Ready for a relaxing installment to our easy drawing ideas? It’s time to learn how to sketch a cute tree drawing, using a simple cartoon line art style!
As background, my name is Ms. Marshall and I’m an artist and teacher who loves sharing cute drawing ideas for all ages. I hand-draw each and every one of the illustrations and tutorials on this site, with love. Time for today’s tutorial…
Before we begin, a quick note: I love using anthropomorphism in my art, meaning I add eyes and a face to objects that aren’t actually human — but you don’t have to! These directions still work, even if you leave that part out… and on that note, feel free to alter and modify any of my instructions, because art is all about personal choice!
Tree Drawing
1. First, create the “crown” of leaves.
The official names of parts of trees are amazing! The “poof” of leaves and branches up top is called the “crown,” and I suggest starting your drawing there — using erasable pencil first, then adding in black and white ink. To sketch this, draw inspiration from our cloud drawing, pulling the pen in and out in connected “U” shapes.
2. Draw the trunk and horizon.
Trees have different shapes of trunks, but the easiest to draw is a mostly straight pole which flares out slightly into the spiky “root collar.” Draw a few vertical lines to show texture, then an undulating horizon line to indicate grass.
3. Add color, shading, and highlights to our tree drawing.
Unless it’s autumn, trees are usually green, so check out “What Colors Make Green?” if you’re mixing paints or inks. Next, shading and highlights are the key to making a drawing look three-dimensional, so darken that viridian color along the edges to add depth.
4. Put in some pizzaz to the background.
The context of a drawing is important, so don’t be shy about adding flair around your tree. I’ve inserted a bright yellow sun, and joyful fuchsia flowers. Congratulations — our easy tree cartoon is now finished! Now let’s see how it looks in the time-lapse art video…
Other Types of Trees
Were you as surprised about the order of the lines in that pieces as for our spider drawing? Now let’s check out other types of trees to draw, as there are lots of other shapes, sizes, and types out there. Just click through the following pictures to see a full tutorial on how to make each.
Tree Drawing
There are so many different ways to create a tree drawing, because there are numerous varieties of trees! Check out this growing list of art tutorials to grow your forest...
Christmas Tree Drawing
Looking for how to draw a pine or evergreen tree -- whether it's decorated in holiday lights or not? this tutorial will help! The triangle shape is easy and fun to create.
Blowing Tree Cartoon
What does a tree look like when it's being buffetted by gale force winds? Check out the illustration and tutorial here.
Cactus Drawing
Is a cactus a tree? Er, not exactly (look it up for the long explanation about why), but some of them can be super tall, and they look like trees and are fun to draw, so I'm adding them onto this list.
Pine Tree Drawing
Though a pine tree is one type of Christmas tree, it differs from the latter because it's in its pure natural state, without any decorations!
Mushroom Drawing
Though mushrooms aren't trees -- they're fungi -- they're so often found nestled at the foot of a trunk that I felt compelled to add this tutorial to this list.
Wreath Drawing
Though holiday wreaths aren't exactly trees, they're made from the bent branches of pines, so they count!
Holly Drawing
Holly trees have very distinctive shiny, spiky leaves and bright red berries. See how to sketch them here.
Tree Drawing, in Sum
Aren’t trees amazing? Isn’t the mushroom drawing cute, even though it’s not technically a tree? What would you like me to illustrate and explain next? Do share!
Want more? Check out my full round-up of nature drawings: easy lessons.
The author and artist, Lillie Marshall, is a National Board Certified Teacher of English who has been a public school educator since 2003, and an experienced Reiki practitioner since 2018. All art on this site is original and hand-drawn by Lillie. She launched DrawingsOf.com Educational Cartoons in 2020, building upon the success of her other sites, AroundTheWorldL.com (established 2009), TeachingTraveling.com (founded 2010), and ReikiColors.com. Subscribe to Lillie’s monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media to stay connected!