Begin by drawing the outlines of your mountains. You can make these lines perfectly straight, or you can make them rough and jagged.
How to Draw Realistic Mountains
Mountains represent a favorite subject among artists who like to draw landscapes. With their majestic peaks reaching into the sky and their feet dipping into valleys and lakes, mountains have many interesting facets to offer the landscape artist. However, for all their advantages, they provide the artist with a number of challenges as well, such as the artist’s ability to capture the mountains in proper proportion. Many artists drawing landscapes opt to use a grid, a common artist’s tool that ensures everything on the picture plane winds up in its proper place
- Illustration Board
- Marker
- Pencils
- Ruler
- Mountain Reference Photo
- Erasers
Gather photos of mountains. Look for pictures that come in sizes larger than 8-inches by 10-inches and feature mountains with interesting looking peaks as well as plain areas that include objects like rivers, fences or wildlife. Choose one as your reference photo.
Mark the photo with a grid. Use a marker with a sharp point. Make the squares at least 1-inch by 1-inch.
Create a similar grid on your illustration board. Include the same number of squares and dimensions. Draw the lines with pencil.
Search the photo until you find the top point of the mountains. Count the squares until you know which one houses that point on the mountain. For instance, the top peak is four squares from the top of the picture and five squares in from the right-hand side.
Look on your gridded board and locate the corresponding square.
Draw what you see in the photo’s grid square in the square on the illustration board. Recreate the lines exactly as you see them. Notice how they curve and angle within the grid square. Observe how they interplay with one another as well as the walls of the square. The better you can replicate how the lines of the mountain look in the picture, the more accurate and realistic your mountains will look.
Complete the rest of the drawing of the mountains using the grid in exactly the same way you did to create the first square. Work on areas like the lines that create the appearance of craggy peaks, the line of a pond at the foot of the mountain and animals such as horses in a pasture. With elements like animals, don’t get overwhelmed. Draw the lines that create these and other pictorial elements in your photo in the same way you did to draw the mountains. Basic drawings start with basic lines. Draw what you see.
Erase the grid on the illustration board.
Shade the mountains using the side of your pencil’s lead. Observe how the lights and darks play on the mountain peaks, in the valleys and on the shadows that are cast on the ground. Fill in these spots by laying down a light layer of shading over the whole drawing first. Once you have these spots mapped out, go back and darken the places that need it. Build up the shaded areas by moving your hand in a side-by-side or circular motion.
Resources
- Learn to Art: Shading Techniques: Hatching, Scribbling, Pointillism
- Art Made Easy: Drawing Using a Grid
- All About Drawings: Grid Drawing
Buffy Naillon has worked in the media industry since 1999, contributing to Germany’s “Der Spiegel” magazine and various websites. She received a bachelor’s degree in German from Boise State University. Naillon also attended New York University and participated in the foreign exchange program at Germany’s Saarland University. She is completing her master’s degree in educational technology at Boise State.
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How to Draw Mountains in Pen and Ink
When it comes to artistry basics, mountains are some of the earliest things that painters draw in their early stages of learning the craft. Most artists learn how to draw using a pencil or water-based colorants before drawing with pen and ink. However, they have to master drawing using other writing tools for diversification purposes. Before they learn how to draw elaborately using paintbrushes, it is critical to know how to make basic sketches using a pen and ink. In most cases, it seems like an easy task, especially for those who are conversant with using water-based pens. But, using pen and ink is a bit tricky, considering that the techniques are different. Take a look at some of the easy steps you can follow if you want to learn to draw mountains in pen and ink.
SKETCHING MOUNTAINS WITH PEN
There are plenty of methods that you can use to draw mountains. These techniques heavily depend on the simplicity or complexity of the art you want to create. The landscape you want to portray also comes into play when you’re sketching a mountain. How you shade the mountains to gain the best texture determines the results you get. You can either achieve this by contouring or using a variety of lines. And regardless of the option you take, it is essential to capture the features that make the mountain appear realistic. Herein are some of the top ways you can use pen and ink to outline mountains in your art.
* DETERMINE WHERE YOU WANT TO HAVE THE HORIZON
The horizon is the space where the sky and the earth meet. You can either have your horizon on the top of your paper, the middle, or either side of the page. Once you find the right spot for the horizon, you can sketch your mountains below it. Draw several or a few of these drafts with peaks overlapping one another to make the image look realistic. Keep the peaks distant from one another, so you don’t have a hard time filling in the details. When you put the peaks too close to each other, you may end up with a very busy image, especially if you are still learning how to do this and have limited drawing space.
