is focused exclusively on leaves. "Fall colors are simply stunning. This time we'll let the autumn leaves guide us as we play with color palettes, and make a variety and depth," says Basile.

 The tools you'll require are:

• a sketchbook or paper
• fine point pencil
• eraser
• fineliner pen
• A variety of orange, red, yellow, and brown colored pencils
• A group of leaves from autumn

 How to use:

1. Collect The first thing you need to do is to collect a variety of leaves from the autumn. Consider shapes, sizes, colors, and veins.
2. Observe: "Once you have taken your leaves or reference images, if necessary -- take time to examine each. Sometimes, a leaf which seems at first glance to be yellow could actually contain a range of yellows, greens, browns, or oranges," notes Basile. "Really take note of the hues you notice. This activity produces really enjoyable results with leaves that contain the possibility of color variations."
3. Swatch: Utilizing your color pencils work to determine the shades that most closely resemble the leaf you've taken. Play with pressure and blending multiple hues.
4. Sketch Two choices in this sketch. First, you can draw a series of leaves onto one page, or you can simply concentrate on one leaf for all of the page. Whatever you decide, begin by lightly sketching the general form of the leaf and then draw it again using your fineliner pen.
5. Add Color: After the ink is dry, apply the colored pencils that you have chosen to fill your sketch with color. Remember that the leaves may differ in shades. It is possible to alter the hue by pressing lighter or harder to blend colors or simply by swapping out the color for a lighter or lighter shade.