Draw a Bonsai Tree
The bonsai tree epitomises organised chaos with it’s orderly, neatly shaped foliage and gnarled and interesting bark.
Pencil drawing, with its forgiving nature, allows artists to experiment with various styles and techniques, from precise and detailed renderings to more expressive and loose interpretations.
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Follow this lesson to level up your drawing skills!
The point of this next demo is to show how we can work quite messily if we wish to and still have things turn out reasonably well. So, take a look at that terrible photo to the right, that's how my line-work kicked off. Nothing too ambitious but still heading the right direction.
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The inherent nature of a bonsai tree, with its carefully nurtured branches and delicate foliage, presents a unique challenge and opportunity for artistic expression. The early stages of line-work may appear messy, yet they serve as the groundwork for capturing the essence of the bonsai's form and character. Pencil drawing becomes an ideal medium to convey the nuanced details of the bonsai, allowing the artist to explore the balance between controlled precision and the expressive freedom.
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As we progress through the demo, we'll not only refine and enhance the initial line-work but also delve into techniques to bring out the best in portraying the bonsai tree.
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This bonsai drawing will consist of the groups of ceramic plant pot, tree trunk, and separate clumps of foliage. Within these groups are smaller groups such as the dirt for this bowl which will heavily contrast the lighter toned bowl. I begin drawing this patch of dirt with a wash of 3B.
Working in a different direction, the dirt becomes darker and I begin to pick out shadow groups within the large shape because I want some variation to this patch of dirt. I commence filling in the bowl with a simple pass of the 3B pencil.
Time to get rid of the empty space higher up where the leaves are to be located. I jump in with an initial wash of 3B. Nothing too tidy, just an attempt to establish light and dark areas of this particular canopy.
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​The same process continues higher up. Nothing too tidy about this. When adding value to an area that you know will be quite textural, you can afford yourself to be a little messy since some of this texture might work as a happy accident at some point later down the road.
I use the blending stump over those washes of 3B pencil. Working in a circular motion I try to make the groups of foliage uniform but it’s not essential given the bumpy nature of these miniature canopys.
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​The previous stage served as a perfect foundation to start carving details into these clumps of leaves. I use the 4B to start suggesting deep dark recesses in the foliage. I am continuously working in a way that adheres to the idea that light is coming from the top right. Even within the minuscule it is vital to be consistent. A fine eraser stick is also used to carve out lighter lines under the foliage to set in a place a foundation to describe some branches underneath.
A simple arrangement of shadows that give a sense of this as a twisting turning object function as the basis for this tree trunk.
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I limit myself to mostly the H grades and 0.5 mechanical pencil as I try to detail the lines of the trunk. I also streak along the colour shaper, working with the grain to create non-grainy mark details. I use the 3B to carve into the trunk, describing some darker recesses.
Finished! A life sized portrait of a bonsai tree. Final touches include edge management, making sure that there isn’t too hard an edge to these clumps of foliage because I want to emphasize their roundness.
For this effect I simply take the kneaded eraser and dab the edges to make them slightly lighter so it appears that the form is turning. This process also unites subject with background, even if the background is a stark bright white like this, it is good to bring everything together.