* CREATE THE CONTRAST
You want to create a contrast between the plains on the front and those at the back. This helps to accentuate the layers you’ve created. Whether you use horizontal or vertical lines, ensure that the plains at the front are more conspicuous than those at the back. The idea is to space the lines less so that the mountains in front appear to have more color than those behind them. Space the next plains even more so that you can achieve that contrast. If you have more than two or three layers, alternate between dark and light for the same effect.
* ADD A TOUCH OF TEXTURE
The rule is always to give the most details to the front row mountains. Make sure your audience doesn’t have to struggle to find out what’s on the painting. Whether you want to add trees, birds, or water bodies to the image, use a texture that will make it believable. Use the most elaborate contour on any features you want to include on the forefront. As you move to the back, make the contour much lighter. This creates a smooth transition between the features. In addition to achieving believability, you avoid having a sketch that’s too busy.
* ADD IN THE DETAILS
Mountains have trees, and some mountains are near large or small water bodies. Add in the extra details to make the image look believable. Remember to use fewer lines or, rather, increase the space between the lines when you’re mapping out the sky and reflections so that you can attain the contrast between the sharp angles of the hills and other items on your painting.
RENDERING THE SURFACE
Rendering is one of the ways you can use to create surfaces on your painting. Considering that you’re using pen and ink, you will have limited choices that allow rendering the surface, and these are:
LINE QUALITY
You can imply shadows simply by creating darker lines on the drawing. Start by darkening the most important sections of the image where you want the attention to go. Where the horizon is, you may want to use thicker strokes, especially if you want to indicate that there’s a light source around there. Use thicker lines on the forefront objects to give them value and character.
SLINKY
A slinky comes in handy when you want to create sloppy effects. You have to make zigzag lines that are very close to one another. Start from surfaces that have value and move outwards to those that don’t. Remember to stroke lightly to avoid blotting the paper since you’re using ink rather than a pencil. Once you give value to your main subjects, reduce the lines’ frequency so that you can create a contrast.
CROSSHATCHING
If you choose this technique, opt for oil-based ink. Water-based ones might ruin the paper since this method requires you to apply a significant amount of pressure on certain image areas. You will have to apply pressure on the most valuable areas of your drawing. Allow the ink to dry out, then overlap the sections where you applied pressure to create an even darker effect. Reduce the overlap as you move out to spots that are far from your light source.
STIPPLING
If you opt to use stippling as a technique to render surfaces, you’ll have to create dots all over the spot you want to highlight. Start by making heavy dots on the objects that have much greater value. For example, you can dot half the mountain starting from the tips. Make heavy blotches, then reduce the dots’ intensity as you move towards the middle to create a fade. Stipple heavily at the peaks so that you don’t have a hard time fading out.
HATCHING
When you chose this option, you only have to apply pressure on the drawing’s valuable points using closely-knit lines. Make the lines darker where you want to stress the importance of an object, then reduce the intensity as you move towards the less important spots. The good thing about using this method is that you can shade your painting to face any direction.
LINEAR
This option is almost the same as hatching, only that the lines are less sharp. The direction you’ll draw towards also differs from hatching. If you use linear shading, you have to shade on a horizontal scale.
DRAWING SHADOWS IN PEN AND INK
If you want to create a shadow [https://willkempartschool.com/how-to-shade-a-drawing-light-shadow-part-2/] or reflection in your drawing, you can use any of these techniques mentioned above to create one. However, you have to consider the source of light and its position if you want to shade effectively. The ideal approach would be to draw the image first and then use them to create a befitting shadow. Map your shadow first, then fill in the necessities later.
