Looking to start drawing a little bit of nature freehand and fast but don’t know where to start? You’re in the right place! This drawing tutorial will show you how to start drawing a tree branch freehand with a simple branch layout like the image below, plus sketch tips and tricks to help you along the way.

Let’s get started!

How to Start Drawing a Tree Branch Freehand!

1. Gather Reference

Before I even get started drawing, I often use real life reference photos to correctly draw my subject. Whether it’s a person, object, or even my own character design, I always, always, always, use reference before doing any physical freehand drawing.

Why?

• Remembering what something looks like slows down the sketching process and can take time
• With reference photos, you’ll be able to capture details and forms well, while making your drawing actually look like your subject
• Reference photos make the drawing process very simple and understandable while giving you a general layout of how to start your drawing

How to Get Reference Photos of a Tree Branch Before You Start Sketching

This part is very simple.

Open up your browser and just type / google in ‘tree branch’ into the search bar and press enter (search) or you can just take photos with your phone or camera and use those instead (what I usually do).

Whether you’re using Google or another web browser, there should be tabs around the search bar that say ‘images’.

Click on that and you’ll be shown so many images of tree branches you won’t even know what to do with!

All you need is 1-2 images. Too much reference photos can be overwhelming, especially when you first start drawing, so keep it at a minimum.

If the image allows, right click on the reference pic you like and choose ‘Save as Image’ to save it to your computer. You can print it out if you’d like, to always have your (tree) reference on hand.

2. Get Your Drawing Supplies Ready

You don’t need anything fancy for this tutorial.

Just a drawing surface, something to draw on, and something to draw with. You can use the classic paper or pencil or if you want to go digital, use a digital program.

To get a more in-depth idea of drawing supplies, check out this beginner-friendly article on How to Start Drawing with No Art Experience and what supplies you can start using right away.

3. How to Start Drawing a Tree Branch Layout with Simple Lines!

Using your reference photo of your branch, lightly start drawing straight lines that mimic the direction of the tree branches. This serves as a layout for your tree that you can then erase out or layer with details in your finished drawing.

Instead of thinking in 3 dimensional shapes, think in simple lines for now.

We’ll add some dimension to our tree branch later in this tutorial.

• Remember: Keep it super simple – use only lines for this tree layout!
• Focusing too much on detail now will slow you down and you might miss the opportunity to have a strong branch shape as a foundation for your drawing, possibly leading to your drawing not looking like a tree branch at all! Yikes!
• Detail is secondary to your overall shape and form of your drawing

4. Think in Simple Forms – Only Cylinders for the Branches

Once you have your lines drawn, we can start thinking in 3d, yay!

So what is the general shape and layout of a tree branch? Figuring this bit out is important because it helps you visualize your subject in 3d, making it simpler for you to draw it. Well, since it wraps around, is a thin and circular tube, a tree branch’s primary shape is a cylinder, as well as the trunk.

• Start drawing simple cylinder shapes freehand, using the the lines you just drew
• Make sure the cylinders taper from thick to thin when making your way from the bottom, to the top of the entire tree branch
• Remember: thicker cylinders at the bottom and thinner cylinders at the top

5. Refine/Darken Branch Linework Following The Cylindrical Forms

Once you’re happy with your sketch, it’s now time to solidify your lines, that is, make them slightly darker then the rest of the sketch.

• Stick to drawing your lines thicker/darker focusing only on the outside lines of your tree branch
• This gives your tree branch drawing more form and prominence

6. Add a Bit of Detail to Your Tree Branch

Now for the fancy part – drawing in the branch’s details!

You don’t have to go super crazy detailed at this stage but if you do , go for it! Just remember to use your reference photo so you know what the details look like and keep it simple.

For me, sometimes less detail is better since the tree branch drawing won’t be too busy but has enough information to tell what it is.

• Draw your details either over your branch’s layout lines or erase your layout lines (now’s the perfect time to do that)
• Remember: follow the form of the tree (a cylinder)
  • This means to draw your details following the cylindrical form of the tree stems, so instead of just drawing straight lines, draw curved lines for the branch’s texture
• You can add little broken off branch tips if you like for a more jagged feel or a few leaves
• If drawing a branch is too simple for you, try adding a trunk
  • Like a branch, the tree trunk is also cylindrical
  • You can sketch it out either when you’re starting to layout your tree branches with simple lines or at after you’ve finished drawing them – just make the sure the finished quality of the tree trunk matches the rest of the branches
• Make your details lighter than your outside lines

Hooray, you’ve just drawn a tree branch drawing freehand, whether you made it simple or detailed!

Add it to your art journal or sketchbook if you’d like.

If you want a bit more of a challenge drawing trees, check out this these Palm Tree Drawing Tutorials with no Art Experience.

7. Bonus : Add Some Simple Shading if You’d Like

To give your sketch that extra level up, you can add a bit of shading to your drawing for a bit of dimension or realism.

• Again, follow the form of the cylinder
• You can start from the bottom of the tree branch (or trunk) and start drawing multiple lines across the form, side to side
• You don’t need to shade the entire drawing, just enough for it stand out
• Keeping your shading simple and clustered together and in broad/thick strokes really helps define and layout your drawing better, making it more recognizable
• If shading with a pencil, take a look at this quick guide on types of graphite drawing pencils.

Want to draw more nature? Check out these simple drawing tutorials of How to Make Mushroom Drawings Step by Step or How to Draw Clouds with Pen & Ink Easy.

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Now you know how to start drawing a tree branch freehand, super simple!