BENEFITS OF INK DRAWING
Most people would argue that it is better to draw using a pencil instead of using pen and ink for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, artists still benefit from using a pen and ink to sketch mountains. Some of these reasons include: A more defined drawing: You do not have to put too much pressure to achieve darker lines. The ink flows directly from the pen, meaning that you’ll only have to stroke a certain spot a few times before you attain the results you seek. Permanency: Using pen and ink to draw needs a keen person, one who has been drawing for years because you can’t erase an error. However, this same property enables you to draw an image that will last without yielding to external environmental conditions. Efficiency: When a pencil becomes blunt, you have to take the time to sharpen it until you achieve the same grain that will match up to the texture you want. Using a pen and ink, however, is quite simple. If you realize the ink is drying up, you only have to refill the pen and continue using it normally. There is no need to attain any level of perfection since you are the one who will regulate how many colors you want on the art. Versatility – Pen and ink mountain drawing gives you plenty of color options to pick from, unlike using pencils. More so, you can mix two or three colors that you have to get something close to what you need when you run out of a particular shade of ink. Environmentally friendly – Unfortunately, pencils are a by-product of trees. With the current global warming crisis, the last thing we want is to cut down another tree. Pen and ink mountain drawing allow you to enjoy your craft without causing any detriment to the eco-system.
WRAP UP
The ink drawing mountains technique requires an expert who knows how to control the liquid to get consistent results. Even so, you need to use high-grade paper and pens to succeed. And while these tools can limit your drawing techniques, you can use the available options to achieve great results. Remember, when adding texture to rocks, use pressure. Heavy marking enables you to get a grainy texture that resonates well with such objects. REFERENCES
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/basic-perspective-drawing/9780470288559/15_chapter11.html
https://guides.brit.co/guides/draw-different-types-of-shading/particle-9
Ian Ian Walsh is the creator and author of improvedrawing.com and an Art teacher based in Merseyside in the United Kingdom. He holds a BA in Fine Art and a PGCE in teaching Art and Design. He has been teaching Art for over 24 Years in different parts of the UK. When not teaching Ian spending his time developing this website and creating content for the improvedrawing channel.
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How to Draw Mountains with Snow Peaks
These mountains look better if they’re drawn taller and more narrow, in my opinion. I also think they look better if the outlines are drawn straight instead of jagged.
Again, use overlapping to make your mountain artwork look more interesting. You can add some variation to the size to make your drawings more interesting as well.
Next draw the snow at the peak of each mountain. Vary the length of the snow as you draw them. There are a variety of ways you can draw the snow. Your lines can be pointed, or rounded off.
Another variation is to make them wider or more narrow. Experiment with how you draw them and have some fun with it.
How to Draw Mountains with Markers
Learning how to draw mountains with markers is really easy. And there’s only a few things you need to keep in mind when using them.
First, if you want to be able to blend your colors together you need to use alcohol based markers. Bic, Sharpie, and Copic for example. As well as many others.
Second, you need to work while the colors are still wet or they won’t mix together. This isn’t a big deal. Just make sure you work on a section at a time.
Third, you need to use colors that are similar to each other if you want to create a smooth transition of color. If your markers are too different they will leave a harder edge.
There are numerous ways to finish your mountain drawings. Adding color is just one of the many ways. And there are many different variations for adding color as well.
You could do a galaxy painting for the sky. Or just add a simple one or two color background. You can make your mountain drawing as simple or as complex as you want to make them.
Try a few different techniques and see which you prefer. The more you practice the better you will get. With practice and repetition you’ll be able to push your creativity and develop your own artistic style.
Try doing a 7 day art challenge. You’ll be amazed by how quickly you’ll improve in a short amount of time.
Mountain Drawing Ideas
There are so many different ways to draw mountains. You can make your mountains with one peak, or several. You can add snow caps, or leave them off. And there’s so many different ways you can make the shadows on your mountain drawings.
To save time try making them on Artist Trading Cards. This is a great time saver even if you never want to trade them with other artists. The more mountains you draw the better you will get at making them.
There are many different ways you can make your backgrounds as well, and we have a few drawing tutorials that will help. Check out, How to Draw a Galaxy with Markers, or How to Draw a Sunset with Markers.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
Now that you know how to draw mountains, what’s the next step? If you want to get really good at drawing you need to practice. The more you practice the better you will get.
Your creativity and drawing skills will dramatically improve the more you draw and push yourself to experiment and try new things as well.
Keep things relaxing and enjoyable so you’ll look forward to your creative time. Try making it part of your daily routine and schedule it into your day.
If you want to get really good at learning how to draw mountains, challenge yourself to do a series of them this week. Push your imagination and see what you can come up with.
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Roshanda is an art education blogger who is on a mission to coach and encourage as many aspiring artists as possible through the use of her blog. Learn more about her on the About Me page and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
